A Literature Review of Teacher-Child Interactions During Shared Reading in Chinese Kindergartens

This study reviews shared book reading practices in Chinese kindergartens from an interactive perspective. Shared reading is widely recognized as a vital approach to support young children’s language, cognitive, and social development. In recent years, the focus on the quality of teacher-child interaction has grown, as it plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of shared reading. Drawing upon theoretical foundations and empirical studies, this review explores the evaluation methods and the current state of teacher-child interactions during shared book reading in Chinese early childhood settings. The findings reveal that shared reading is a triadic process involving adults, children, and picture books, with preschool teachers playing a pivotal role in guiding the interaction. However, Chinese preschool teachers were found to perform weakest in the domain of instructional support, as measured by established assessment tools. The study concludes that enhancing teachers’ instructional support capacities is essential for improving the quality of shared reading interactions and, ultimately, early literacy outcomes. This review provides valuable insights for future research and teacher professional development in early childhood education.