Preschoolers’ word learning and story comprehension during shared book reading

Abstract Providing instruction about picture-book vocabulary is an effective way to support preschoolers’ word learning. Often the instruction occurs while the book is being read, however this may increase cognitive load compared to providing vocabulary instruction before or after the book is read. If instruction provided during the story increases cognitive load, children might be more reliant on ancillary cognitive abilities to successfully learn the words and understand the storyline. Three-to-five-year-olds (N = 83) were read a storybook that included instruction on six new words. Instruction was provided either during (inside) or before/after (outside) the story. Children were then tested on their ability to identify the named items, generalize to unfamiliar exemplars, and comprehend the story. Word learning and story comprehension were above chance and similar across the inside and outside conditions. Memory skills were stronger predictors of word learning in the inside condition than the outside condition. These results suggest that interactive vocabulary instruction during the story may place more demands on preschoolers’ cognitive resources and may not be equally appropriate for all children.