"iPad Has Everything!" How Young Children With Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds in Malta and the United States Process Multimodal Digital Text

• In Event: 63.060 - Impact of Digital Technology on Young Children's Learning

Abstract

This exploratory study investigated whether/how kindergartners (ages 5-6) with different linguistic backgrounds in Malta and the U.S. differ in their reading behaviors while reading the same app. book in English? As part of a broader project, we purposefully sampled children who scored top 3 and bottom 3 in their retelling of the app. book from each of the four linguistic groups: (1) US-English native speakers, (2) Malta Maltese-dominant, (3) Malta English-dominant, and (4) Malta-third language. Our qualitative analysis of videos of the 27 children reading the app book revealed the distinct patterns of high-comprehension readers transacting with multimodal digital features across these linguistic groups, and the potential of digital features to support learners with diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Authors

• X. Christine Wang, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Tanya M. Christ, Oakland University

• Charles L. Mifsud, University of Malta