Teacher's Reading-Aloud Styles on Vocabulary

     This week's article, Effects of Teachers' Reading-Aloud Styles on Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of Students in the Early Elementary Grades, is an insightful and thorough analysis of how three different read aloud styles-"just reading," "performance," and "interactional"impact the ability for first and third graders to succeed in vocabulary and comprehension.
      The authors, Edna Brabham and Carol Lynch-Brown make several interesting points in presenting their rational for the need for this type of research. We read in our text books every day, and hear it from our instructors, that read-alouds are very important in the elementary education classroom. However, sometimes we are confused as to whether they should be used for strictly enjoyment purposes, or for only educational purposes, or how they can be used most effectively. Brabham and Lynch-Brown indicate the need for understanding on what exactly makes a read-aloud effective, and how teachers can use different reading styles to "make reading aloud a more powerful toolf or literacy learning" (pg. 465). I agreed with the authors that this is an integral understanding for especially us, pre-service teachers, to have, because jumping into a classroom can be an overwhelming experience, and we want the best for our future students. I, personally, feel like some specific training in this department would be extremely beneficial.
    In their conclusion, the authors asserted that "verbally mediated, interactional, and performance reading-aloud styles are more effective for vocabulary acquisition than is just reading aloud with no discussion." (pg. 471). I think this assertion was kind of a "given," so to speak, because as we have learned over time,  verbal discussion, analyzation, and explanation of literature helps to reinforce understanding and comprehension. I absolutely agree with the authors, however, I think this was a very reasonable hypothesis, and the study yielded very expected results in this particular probe. I did find it reassuring, however, that using the frequent interaction style did not diminish comprehension. I have always been afraid that if I stop and talk too much with the students in particular places, that the "whole effect" of the story may be lost.
    Unfortunately, since no "best" way to use this process was uncovered, it will continue to lead me to the question of which one really is the absolutely most effective way? Are their guides out there with notes and information as to how to do a really great "interactional" or really magnificent "performance" read-aloud? As a person who is meticulous, and always likes to know the correct answer, the room for unknown is kind of scary, in this high stakes testing environment that has overwhelmed our public schools. I want to know how exactly I need to teach my students so that they will be successful. Hopefully, more research will continue to be done on the subject, and more enlightenment will come to educational academia in this way, so that we future teachers can be the best that we can be!