Shared Reading Practices in Times of Pandemic

Abstract

Shared book reading is a common activity in young children's classrooms and is related to vocabulary expansion in school starters. Studies show that the way in which adults perform shared reading affects vocabulary expansion. The purpose of this study was to observe the shared reading practices of teachers in online classrooms during the pandemic regarding how they work with vocabulary. Nine teachers and their five to six-year-old students who were enrolled in four private schools participated in this study. Five children's storybooks and a sociodemographic questionnaire were used for data collection. The forty-five reading sessions were recorded and transcribed. All questions asked by the teachers were computed and then categorized into two groups: questions that promoted vocabulary expansion and those that did not. The results showed that only 37% of the questions asked by the teachers were designed to develop vocabulary (χ² =162, 0 [1], p< 0.001), suggesting little interaction toward expanding children's vocabulary. We hope to raise questions about how teachers work with story books and help devise strategies to develop children's vocabulary.