Implementing Dialogic Reading Intervention Through Community-Based Participatory Research: A Tutorial

Purpose: This work describes community-based participatory research (CBPR) to support language and literacy development with Pre-K and kindergarten African American boys. Method: The aim and goals of the project were designed using the CBPR model. Interventionists were trained with researcher-designed videos. Interventionist fidelity to training was assessed. Pre- and posttests of child language were completed after the 12 weeks of dialogic reading intervention. Results: The CBPR team learned the dialogic reading protocol from the video trainings and provided the lessons with fidelity. Children's postintervention scores of sound-matching and nonword repetition increased significantly. Postintervention changes in lexical diversity and productive syntax were age graded, such that younger children's scores increased over time whereas older children's scores decreased. Conclusions: CBPR is a viable method for speech-language pathologists seeking to develop language and literacy lessons for low resource communities. Self-paced videos can effectively train interventionists to provide dialogic reading lessons with fidelity. Young children's sound-matching and nonword repetition skills can improve significantly with 12 weeks of dialogic reading lessons.