Shared Book Reading for Spanish-Speaking Emergent Bilinguals: A Review of Experimental Studies

It is expected that all students in the United States learn to read English well. This task is more complex for emergent bilinguals (EBs), the majority of whom speak Spanish, who are simultaneously developing their English language proficiency. Although several syntheses have documented the positive effects of shared book reading (SBR) in school settings on students’ language growth, the majority of these have either not included EBs or addressed their participants’ language learner status. In this review, we sought to identify all peer-reviewed experimental study reports examining the effects of SBR on language-related outcomes for Spanish-speaking EBs. We identified 17 relevant studies, 11 of which we determined met What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) quality standards with or without reservations. Of these, 10 also demonstrated statistically significant effects on at least one language-related outcome. Included studies primarily examined vocabulary outcomes, with mostly medium to large effect sizes found on researcher-designed (RD) measures. We reported on components found across different SBR interventions, and made recommendations for practice and future research.