Martine van der Pluijm

34 Chapter 2 oral language tests, three used a standardized test including oral language development, one used a language assessment, and two studies used ratings by parents or teachers. Sixteen studies reported that they used a translated or bilingual intervention for parents of minority populations. We distinguish two educational attainment levels of the target parent population: 1) high school level with a diploma and lower (HS and less) and 2) higher than high school diploma (>HS). In three cases (7, 8, 13), the percentages of parental education levels were not mentioned, only the range (from no high school education up to and including university). Sixteen studies reported that the sample mainly comprised parents with a high school diploma or less. From now on, we assume that these interventions are considered to be focus on lower- educated parents. Of these studies, 13 reported that all parents were lower-educated, and three studies reported that at least 75% of the sample consisted of parents with high school diplomas or less. Twelve studies inTable 2.1 contained parent samples with a higher educational level than high school for 35% or more, including two studies with exclusively higher educated parents. From now on, we assume that these interventions focus on parents with mixed educational levels. The final two columns in Table 2.1 show whether a significant positive or negative effect of the intervention was found for each posttest (> or <) and what the effect size was of each significant effect when reported. Table 2.2 presents a detailed account of the activities and strategies used in each study. Within the two main types of shared reading and other home activities, we distinguished several subtypes. We divided shared reading into two subtypes: dialogic reading (DR) and story reading (SR) (see column Reading Activity in Table 2.2). Studies are coded as dialogic reading when authors described and followed the principles of Whitehurst and colleagues (Arnold, Lonigan, Whitehurst, & Epstein, 1994; Whitehurst et al., 1994; Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998), founders of this intervention. Dialogic reading is a one-on-one interactive reading activity in which the adult reader supports the child to talk about the story by questioning. Adults receive hints to use open questions as well as to deepen the conversation, for example, by asking questions about children’s own experiences (Whitehurst et al., 1994). Activities were coded as story reading when the parent and the child applied other forms of shared reading. Twelve studies described shared reading interventions. Seven of these described dialogic reading and five were coded as story reading. We defined the second type of intervention as other home activities (18 studies). Table 2.2 reports the activities of each study (see column Activity type in Table 2.2). Some studies used only one activity, and others employed several activities. Table 2.2 distinguishes three types of strategies used in shared reading or other home activities. Oral language strategies engage children in conversations, using questioning and other tactics to evoke oral language use by the child. An example is using open questions such as “Why is the bear angry?” Responsive communication strategies provide emotional support and encourage the child to talk with the parent. An example is “I’m sure you can tell me why the bear is angry,”