En BokNalle, vad är det? Att uppmuntra barn och föräldrar till språkstimulerande aktiviteter.

Abstract

This thesis is about a language-stimulating activity, called the Book Teddy, which take place in Markaryd, a small municipality in southern Sweden. The activity is described and some examples given of the Book Teddy's visits to the homes of parents and their preschool children. Similar activities in Värnamo, Kumla and Borås, which have been inspired by the Book Teddy are also described. Facts about children's psychology, language development and child language illustrate the importance of stimulating language acquisition in the early years. An important example is "The Bristol Study", a longitudinal study of preschool children. A questionnaire was sent to 93 parents, whose children were bom in 1991. 53 parents or 57% answered. The analysis was made out of these 53 questionnaires. The answers show that most of the parents liked the Book Teddy and enjoyed her visit. They also said that the visit of the Book Teddy had increased their knowledge of books, reading and language stimulating activities. Many of the parents seemed to have changed their role as parents too, some aware of it, others not.