Contextual Support in the Home for Children's Early Literacy Development

Abstract

Home literacy environment (HLE) refers to the physical, interpersonal, and emotional / motivational factors in the home that have been found to be important for children’s literacy development. In this paper, the emergence of HLE research, its conceptualizations, and the effects of HLE factors, will be reviewed with an emphasis on the relations between HLE and children’s early literacy skills. Challenges faced by HLE researchers are also considered, and three aspects of issues are identified: privacy sensitivity, measure validity, and intervention fidelity. Apart from what is already known, this paper will also provide a summary of possible goals for future research.