Reading aloud to first grade students: A case study of Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1. Names of the chosen English and Arabic books

English book names	Arabic book names
I Can Do It	من هو
The Very Hungry Caterpillar	الكذبة التي ك برت
Lola at the Library	بلال وعامر
The Little Engine that Could	ليس بعد
The Napping House	ضاع حدائي
Ferdinand the Bull	غسان يعرف ما هواحلى مكان

Table 2. Names of the chosen English and Arabic books (with words from each)

Name of the book	Words chosen	Name of the book	Words chosen
I Can Do It	let me, almost, storybook	من هو	البناء, المنير, جنينا, تضيء, نلجاء
The Very Hungry Caterpillar	plum, butterfly, cocoon, tummy ache	الكذبة التي كبرت	بوضة, تمزق, ارتبكت, نثر, مخلوقات
Lola at the Library	buzz, librarian, tucked in, borrow	بلال وعامر	طابة, دواليب, عربته, النتيجة
Ferdinand the Bull		غسان يعرف ما هواحلى مكان	أحلى مكان, جبل, بيت, جلس
The Little Engine that Could	engine, pull, tears, clown	ليس بعد	واجب, أفضل, دميتي, قلم
The Napping House	snoring, cozy, scare, wakeful	ضاع حدائي	حدائي, بيت, طين

Table 3. The mean scores for enjoyment of the reading sessions in both groups (based on time)

	Mean of the total sample (95% CI) n = 7	Group A mean (95% CI) n = 6	Group B mean (95% CI) n = 7 *
First (or early) session	3.57 (2.84–4.00)	3.50 (2.62–4.00)	2.71 (1.44–3.99)
Last (or late) session	3.71 (3.26–4.00)	3.67 (3.12–4.00)	2.86 (1.87–3.85)
t-score	− 0.42	− 0.41	− 0.24
P-value	0.69	0.69	0.82

* Sessions 3 and 9 were used to calculate the differences in the mean scores for enjoyment of the reading sessions, due to the small sample sizes in Sessions 1 and 10.

Table 4. The mean scores for enjoyment of the reading sessions in both groups (based on the language)

	Mean (95% CI) n = 19	Group A mean (95% CI) n = 9	Group B mean (95% CI) n = 10
English reading session	3.09 (2.67–3.53)	3.38 (2.75–4.00)	2.90 (2.25–3.54)
Arabic reading session	2.75 (2.33–3.16)	3.20 (2.65–3.75)	2.42 (1.83–3.00)
t-score	2.02	1.21	1.70
P-value	0.06	0.26	0.12

Table 5. The mean scores for reading alone in both groups (based on time)

	Mean of the total sample (95% CI) n = 7	Group A mean (95% CI) n = 5 *	Group B mean (95% CI) n = 6 **
First (or early) session	0.57 (0.8–1.07)	1.00 (1.00–1.00) ***	0.50 (0.00–1.38)
Last (or late) session	1.14 (0.31–1.97)	1.00 (0.12–1.88)	1.00 (0.00–2.00)
t-score	− 1.92	0.00	− 1.00
P-value	0.10	1.00	0.36

* Session 3 was used as the baseline, due to the small sample size in Session 1. ** Session 4 was used as the baseline, due to the small sample size in Session 1. *** All of the respondents gave the same response (i.e., “sometimes”).

Table 6. The differences in the favorite parts of the books between both groups

	Group A n = 7	Group B n = 6	Total n = 13*
Pictures	2 (28.6%)	3 (50.0%)	5 (38.5%)
Words	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Listening	0 (0%)	1 (16.7%)	1 (7.7%)
Everything	5 (71.4%)	2 (33.3%)	7 (53.9%)

* χ² = 2.42; p-value:.39

Table 7. The mean number of sessions in which a new word was learned in both groups

	Mean number of sessions
Group A n = 10	1.88 (0.19–3.58)
Group B n = 10	2.18 (0.78–3.59)
t-score	− 0.30
P-value	0.76

Table 8. The mean number of new words learned during the reading sessions in both languages

	Mean number of sessions n = 20
English reading session	0.70 (0.30–1.10)
Arabic reading session	1.10 (0.46–1.74)
t-score	1.40
P-value	0.18

Table 9. Teachers’ feedback on the students’ behaviors during the reading sessions in both groups

	Group A	Group B	Total
Imitating sounds and actions	2 (14.3%)	1 (5.3%)	3 (9.1%)
Focused and engaged	2 (14.3%)	7 (36.8%)	9 (27.3%)
Focused, but can be distracted	9 (64.3%)	4 (21.1%)	13 (39.4%)
Focused, but easily distracted	0 (0%)	3 (15.8%)	3 (9.1%)
Moving, but actively listening	1 (7.1%)	0 (0%)	1 (3.0%)
Not engaged	0 (0%)	4 (21.1%)	4 (12.1%)
TOTAL	14	19	33

Table 10. Teachers’ feedback on the students’ behaviors after the reading sessions in both groups

	Group A	Group B	Total
Demonstrating comprehension	5 (62.5%)	5 (50.0%)	10 (55.6%)
Listening with engagement	0 (0%)	1 (10.0%)	1 (5.6%)
Listening with limited engagement	2 (25.0%)	1 (10.0%)	3 (16.7%)
Listening, but not engaged	0 (0%)	1 (10.0%)	1 (5.6%)
Not listening	1 (12.5%)	2 (20.0%)	3 (16.7%)
TOTAL	8	10	18

Figure 1. Proportion of the students responding to the vocabulary words in a single session

Figure 2. Proportion of the students responding to vocabulary words in each reading session

Table

My name is ———————–	I’m a Girl	I’m a Boy
How do you feel when reading?	Excited	Happy	Nervous	Bored
How did you feel during THIS reading activity?	Excited	Happy	Nervous	Bored
Do you like reading in English or Arabic?	English	Arabic	Both	I don’t know
Do you like reading alone?	YES	NO	Sometimes
What is your favorite part of a book?	Pictures	Words	Listening	Everything
Did you learn a new word? (You can spell how it sounds)	Yes, I do. What is the word? —————-	No,	I don’t remember
I usually read with?	Friends	Mom/Dad	Teacher at school

Table

Name	Subject Taught	Time spent with the Students Throughout the Day	Additional Comments	Additional Observations
Response to reading activities. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Over excited	Energetic	Motivated	Focused (able to answer questions)	Not interested	No Change
Overall mood. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Happy	Sad	Bored	Angry	Confused	No change
The students are motivated by reading. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Are they using books more often? Less often? Has anyone asked for the same books from the library? No change?	Are the students discussing the activity outside of the reading time?	Are they excited for the next reading activity? Why or why not?	Are they quiet or excited after the reading activity?	Do they try to recreate the story? Do they act it out in class or playtime?	Are they drawing anything from the story?
The students’ attitudes toward reading Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Do they resist the reading?	Does it take less time to settle down for the reading activity? When did this occur? Why?	Do they request reading outside of the reading time? Do you think they read on their own?	Are they more excited for library time?	Any changes in the attitudes between the boys and the girls? Do you think this has anything to do with the choice of the story?	No Change
Vocabulary understanding. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Do they make the sounds and actions outside of the reading time?	Do you hear the vocabulary outside of the reading time?	Can the students remember and write the words?	Do the students ask about the vocabulary?
Interest and engagement during the reading activity. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	Who is focused and engaged? Who does not speak during the reading activity?	Are the students focused and do they speak out at least once or twice?	Are the students focused, but easily distracted and lose concentration at least once?	The students are not engaged and not listening.	The students are moving, but are actively listening.	The students are imitating the actions and sounds, and responding to the TPR method.
Listening skills Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	The students are listening and are interactive with all of the words during the reading sessions.	The students are only listening and responding (through physical interactions) to the repeated words. However, they forget the words that show up only once.	The students are actively listening for the words, but are only remembering to engage with a few words.	The students are listening, but are not responding through physical interactions.	The students are disengaged, not listening, and looking away.	Additional comments.
Overall teacher assessment. Please write the students’ names that you notice in Class A or Class B	The students are more engaged in the interactive reading sessions than in the traditional reading sessions.	The students prefer: English or Arabic	The students would benefit more from?	How did the reading sessions affect the students’ overall vocabulary?	How did the reading sessions affect the students’ overall listening skills?	Additional comments

Table

Word

Student response. 1^st

Student response. 2^nd

Student response. 3^rd

Student response. 4^th

Student response. 5^th

Table

Group	Group	Code
	A (control)	1
	B (experimental)	2
Gender	Gender	Code
	Boy	0
	Girl	1
Q: How do you feel when reading?
Enjoy	Response	Code
	Excited	4
	Happy	3
	Nervous	2
	Bored	1
Q: How did you feel during THIS reading activity?
Current	Response	Code
	Excited	4
	Happy	3
	Nervous	2
	Bored	1
Q: Do you like reading in English or Arabic?
Langpref	Response	Code
	English	1
	Arabic	2
	Both	3
	Don’t know	88
Q: Do you like reading alone?
Readalone	Response	Code
	Yes	2
	No	0
	Sometimes	1
Q: What is your favorite part of a book?
Favepart	Response	Code
	Pictures	1
	Words	2
	Listening	3
	Everything	4
Q: Did you learn a new word?
Newword	Response	Code
	Yes	1
	No	0
	Don’t remember	88
Q: Who do you usually read with?
Readwith	Response		Code
	Friends		1
	Mom/Dad		2
	Teacher		3
	All		4
Lang	Language used		Code
	English		1
	Arabic		2
_N	Date		N
	04-Feb		1
	06-Feb		2
	11-Feb		3
	13-Feb		4
	18-Feb		5
	20-Feb		6
	27-Feb		7
	04-Mar		8
	06-Mar		9
	11-Mar		10
Group	Group		Code
	A (control)		1
	B (experimental)		2
Gender	Gender		Code
	Boy		0
	Girl		1
Q: How do you feel when reading?
Enjoy	Response		Code
	Excited		4
	Happy		3
	Nervous		2
	Bored		1
Q: How did you feel during THIS reading activity?
Current	Response		Code
	Excited		4
	Happy		3
	Nervous		2
	Bored		1
Q: Do you like reading in English or Arabic?
Langpref	Response		Code
	English		1
	Arabic		2
	Both		3
	Don’t know		88
Q: Do you like reading alone?
Readalone	Response		Code
	Yes		2
	No		0
	Sometimes		1
Q: What is your favorite part of a book?
Favepart	Response		Code
	Pictures		1
	Words		2
	Listening		3
	Everything		4
Q: Did you learn a new word?
Newword	Response		Code
	Yes		1
	No		0
	Don’t remember		88
Q: Who do you usually read with?
Readwith	Response	Code
	Friends	1
	Mom/Dad	2
	Teacher	3
	All	4
Lang	Language used	Code
	English	1
	Arabic	2
_N	Date	N
	04-Feb	1
	06-Feb	2
	11-Feb	3
	13-Feb	4
	18-Feb	5
	20-Feb	6
	27-Feb	7
	04-Mar	8
	06-Mar	9
	11-Mar	10

Table

Group	Group	Code
	A (control)	1
	B (experimental)	2
Q: Response to reading activities (teacher survey)
Response	Response	Code
	Over excited	5
	Energetic	4
	Motivated	3
	Focused	2
	Not interested	1
	No change	0
Q: Overall mood (teacher survey)
Mood	Response	Code
	Happy	1
	Sad	2
	Bored	3
	Angry	4
	Confused	5
	No change	0
Q: Interest and engagement during the survey (teacher survey)
Engage	Response	Code
	Imitating	6
	Focused and engaged	5
	Focused but speaks out	4
	Listening but easily distracted	3
	Moving but listening	2
	Not engaged	1
Q: Listening skills (teacher survey)
Listen	Response	Code
	Listening with comprehension	5
	Listening with engagement	4
	Listening with limited engagement	3
	Listening but not engaged	2
	Not listening	1
Lang	Language used	Code
	English	1
	Arabic	2
_N	Date	N
	04-Feb	1
	06-Feb	2
	11-Feb	3
	13-Feb	4
	18-Feb	5
	20-Feb	6
	27-Feb	7
	04-Mar	8
	06-Mar	9
	11-Mar	10

Table

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
Overall	65.8%	62.9%	72.2%	58.7%	69.4%	57.5%	60.7%	35.7%	71.4%	57.1%	70.0%
Min	22.2%	28.6%	42.9%	28.6%	28.6%	28.6%	28.6%	14.3%	71.4%	57.1%	27.8%
Max	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	87.5%	100.0%	75.0%	100.0%	57.1%	71.4%	57.1%	100.0%
Median	62.5%	66.7%	71.4%	57.1%	78.6%	57.1%	57.1%	35.7%	71.4%	57.1%	70.8%
English	63.0%	58.8%	68.7%	56.2%	75.2%	57.5%	66.7%	35.7%	71.4%	57.1%	68.7%
Min
Max
Median
Arabic	71.8%	72.0%	80.0%	71.4%	28.6%	57.1%	42.9%	14.3%			72.5%
Min
Max
Median
Session	First use	All uses
1	62.5%	73.6%
2	45.7%	54.2%
3	81.3%	81.3%
4	83.3%	88.6%
5	74.3%	72.4%
6
7	57.1%	63.6%
8	50.0%	53.0%
9	83.3%	86.7%

Data availability statement

All relevant data are included in the appendices.