READING STORYBOOKS TO KINDERGARTNERS HELPS THEM LEARN NEW VOCABULARY WORDS

In sessions conducted individually, kindergartners who were nonreaders listened to an adult read the same storybook twice, 2-4 days apart, and then completed a posttest measuring their knowledge of the meanings of 22 unfamiliar words, half of which had appeared in the story. Some target words occurred twice in the story and some only once, so children heard some words four times and some words twice. Children recognized the meanings of significantly more words from the story than words not in the story, thus indicating that storybook reading was effective for building vocabulary. Gains were greater among children with larger entering vocabularies. Four exposures to words appeared to be necessary but not sufficient for higher rates of word learning. Findings confirm that story listening contributes modestly to young children's vocabulary growth.