ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of picture book shared reading training for marriage-immigrant Koreanmothers of young children with poor to moderate levels of Korean language skill. The training courseoffered opportunities for mothers to learn to read Korean picture storybooks and to share these with theirchildren. The course instructor conducted interviews with the mothers, both before the course started andat its end. Observations were made in the Philippine Center in Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, South Korea. Thetype of book, the purpose of reading, and desire for child responding required different story readingstrategies: Word-by-word reading, adopting voices for characters, adding the reader’s interpretation orasking questions of the listener, adapting the story by changing parts of sentences, and reading someparts of the picture book, while omitting others. The course benefited the mothers’ story-sharing skillsand their parental efficacy beliefs. Korean language teaching materials and their use are discussed, alongwith implications for governmental inclusion policies for people whose backgrounds are not in Koreanculture.

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