Promoting reading 1
An analysis of the questionnaires addressed to pa
rents who had participated in Bookstart showed that 71 per cent of parents had purchased more books for their children as a result of Bookstart, and that 28 per cent spent more time on books with their children (Wade & Moore 2003). For a summary in Swedish of the evaluations of this project before 2012, the reader is referred to Kerstin Rydsjö’s report. A major research project on the effects of the Danish Bogstart programme began in 2013, led by researcher Dorthe Bleses, who had previously participated in a detailed evaluation of the programme (Bleses & Andersen 2011). The study had the intention of including all families that had received free book packs between 2013 and 2016. The project aims to examine, among other things, to what extent Bogstart has affected the communicative and language development of children in Bogstart families. In Sweden, Bokstart is running as a pilot scheme inspired by the UK’s Bookstart and Denmark’s Bogstart. Starting in March 2015, three pilot projects have been running in parts of Gothenburg, Landskrona and Södertälje. Home visits Home visits as a reading promotion method were tested in the 1980s in an outreach project called BokNallen (Markaryd), which became part of a wider municipally financed language programme. The BokNallen project was evaluated as part of a licentiate thesis by Ann-Katrin Svensson, who reported many good results in terms of the children’s language ability and parental awareness (Svensson 1989). Internationally, home visits are a proven reading promotion method where families with children are the target group. Bryant & Wasik (2004) and Gomby (2012) have each summarised the research on the home visit method within the family literacy programmes. The benefits of home visits as a reading promotion method include being able to meet the family as a group on their own terms, at times that suit their schedules. Furthermore, home visitors can get information about the child’s home learning environment and the cultural and/or socio-economic factors that may impact on the child’s reading development. Home visitors are also afforded the opportunity to tailor the programme material to suit a specific family’s needs. One of the key factors that determine the quality of the implementation of home visits in family literacy programmes is the training of staff, which raises questions of budget and resources. The staff who carry out home visits need a range of skills, such as a good ability to observe, listen and ask questions. In her doctoral thesis Tidig språkstimulering av barn (Early childhood language stimulation) (1993), Ann-Katrin Svensson investigated whether or not language stimulation programmes that include home visits could increase parental involvement in the child’s intellectual and language development, and whether it is possible to influence children’s language and general development in this way. The starting point for the study is that there is a need for more information to be provided to parents concerning the importance of language stimulation. In the study, a type of intervention programme similar to Bookstart was carried out, with free book packs and home visits. The results showed improved attitudes among parents to reading, and increases in reading and borrowings from the library. However, Svensson points out the limitations of the study, related to what is termed the Hawthorne effect – the alteration of behaviour by the sub34