This Spring a new paper is out in the journal First Languagefrom the Read Lab (full version) on the surprising benefits of taking a …. pause before introducing a new word when reading aloud with a preschooler. It turns out that in structured texts (like our little rhyming stories) pausing just enough to give a child two or three seconds to think about what word might be coming next creates enough of an attentional orienting effect to help make that word extra memorable once you read it, and even at the end of the story. The fun part is that kids don’t even have to guess the word correctly to receive the memory boost, the pause just gives them a chance to interact a little bit more with the language that they are hearing. And, as we know from so much of the language learning work we do.. the more kids actively interact instead of just passively listening, the more they learn!

Stay tuned for pictures from the Jean Piaget Society meeting (Portland) and the Child Language Forum (Sheffield) where Dr. Read will be presenting these findings!