Özet:

Storybook reading at the kindergarten level is not given adequate attention by Arab parents and caregivers due to the perspective that children do not understand formal Arabic/FusHa and those children do not enjoy being read to from books. However, a body of research supports the hypothesis that storybook reading has a positive impact on children’s literacy development and reading interest. In support with the research findings, the results drawn from the current study which targeted Arab kindergartners indicated that exposing children to storybook reading appears to support early literacy for Arab kindergartners. There was a noticeable increase in the proportion of formal Arabic vocabulary and clauses in the kids’ utterances. Kindergartners have showed a positive progress on measures of comprehension and richly use of vocabulary and complex sentences in telling picture stories. Besides using words in FusHa, the children’s speech has tended to become more distinct and more grammatical. They will pronounce the end of words more clearly and can distinguish between singular and plural forms- both of these attributes of literary Arabic. Most importantly, the children’s reading motivation was positively influenced.

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