The effects of book exposure and reading interest on oral language skills of children with and without a familial risk of dyslexia.

Ømur Caglar‐Ryeng,Kenneth Eklund,Trude Nergård‐Nilssen

doi:10.1002/dys.1657

Abstract

The potential role of home literacy environment (HLE) in children's language development has been widely studied. However, data on the HLE of children with familial risk (FR) of dyslexia are limited. In this longitudinal study, we examined (a) whether amount of book exposure and reading interest at age 4 were different in samples of Norwegian FR and no FR-children, respectively, (b) whether these home literacy-related factors exerted different effects depending on family-risk status on vocabulary and grammar skills at school entry age (6 years) and (c) whether they contributed independently to language outcomes at age 6, after controlling for the 4;6-year language skills. Results showed no significant between-group differences in book exposure and reading interest. Furthermore, while interest in reading did not affect vocabulary and grammar in either group, book exposure contributed to vocabulary skills only in the FR-group by school entry. However, this longitudinal association was mediated by lexical skills at age 4;6, implying that the HLE has a positive indirect effect on later language development through its effect on early language. Thus, these findings can be taken to suggest that early intervention including exposure to various book-reading activities for pre-school FR-children with poor expressive vocabulary is worth considering.

Highlights

Parents and the home literacy environment (HLE) they create are considered to have an important role in the development of children's language and literacy skills, and understanding fully the role of HLE is of continued interest (e.g., Bus, Van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Frijters, Barron, & Brunello, 2000; Grolig, Cohrdes, TiffinRichards, & Schroeder, 2019; Niklas & Schneider, 2017)
No differences were found in mother's education or children's age related to the date of mother's reports of child's book exposure and interest in book reading
This longitudinal study was undertaken to investigate whether amount of book exposure and interest in reading were different in samples of Norwegian familial risk (FR)-children and no family risk (NoFR)-children

Summary

Introduction

Parents and the home literacy environment (HLE) they create are considered to have an important role in the development of children's language and literacy skills, and understanding fully the role of HLE is of continued interest (e.g., Bus, Van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Frijters, Barron, & Brunello, 2000; Grolig, Cohrdes, TiffinRichards, & Schroeder, 2019; Niklas & Schneider, 2017). While some studies report differences between the HLE experienced by children at family risk of dyslexia compared with those not at risk (e.g., Dilnot, Hamilton, Maughan, & Snowling, 2017; Scarborough, 1991), other studies report no difference (e.g., Elbro, Borstrøm, & Petersen, 1998; Torppa et al, 2007; van Bergen, de Jong, Maassen, & van der Leij, 2014). By considering whether FR-status serves as a moderating factor in this relationship, we investigate to what extent home literacy practices assessed at age 4 could predict broader oral language skills (i.e., vocabulary and grammar) around the time of school entry (age 6) in children with and without FR

Methods

Results

Conclusion