Early reading to infants supports language at 3 years
The study, titled Unique effects of book-reading at 9-months on vocabulary development at 36-months: Insights from a nationally representative sample of Irish families, found that approximately 80% of Irish children were read to at 9 months of age. Characteristics of families who were more likely to report reading with children emerged: those with higher educational attainment, fewer depressive symptoms, and those who reported a high-quality home language environment (reported talking more to children during everyday activities).
Participation in reading in the home during early childhood sets the foundation for children’s later language and literacy development. However, less is known about the effects of book reading practices in infancy on later development. This research shows that book-reading practices at nine months significantly predicted children’s language outcomes at 3 years in a large, nationally representative sample of Irish families even after taking a range of other factors into account. These findings point to the importance of engaging families in early reading practices with young children.
Lead author, Dr. Sinéad McNally said
“A tacit assumption held by many parents and caregivers is that reading to children should only begin when children start producing language. Our findings indicate that reading to children as babies supports children’s oral language skills in the preschool years, skills which we know are very important for children’s later reading and school readiness.
Because our data also show that nearly 1 in 5 Irish children are not read to, family literacy intervention programmes should focus on these families and provide information to caregivers about the importance of early literacy practices. This includes strategies and messages to build self-efficacy around shared reading with infants in particular, which many parents report is challenging.
Finally, our finding that shared book reading with infants predicted language skills at 3 years even after taking into account other key variables such as SES extends our understanding of the importance of shared reading for all infants in Ireland, and provides support for a national universal approach to the provision of books.”
Key questions
- What are the early literacy practices among families with nine month old children in Ireland?
- Most children read to by both parents or by their mother
- 80% of children read to (one in five not read to in infancy)
- What are the specific family and demographic characteristics that are associated with shared reading during infancy?
- Family income was not significantly associated with book-reading practices at nine-months
- Those with higher educational attainment, fewer depressive symptoms, and those who reported a high-quality home language environment (reported talking more to children during everyday activities)
- What was the effect of shared reading at nine months on children’s language outcomes at thirty six months?
- Shared reading has both a direct and indirect relation to 3 year language outcomes, with those who were read to displaying significantly better expressive vocabulary and language skills by the time they reach 3 years of age
- Early shared reading was related to later language outcomes via the number of books in the home and shared reading practices at 3 years
Data
This research was carried out using archived data from two waves of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Infant Cohort, a nationally representative longitudinal study of children in Ireland.
Authors
Dr. Sinéad McNally - Dublin City University
Dr. Kathryn Leech - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Michael Daly - NUI Maynooth
Dr. Kathleen Corriveau - Boston University
About Dr. Sinead McNally
Sinéad McNally is Assistant Professor in Psychology (birth to six) at the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education at the DCU Institute of Education.
Sinéad leads the Early Language and Learning Lab at the DCU IoE which investigates the ways in which early educational environments contribute to young children’s development and learning. Her research highlights the importance of play, shared reading and language input in early childhood on children’s development and educational attainment.