Scaffolding and engagement are coupled during shared book reading’s word-learning moments

This study tested the hypothesis that caregiver scaffolding and child engagement are tightly coupled during shared book reading's word-learning moments. It also examined whether this coupling is consistent or variable across print and digital reading media. Word-learning episodes were coded from a corpus of videorecorded shared-reading interactions between caregiver-child dyads (<i>N</i> = 78, children's age range = 4;0-5;11). Results support the prediction that scaffolding and engagement are coupled during word-learning moments. This coupling was robust across reading media. Further, child age was a significant predictor of engagement. These findings confirm that engagement is a critical social interaction mechanism involved in the scaffolding process that supports word learning.