Frequency, Form, and Function of Child Communication During Early Shared Book Reading Experiences

PURPOSE: Limited research has investigated very young children's contributions to the strong relationships between shared book reading and developmental outcomes in language and literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency, form, and function of communication in typically developing children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years during naturalistic shared book reading experiences. METHOD: = 557 videos) were qualified, quantified, and compared according to age and/or book type. RESULTS: Results of fine-grained observational coding and linear mixed-effects modeling indicated that narrative and concept books were associated with longer reading durations and frequent child communicative acts. Results also revealed significant associations between book complexity and child language form, with narrative picture books eliciting a larger proportion of word combinations than concept and texture books, controlling for child age. More than half of all child communicative acts during shared book reading included deictic gestures and were expressed for the purpose of initiating joint attention. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, findings increase understanding of the mechanisms contributing to the links between shared book reading and development in early childhood. The joint focus between caregivers and children in this context provides opportunities for frequent verbal and nonverbal communicative initiations, and variations in the content, format, and structure of different book types offer access to an array of vocabulary words and grammatical forms. Theoretical and practical implications for expanding evidence-based literacy practices are discussed. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.32190162.