Using Digital Texts in Interactive Reading Activities for Children with Language Delays and Disorders: A Review of the Research Literature and Pilot Study

Abstract

Participation in interactive reading activities can help children with language delays and disorders build important early language and literacy skills. Digital texts (i.e., books presented on tablets and computers) provide new opportunities for learning and supporting communication. Recently, researchers have investigated the use of digital texts that include visual scene displays (VSDs). In this approach, pictures on a tablet are programmed with “hotspots”; when the picture is touched, a word is spoken aloud. In addition, transition to literacy (T2L) features, including dynamic presentation of the text when a hotspot is activated, can be implemented with VSDs. This article provides a review of interactive reading interventions with children with language delays and disorders, and a discussion of the impact of using digital texts. We also describe the results of a pilot study intervention using digital texts including VSDs and T2L features with children with language delays in an inclusive preschool setting.

A Comparison of Children’s Reading on Paper Versus Screen: A Meta-Analysis

“…The focus of the meta-analysis was on studies that reported quantitative comparisons of reading a paper and digital version of the same story. We therefore excluded (1) studies without a control group (e.g., Klop et al, 2018;Messier & Wood, 2015) and case studies (e.g., Boyle et al, 2017, making use of a single-case multiple baseline across participants design); (2) studies that included comparisons between paper on the one hand and video, an audio story, or a film on the other hand were excluded (e.g., Meringoff, 1980); (3) apart from studies just focusing on behavior during book reading (e.g., Moody et al, 2010;Rees et al, 2017) we did not include studies targeting basic reading skills such as letter knowledge or phonemic awareness (e.g., Evans et al, 2017;Segal-Drori et al, 2010;Willoughby et al, 2015) or recognition of kana characters (e.g., Masataka, 2014); (4) we also excluded studies targeting participants older than 8 years (e.g., Connor et al, 2019) and participants with Cochlear implants (e.g., Messier & Wood, 2015) or diagnosed with autism (e.g., Wainwright et al, 2020).…”

Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability: A Mega-Review of the Literature

“…Further research on the effects of AAC interventions on academic skills was recommended by 4 reviews (Ganz et al, 2014a;Ganz et al, 2017;Hong et al, 2017;Still et al, 2014). Other reviews recommended further research on the impact of technology aided instruction on literacy outcomes (Barker et al, 2012;Boyle et al, 2017;Machalicek et al, 2010;Stauter et al, 2017).…”

Designing effective AAC displays for individuals with developmental or acquired disabilities: State of the science and future research directions

“…With the T2L feature, upon selection of a hotspot in the VSD, the written word appears dynamically and is then spoken out (https://tinyurl.com/rerc-on-aac-T2L). A number of studies have shown that individuals with developmental disabilities have successfully acquired sight words, without explicit instruction, when introduced to an AAC app utilizing VSDs with the T2L feature; these results have been demonstrated with young children with ASD (Mandak, Light, & McNaughton, 2018), adults with severe intellectual developmental disabilities (Holyfield, Light, McNaughton, Pope, & Drager, 2018), and young children with communication impairments participating in small group activities with their typical peers (Boyle, McCoy, McNaughton, & Light, 2017). It should be noted that the T2L feature includes other components besides motion and it is not possible to tease out the relative contributions of each component.…”