Storybook Reading for Second Language Learning at Preschool: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Storybook reading has been recognized -Meibauer, 2011; Roberts, 2008; Stoltz et al., 2012; Van Horn & Fong, 2016; Walsh et al., 2014). The connections between reading and the linguistic gains in very young children may be the most widely studied area in first language (L1) development (Isbell et al., 2004); however, storybook reading for dual language learners has not aroused the interest of many researchers. This review aims to describe the current state of the art in the use of storybook for learning a second or foreign language during preschool years in Pan- American countries (Canada, United States, Central America, and Latin America). This revision looks at the reading methodologies, pedagogical interventions and the impact of implementing storybook reading on language learning. The study followed the steps of a systematic literature review, which include condense, synthesize, analyze and discover patterns among the insights provided by secondary data. In the first searching stage, 172 articles were collected from 4 databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and EBSCOhost. From the 172 articles collected about storybook reading for second or foreign language learning, only 17 met the criteria (11%). This literature review followed a mixed methods approach to data analysis, combining a qualitative review with statistics.