Dialogic Reading Through Smart Technology with Elementary EFL Students

Given that learning English as a foreign language (EFL) poses more language problems to young children who already have problems concerning reading in their mother-tongue, this study aims to both exemplify and investigate the use of dialogic reading (DR) in an EFL class for elementary school children. The effectiveness of a shared reading activity adopting DR strategies on the reading comprehension of ten young EFL learners was tested employing a one group pretest-posttest research design. Adopting a mixed methods approach, the quantitative data were elicited through the pre and post-test results and the qualitative data from the pre and post intervention interviews with the teacher. Wilcoxon signed ranks test revealed a significant difference between the pre and post test results. The qualitative analysis of the data gathered from the post-intervention interviews with the teacher displayed the themes as positive attitudes towards English, improved comprehension, built self-esteem, better linguistic skills and developed social skills. Although this experimental study was a small scale study, it was suggested that DR had a significant potential for enhancing young learners’ reading skills in English.