Proposal Xiao Y

Research Proposal

Buddy Reading in The Preschool Classroom of Rural China

Xiao Yin

University of Arizona

College of Education

Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural

Studies

Program: Language, Reading & Culture

LRC 696d:

Language Research Methodology in Education:

Developmental Design in Literacy Research

Summer 2015, Pre-session

Introduction

Preschool education is crucial for a child’s growth,

creating lasting impacts for future developments. There

is a growing body of literature that documents the

benefits of preschool education and the ways quality

programs can support early language and literacy learning

(Lennox, 2013). However,it is unfortunate that in China

still 23 million rural children remain without access to

3-year preschool education (Human People to People,

2014). Given such situation, the NGO, Human People to

People has launched a program named Preschools of the

Future (PoF), to facilitate early childhood education for

underprivileged children in rural China. Out of

geographic and economic necessity, multiage grouping

remains a reality in these preschool classrooms. Although

many early childhood educators (Gaustad, 1997; Katz,

1992; Pavan, 1992) believe that multiage preschool

classrooms allow for more developmentally appropriate

learning, my pilot research on PoF shows that lacking of

appropriate curriculum to facilitate the learning of

preschoolers with in different and developmental stages

in one classroom is still a difficulty frequently

reported by most of the teachers. The previous study

(Fuchs & Burish, 2000) suggests that one means of

addressing student diversity is to supplement traditional

instruction with collaborative, peer-mediated

arrangement. Inspired by such notion, under the teachers’

call for proper literacy practice in multiage preschool

classroom, this research attempts to explore the

advantage of multiage grouping for emergent literacy

development by implementing cross-age buddy-reading as a

curriculum intervention in one of the PoF classrooms.

Specifically, This study will investigate how the

interaction style of cross-age buddy reading could

potentially support these emergent readers’

engagement with reading behaviors.

Related literature

Buddy-reading

Research confirms that understanding and facilitating

emergent readers’ comprehension processes with text is

important because these abilities are related to their

reading comprehension achievement in later grades

(Fernald, Marchman, & Weisleder, 2013; Reese, Suggate,

Long, & Schaughency, 2010; van den Broek et al., 2005).

Several research studies have found that augmenting

traditional classroom instruction with one-on-one

interventions, such as a reading buddies program, is a

powerful combination to provide opportunities for

rich, meaningful, and intentional instruction in ways

that improve outcomes (Kalkowski 1995).

Oriented by Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective of

learning (Vygotsky, 1978) as well as Rosenblatt’s

transactional view of reading, Christ, Chiu and Wang

initiated a program in which buddy reading was

introduced and examined as a curricular intervention

to promote early literacy development in a Head Start

preschool classroom in the northeastern United

States. Within this program, different aspects of

buddy reading were examined, including emergent

readers' social interaction styles and their

comprehension processes, the Opportunities to Use and

Learn Theme-Related Vocabulary and how preschoolers’

engagements with reading behaviors related to their

buddies’ engagements with reading behaviors.

Microgenetic learning analysis combined with

statistic discourse analysis are the main method

adopted in these researches. The database included 40

video taped buddy reading events across four weeks.

The conversations of children in buddy reading were

open-coded. Various variables according to different

research questions were identified. Then, statistic

discourse analysis was conducted to measure the

correlation between variables. The series of research

indicated that: 1. Some of preschoolers’ reading

behaviors, such as literal text representation,

inferential text interpretation, character

development and comprehension monitoring were related

to their buddies’ engagement with reading behaviors.

2. Three patterns of social interactions were

identified in buddy reading: collaborative, tutor–

tutee, and parallel. Each differentially affected

opportunities for using and learning theme-related

vocabulary. 3.Children’s interaction styles were

differentially related to comprehension processes:

the collaborative style was related to the use of the

most comprehension processes.

Methods

This study is designed to be a one-year ethnographic case

study. One of the preschool classrooms under the PoF

program will be included to conduct in-depth

investigation. In addition, Micro-genetic learning

analysis (MLA) as a sub-method will be implemented to

closely examine the effectiveness of buddy-reading as a

curriculum intervention in this context. For the main

focus of this proposal is the micro-developmental

research part, the following sections will concentrate on

the design of MLA on buddy reading.

Context

Zhenkang County a nationally designated poverty county is

located in Lincang City in the south-western part of

Yunnan province. The overall education resource is

Zhenkang is scarce, especially in the sector of preschool

education. Prior to 2003, preschool education at the

township level was almost absent. There was only one

county level kindergarten and an additional Mengdui

factory preschool which was very small in scale. In

August 2008, HPP launched the Preschools of the Future

project into action in 23 villages of Zhenkang County.

Children aged 3-6 share the same class, every class will

have 20-30 children. Each class has a parents’ committee

which is responsible for electing potential candidates

from within the village to become teachers for the

classes after receiving related training. HPP trains the

teachers and provides them with a holistic child centred

teaching curriculum. HPP also give guidance to the

parents’ committee on topics of early childhood

development, nutrition, health and hygiene. The research

will be conducted in one the village’s classes.

Participants

Since this is a single class case study, the main

participants include twenty to thirty preschoolers aged 3

to 6 in the classroom.

Intervention design

Buddy reading will be organized daily for eight weeks

for 15 to 20 minute sessions at the end of the school

day. All children will read both with different age

peers and same age peers of various mixed abilities.

Buddies can be self-selected by the children each

day, so they may change across events.

During each session, each dyad will select and

construct meaning with two to four books from those

that have previously been read aloud to them as part

of instruction. The read-aloud acted as a model for

constructing meaning with each text and thus acted to

support their meaning construction process. Books

will be selected based on their appropriateness for

this age group. Children will read the book based on

the illustrations, and stop to discuss the book’s

content when they want.

To prepare children for buddy reading, I will

cooperate with the teacher to first model the

procedural practices for the class. Next, I will

observe buddies’ reading together and scaffold these

procedures as necessary. Finally, buddies are

supposed to read independently (no scaffolding). The

data used in analysis will come from only the

independent reading events.

Data collection & Data analysis

Across eight weeks, the buddy reading events of each pair

combination within the twenty students will be video

recorded. Children’s interactions during buddy reading

will be transcribed verbatim, yielding a database

consisting of thousands of conversation turns across

all the reading events. A conversation turn begins

when one child starts speaking and end when another

child take over speaking.

As for data analysis, first of all, the database will be

open coded. Information, as Wolcott (1994) refers “items

of possible importance” to research purpose, concerning

the buddies’ interaction style, comprehension process

will be coded to form initial categories. Then inspired

by Christ, Chiu and Wang’s (2012; 2014) studies, a

multidimensional coding system will be adopted to

identify the potential theme emerged from data. Based on

the previous research findings, the table below shows the

potential variables may be identified and how

multidimensional coding system is supposed to applied in

data analysis.

Data Analysis

Multidimensional coding system

Predictor Variables

OutcomeVariables

(Dependentvariables)

Conversationturns

Social Interaction Styles

Parallel

Collaborative

Tutor

Tutee

Comprehension Processes

Text representation and interpretation

e.g.) Explicit Information

Misinformation Inference Emotional Response

Comprehension monitoring

e.g.) Identifies misinformation

Questions for information

Predicts

Rereads

Repeats

Extends Idea

Each turn of the buddy-reading conversation

Potential result

By comparing the interaction style of cross-age pairs

and same-age pairs in buddy reading and analyzing the

impacts of buddy reading on emergent reading’s

comprehension process, this research is supposed to

test whether buddy-reading could be an effective

literacy practice to promote early literacy

development in the multiage preschool of rural China

Reference

Chiu, M. M., Christ, T., & Wang, X. C. (2015). Emergent readers' social interaction styles and their

comprehension processes during buddy reading. Literacy Research and Instruction, 54(1), 45-66. doi:10.1080/19388071.2014.968301

Christ, T., Ming Chiu, M., & Wang, X. C. (2014). Preschoolers’ engagement with reading behaviours: A statistical discourse analysis of peer buddy‐reading interactions. Journal of Research in Reading, 37(4), 375-408. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9817.2012.01541.x

Christ, T., & Wang, X. (2012). Young children's opportunities to use and learn theme-related vocabulary through buddy "reading". Literacy Research and Instruction, 51(4), 273-291. doi:10.1080/19388071.2011.568671

Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234–248.

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