Reading storybooks to kindergartners helps them learn new vocabulary words.

TLDR

In individual sessions, non‑reading kindergarteners listened to an adult read the same storybook twice, 24 days apart, and then completed a post‑test on 22 unfamiliar words, with some words heard four times and others twice. Children recognized more story words than non‑story words, particularly those with larger initial vocabularies, indicating that four exposures are necessary but not sufficient for higher word‑learning rates.

Abstract

In sessions conducted individually, kindergartners who were nonreaders listened to an adult read the same storybook twice, 24 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