Effectiveness of "Picture Book Reading Program for Mothers" for Married Immigrant Women and Their Children

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to prove the effect of the "Picture Book Reading Program for Mothers" developed to enhance the language competence of married immigrant women and their children. Twenty immigrant mothers with three-year-olds were recruited, and they participated in an 8-week-Picture Book Reading Program developed by the reseacher. The REVT and U-TAP were used to measure linguistic abilities for mothers while PRES was used to measure their children's linguistic abilities. Lee(2004)'s "Effect of dialogic picture book reading teacher training program for toddlers" was used to measure the mother's and children's verbal and non-verbal behaviors. The results of the study were as follows: First, by participating in the PBRPM, the mother's linguistic ability as well as children's vocabulary and receptive language have increased. Second, by participating in the PBRPM in terms of mother-child interaction, mother's verbal behaviors to children (i.e. attention and inquiring) and children's verbal behaviors(i.e. responding and imitation) have increased. In conclusion, "PBRPM" for married immigrant women and their children proved to be effective in enhancing the language competence and verbal interactions between married immigrant women and their children.