Parental Perspectives on Shared Reading Practices at Home

Abstract

Background Shared book reading is the interaction that occurs between child and adult when they look at or read a book together and it facilitates the development of emergent literacy and language skills. In India, oral narration of stories was the tradition and shared book reading is not a culturally familiar routine. Shared reading practice among preschoolers in India is a less explored research area. Aim The present study explores the parental perspectives and practices on shared reading at home and also its association with Socioeconomic status. Method Forty -one parents of 3-5 years old typically developing children with Malayalam as native language participated in the study. The questionnaire on 'Parental Perspectives on Storybook Reading in Indian Home Contexts' was used to understand the parental perspectives on shared reading, and the “Modified Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Scale” was used to understand the socioeconomic status of the family. Results 73.1% of parents reported that they began reading to their children between 2 and 4 years of age, 43.9% read 3–5 times per week, and 58.5% had fewer than 10 books in the home. The parental attitude and beliefs about shared reading did not correlate with SES and child's age. Conclusion Overall, the findings indicate that parents were aware of the benefits of storybook reading and were generally positive about it. The findings of this study provide preliminary information on the home literacy environment (HLE) in Kerala. Understanding more about the parental storybook reading practice will facilitate the development of parent programs to enhance and promote quality HLEs.