Effects of shared book reading intervention on L2 Chinese reading in ethnic minority kindergartens in Hong Kong

Guided by Grolig (2020)'s bioecological perspective, this research aimed to examine the effects of a shared book reading intervention for ethnic minority kindergarteners learning Chinese as a second language (L2) in Hong Kong. Additionally, it explored the influence of children's initial L2 reading proficiency and home literacy environment (HLE). A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 365 kindergarteners using convenience sampling and stratified random sampling. There were three participant groups: an experimental group consisting of L2 Chinese children from ethnic minority families who received an 8-week intervention, a control group of L2 Chinese children and another control group of Chinese-as-a-first language (L1) children who received business-as-usual instruction. To assess the effectiveness of the shared book reading intervention, pre- and post-test reading outcomes were compared between the experimental and control groups. The study yielded four major findings: (1) Ethnic minority kindergarteners in the experimental group showed significant improvement in their L2 Chinese reading subskills following an eight-week shared book reading intervention. (2) L2 Chinese kindergarteners displayed different initial levels of L2 reading proficiency, with those at low and mid-levels initially gaining more from the intervention compared to those at the high level initially. (3) L2 Chinese kindergarteners with initial high-level of L2 reading proficiency performed on par with their L1 Chinese peers in the post-test of Chinese metalinguistic awareness. (4) The Chinese reading proficiency of L2 Chinese kindergarteners was affected by their HLE, including father's educational background, parents' proficiency in Chinese listening and speaking, and the number of children's books available at home. • A shared book reading intervention was effective for L2 Chinese kindergarteners. • The intervention was particularly beneficial for low- and mid-level L2 learners. • High-level L2 learners performed similarly to L1 peers in the metalinguistic test. • Parental factors and the availability of children's books played a role.