Interactions established with children from infancy lay the foundation for their language skills. Storybooks are one of the most effective tools in these interactions and help their language growth. This article will explore the contributions of storybooks to language development and how parents can take an active role in this process.
The period between 0–3 years is one of the fastest phases of language development. They are able to learn the sounds, words, and sentence structures of their environment. Parents reading books to their children especially increases their interest in sounds and words. Storybooks expand the context of parent-child interaction and the language used in these interactions and thus provide opportunities for language development. Research shows three ways that storybooks enhance interaction and support children’s language.
First, storybooks allow children to be exposed to new words within grammatically diverse sentences. A broader range of vocabulary is used in the storybooks than what is typically used in daily conversations. For example, a book about nature helps a child learn the names of plants and animals, while a book about emotions helps them learn emotional vocabulary. Moreover, words are embedded in different grammatical structures, offering a rich language experience. In this way, children not only learn new words but also learn how they can use them in different contexts.
Second, reading storybooks enriches parent-child interactions by fostering joint attention. The colors and illustrations help children manage their attention and focus on the related part of the page. An attentive and sensitive parent can follow their children’s focus of attention, comment on the pictures, and make the story even richer. In this way, the child realizes that they can direct the parent’s attention to the pictures they are interested in and actively participate in the interaction. Moreover, they can encourage the parents to talk more about the pictures they are interested in.
Third, reading storybooks is an activity in which both the parent and child actively participate. Following the child’s interest in the story, the parent can create additional conversations and enhance the story, called “dialogic reading.” For example, asking questions, talking about the characters, and discussing the story provides the child with a more personalized reading experience. As a result, children can better understand the highlighted words, concepts, or events in the story.
In bilingual development, children’s books help children learn and reinforce both languages. Reading books in both languages expands their vocabulary and helps them understand language rules in both languages. Additionally, bilingual storybooks improve children’s ability to distinguish between the two languages. When parents read books to their children in both languages, it greatly contributes to them becoming fluent in both languages.
Children’s books contribute not only to language development but also to social and emotional development. The characters and events in stories help children develop empathy. By understanding the emotions and situations experienced by the characters, children can better express their own feelings in daily life. Additionally, through stories, they learn about different cultures and lifestyles, which enhances their social awareness.
In summary, children’s books are a cornerstone of language development. Instilling the habit of reading books from an early age helps children develop their language skills and contributes to their social and emotional growth. The active participation of parents in the reading sessions with their children enhances its effectiveness. Books are important tools that allow children to explore the world and develop their language abilities. Therefore, it is crucial to cultivate the habit of reading in children and provide the necessary support to sustain this habit.
References:
Dickinson, D. K., Griffith, J. A., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2012). How Reading Books Fosters Language Development around the World. Child Development Research, 2012, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/602807
Montag, J. L., Jones, M. N., & Smith, L. B. (2015). The words children hear: Picture Books and the Statistics for Language Learning. Psychological Science, 26(9), 1489–1496. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615594361
