Bookstart Around the World 1
Bookstart Around the World that these children ha
d better results in language tests (Berg, 2015). By means of language tests,5 this study is one of the few that have been able to demonstrate a causal correlation between stimuli from exposure to books and language skills in children (Ibid.). Additionally, the study also describes how BoekStart affects language development in temperamental children; i.e., children who are prone to anger and frustration in everyday activities (Berg, 2015). The study shows that temperamental children run a greater risk of falling behind in their language development. The study also examines the hypothesis that parents of temperamental children will be less inclined to engage in literacy activities in the home together with their children, since, for obvious reasons, it is more difficult. However, the results show that BoekStart can serve as an incentive to parents to continue with these activities in spite of any negative reactions from their children (Berg, 2015). The results thus show that BoekStart can serve as a protection against these children falling behind in their language development, because their parents are more likely to engage in literacy activities than they would otherwise have been. The third study examines which parents are attracted to participate in BoekStart. Interviewees were selected at random from amongst parents of young children during medical checkups. The results show that parents who describe their children as temperamental are much more likely to collect their free books. Some parents also participated in a socalled LENA test. This involved recording verbal interactions between children and their parents for a period of time in order to measure the extent to which such verbal interaction between a child and its parents occurs in the home. In cases where the verbal interaction in the home was either considerably limited or very extensive, parents seem to be more inclined to collect the free books. It is therefore those parents at opposite ends of the spectrum (very high or very low levels of verbal interaction) who primarily appear to be attracted to the programme. Unfortunately, the results also show that parents with a low level of education are less likely to collect their free books than parents with a high level of education. The study concludes that BoekStart is an effective programme for parents who are well educated and for parents with temperamental children. However, there is a risk that the programme intensifies the socalled Matthew effect (described in more detail in chapter 4) in reading (Berg, 2015). This result is also one of the reasons why the BoekStart coaches described earlier were introduced (Interview 3). There are certain challenges with this model, such as the fact that it is more difficult to reach out to families with a lower socioeconomic status, meaning that that they are slightly less inclined to collect their free books (Bos, 2019). 3.6 Germany The bookgifting programme in Germany was started in 2011 by the national organisation for promoting reading, the German Reading Foundation. The German Reading Foundation is a nonprofit organisation funded by the government and through donations and partnerships. The Lesestart bookgifting programme is financed exclusively by the government, which has secured funding until 2027 (Interview 4; the German Reading Foundation, 2020). The national level supports local practitioners in various ways. Books that are given away are paid for on 5. Language tests are often performed in similar ways in different studies; a common method being McArthur CDI, which was also used in this study. The language tests used in the studies often focus on measuring a child’s receptive and expressive vocabulary, which essentially means the words that a child can understand (receptive) and express verbally (expressive). 17/52