The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on literacy promotion urges pediatricians to encourage families and caregivers to read to their children, early and often. When caregivers read to their children, significant social-emotional, developmental, and academic benefits flourish.
Oral language is strengthened when readers engage in conversation or questioning during or after reading. Research shows that conversations between adults and children, about books or otherwise, are critical for language development. Researchers have highlighted the strong connection between early conversational turn-taking and later cognitive outcomes, including IQ (see Romeo et al., 2018). They found that the number of back-and-forth exchanges between children and adults was associated with increased activation in Broca’s area, stronger white matter connectivity in language-related brain regions, and higher verbal IQ scores. Similarly, Zimmerman et al. (2009) demonstrated that adult-child conversations were more predictive of language development than word count alone. Gilkerson et al. (2018) further showed that the frequency of conversational turns between 18 and 24 months predicted verbal comprehension, vocabulary, and IQ in late childhood, even after controlling for socioeconomic status. These findings underscore the critical role of responsive, interactive language experiences in early brain and language development. It is important to note that language development in a child’s home language is recommended even if it is not their language of instruction.
Pediatricians are encouraged to continue stressing the importance of parents and caregivers reading to their children and engaging in back-and-forth conversations with them. This is particularly important in light of the increased use of screens and technology (both among children and caregivers), where opportunities for back-and-forth conversation all but disappear.
ACTION STEP: During visits, stress the importance of language development over screen time. This is a good opportunity to point caregivers to The Reading League’s conversation starters, which were previously mentioned in the introduction.
Additionally, pediatricians can work with reputable organizations that support language development and book access. These resources provide guidance on the importance of language comprehension and shared book reading: