Coaching Bilingual Chinese Mothers Ask Higher-Level Questions in Dialogic Reading

Abstract

During a community reading program with Chinese mothers, the researcher in this study helped the mothers with higher-level questions to promote young children’s abstract and critical thinking. With a multiple baseline design, the researcher of the current study coached five mothers of young children on how to ask Higher-level questions during dialogic reading. With timely feedback and collaborative work with the coach, the coachees significantly increased their number of higher-level questions. The children participating in this study also improved greatly in their expressive vocabulary. The results of the study indicate that these parents need explicit instruction on higher-level questions and coaching in a one-on-one format was effective in improving the critical thinking skills of children.