%0 Journal Article
%T How Reading Books Fosters Language Development around the World
%A David K. Dickinson
%A Julie A. Griffith
%A Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
%A Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
%J Child Development Research
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/602807
%X Research on literacy development is increasingly making clear the centrality of oral language to long-term literacy development, with longitudinal studies revealing the continuity between language ability in the preschool years and later reading. The language competencies that literacy builds upon begin to emerge as soon as children begin acquiring language; thus, the period between birth and age three also is important to later literacy. Book reading consistently has been found to have the power to create interactional contexts that nourish language development. Researchers, pediatricians, and librarians have taken notice of the potential for interventions designed to encourage parents to read with their children. This article reviews research on the connections between language and later reading, environmental factors associated with language learning, and interventions developed in varied countries for encouraging book use by parents of young children. ¡°The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go.¡± Dr. Seuss, ¡°I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!¡± 1. Introduction For roughly forty years, researchers interested in early reading and language development have studied the effects of early home and preschool experiences. Language has received particular attention because of its centrality to overall human development and its particular importance to reading development [1¨C3]. Dr. Seuss got it right in the quotation above: learning to read¡ªand being read to¡ªtakes you to new places, both literally in terms of children¡¯s development and metaphorically as reading transports us to new vistas. As researchers examined differences between the growth trajectories of children from different backgrounds, it became apparent that environmental factors play a major role in determining the speed and ultimate success with which children learn to read [4]. Some children, notably those from homes where parents are poor and have limited educations, face particular challenges in learning to read [5, 6]. Developmental and cognitive psychologists probe the mysteries of language development and unravel the complexities of the reading process. Their findings have made increasingly apparent that particular kinds of experiences can play a special role in advancing language growth. The humble act of reading a book to a young child has repeatedly been found to have remarkable power [7]. Programs implemented in different countries that put books in the hands of parents and young children and that equip parents with effective
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdr/2012/602807/