‘Not the same bedtime story again’? Why?
Repeating children’s stories boosts their vocabulary
Children who demand the same story be read to them over and over maybe learning more than those who choose a different tale every time, according to academics.
Research at the University of Sussex has found that repetition in reading storybooks is more likely to help a child acquire a broader vocabulary.
Psychologist Dr Jessica Horst and her team devised an experiment in which three-year-olds were exposed to two new words. Over the course of a week, one group heard three different stories with the same new words.
Another group heard only one of the stories with the same new words. When tested after a week, those who had heard just one story were much better at recalling the words than those who had been exposed to three different stories.
The study is published in ‘Frontiers in Psychology’, 17th February 2011.
Daily Telegraph, Monday, 21st Feb 2011.
