A triadic model of bilingual shared reading: Contributions of the book, parent, and child in shaping dual language use

This study proposes and tests a triadic model of shared reading in bilingual contexts. Sixty-two Spanish-English bilingual parents (92% mothers, 88% Latino) and children (M=3.86 years, 51.6% male) read an English-only Monolingual book and bilingual Codeswitching book with Spanish words embedded in English text. Both parents and children produced more Spanish and codeswitching when sharing Codeswitching vs. Monolingual books, and dyads’ Spanish use was positively correlated while reading both books. These findings reveal that books, parents, and children all make meaningful contributions to the learning opportunities available during shared reading, consistent with the proposed triadic model. This framework can inform a deeper understanding of shared reading interactions that include diverse language experiences and environments.