Promoting emergent reading through the use of e-books

Feero, Sharon Lynne (2012) Promoting emergent reading through the use of e-books. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (7MB)

Abstract

This study examines how a group of four Kindergarten students' phonological awareness and cuing strategies can be supported through e-books. Research on emergent literacy concludes that children who read well, read more, and acquire more knowledge (Bus, De Jong, & van Ijzendoorn, 2007; Hindman, Connor, Jewkes, & Morrison, 2008; Korat, 201 0). Many of the students in this study have high reading needs and require additional supportive reading opportunities throughout the day. The Oxford Reading Tree CD-ROM e-book series offered these emergent readers an opportunity to develop reading strategies. An individual action research approach was used through qualitative data collection measures (field notes, journals, portfolio samples, transcribed conversations, Developmental Reading Assessment and Dolch High Frequency Word Recall list) to assess reading progress. A key finding of the study noted an increase in e-book reading engagement fostered the application of cuing strategies such as a) initial and final letter sound recall; b) picture cuing; and c) reading ahead. In addition to phonological and cuing strategy improvement, there was a marked increase in high frequency word recall, story sequencing and comprehension. As a result of these changes, students brought their reading understanding into other areas of their learning such as investigating conventional paper based reading books including exploring independent writing. The author anticipates that continuing research in this area will assist the future use of e-books in emergent reading.

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