Joint Book Reading Makes for Success in Learning to Read: A Meta-Analysis on Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy

Abstract

The current review is a quantitative meta-analysis ofthe available empirical evidence related to parent-preschooler reading and several outcome mea- sures. In selecting the studies to be included in this meta-analysis, we focused on studies examining thefrequency ofbook reading to preschoolers. The results support the hypothesis that parent-preschooler reading is related to outcome measures such äs language growth, emergent literacy, and reading achievement. The overall effect size ofd = .59 indicates that book reading explains about 8% of the variance in the outcome measures. The results support the hypothesis that book reading, in particular, ajfects acqui- sition of the written language register. The effect of parent-presch ooler reading is not dependent on the socioeconomic Status of the families or on several methodological differences between the studies. However, the effect seems to become smaller äs soon äs children become conventional readers and are able to read on their own.