Paper Books Versus eBooks: Bilingual Children’s Reading Behavior and Heritage Reading Outcomes

• In Event: Bedtime Stories in the 21st Century: What We Know—and Need to Know—About Digital Reading for Young Children

Abstract

Significance
Educational apps for young children can be categorized under three groups: (a) gaming apps, (b) creating apps, and (c) interactive electronic storybooks apps. The current study aims to examine the usefulness of electronic storybook apps in promoting bilingual children’s reading and heritage language (HL) learning. Specifically, we explored the following questions:

1. Are children from the electronic storybook app group different from their counterparts in the printed book group in terms of weekly reading frequency and reading styles?

2. Do children from the electronic storybook group differ from their counterparts in the printed book group in terms of language and literacy learning outcomes?

Methods
We recruited 120 English-Mandarin bilingual children for the reading program. All children were either four- or five-years-old. Out of the target sample, 64 were assigned to the printed book condition, and 56 were assigned to electronic storybook condition. Children received the same reading materials (about 100 books over a year) either in printed books or via electronic storybook apps. We followed children’s reading behaviors and outcomes over one school year. Parents were invited to reflect on their children’s reading behavior via a short online survey each week. Furthermore, we assessed children’s Mandarin language and literacy skills (i.e., receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary, receptive grammar, and character reading) before the program and every six months (twice in total).

Results and Implications
Initial results based on our first six months of data revealed no significant differences in children’s Mandarin language and literacy development between the two reading groups, after controlling for children’s input environment at home and other internal factors. However, children in the printed book condition tended to read the assigned books by themselves more often, while children in the electronic storybook app condition tended to engage in more co-directed reading with their parents. These preliminary results indicate that book types (i.e., printed or digital) may promote similar language and literacy outcomes but produce different reading behaviors in children.

Author

• He Sun, National Institute of Education - Nanyang Technological University