Study: Black Kids Benefit Greatly From Oral Storytelling
Photo credits: Ken Bedell/sites.ed.gov
A current research study has shown that when black children are read stories orally, it greatly enhances their individual reading performance and appreciation for good literature.
However, there is a difference in the effectiveness of oral storytelling for black girls and black boys. The difference lies in the age when it becomes most effective to read aloud to black boys and girls.
The report based on this study was recently published in an academic journal called Child Development. This study is entitled Different Tales: The Role of Gender in the Oral Narrative-Reading Link Among African American Children.
Researchers from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted the study while observing 72 black children (38 girls and 34 boys).
All of the children who were observed during the study were enrolled in preschool through the sixth grade. Dr. and Dr.
Findings indicate that although girls demonstrated stronger narrative skills, their narrative skills did not moderate change in reading,” the authors wrote.