چکیده (انگلیسی):

Children enter kindergarten in the United States with large differences in their background
knowledge, vocabulary, and early literacy experiences. There is a strong relationship between
language development during the early years and reading ability in the primary grade and
teachers must understand the importance of developing vocabulary and its relationshi p to literacy.
It is essential that teachers provide time and effort to quality language experiences. One
researched based strategy to accomplish this is the use of interactive read-alouds. Teachers have
traditionally used fictional literature in the classroom, but there is growing research that
nonfiction or informational literature are also needed to provide children with quality vocabulary
building experiences in the early school years. This research study examined the results of a
survey that was given to childcare providers and preschool through 2
nd
grade teachers about the
amount of time they read aloud to children and the amount of time they spend reading fiction
compared to nonfiction text. Results showed that teachers in classrooms (pre- through 2
nd
grade)
reported reading to children almost every day, though the time devoted to this activity was a small
percentage of the total time spent in class. Also, nonfiction literature was a small percentage of
the literature that was being read to children. The findings in this paper have implications for
practice in the field. Because vocabulary development is a key ingredient in the learning-to-read
process and is a predictor of success in future reading skills, teachers in the early grades should
be aware of the benefits of using interactive read alouds and the genre of nonfiction literature in
vocabulary development.