Effects of dialogic reading with Luganda primary 1 materials on children’s vocabulary and listening comprehension
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study designs: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial
Abstract: Dialogic reading structures teacher–child interaction around shared texts to support oral language development, yet its effects when integrated with familiar language curriculum materials in Ugandan Primary 1 classrooms remain underexamined. This parallel cluster-randomized trial evaluated a 10-week dialogic reading adaptation integrated into government-aligned Luganda Primary 1 pupil books and teacher guides. Twenty schools in central Uganda, each contributing one classroom, were randomized after baseline assessment to dialogic reading (10 clusters; 232 children) or usual instruction (10 clusters; 231 children). An independent statistician generated and implemented the concealed allocation sequence; outcome assessors were masked. Teachers in the intervention arm used PEER/CROWD-informed prompts within the curriculum’s “I do, We do, You do” sequence. Primary outcomes were Luganda vocabulary (0–20) and listening comprehension (0–12). Intention-to-treat multilevel models adjusted for baseline score, age, recorded sex, and classroom clustering, with Kenward–Roger small-sample inference and multiple imputation for missing post-test data. At post-test, adjusted vocabulary means were 12.6 (SE 0.36) and 9.4 (SE 0.35), respectively (difference 3.2, 95% CI 2.3–4.1; p < .001; Hedges’ g = 0.46). Adjusted listening-comprehension means were 7.8 (SE 0.21) and 6.3 (SE 0.20) (difference 1.5, 95% CI 0.4–2.6; p = .009; g = 0.31). These short-term effects support further evaluation of curriculum-embedded dialogic reading in Luganda-medium classrooms, including longer follow-up and implementation-cost studies.
Source: Discover Education
Author: David Kabugo
Institution: Makerere University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,390
OpenAlex ID: W7222522113