The role of the medium for verbal engagement: shared reading in groups with books and apps in Norwegian ECEC-institutions

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study carried out with groups of children (N = 72; M = 57.2 months) in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in Norway. Twelve teachers read two stories, once in a print book format and once in a picture book app, with groups of children. Children’s and teachers’ verbal engagement was coded for dialogue length (duration) and topic (frequency; utterance about medium or narrative/content). Findings revealed that average dialogue length does not vary as an effect of medium. However, there are significantly more utterances about the medium in app readings than in book readings. Moreover, apps that are high in interactivity and hot spots, generate more talk about the medium than low-interactivity apps. Implications of these findings for shared reading with groups of children in kindergarten settings, are discussed.