The relationship between the home literacy environment and development of orthographic skills in Chinese beginning readers

Abstract

Within the framework of the home literacy model, this study investigated the relationship between home formal and informal literacy experiences and the development of orthographic skills among Chinese beginning readers. A total of 143 children and their parents participated in the study, with parents completing questionnaires on family background and home literacy environment, and children completing orthography identification and selection tasks. The results indicated that children who had just entered primary school could differentiate character-like stimuli from non-character-like stimuli and exhibited some knowledge of radicals and awareness of radical positions. Both home formal and informal literacy experiences were significantly correlated with children’s performance in various orthographic skills. However, after controlling for factors such as children’s age, gender, parents’ education, and family income, and simultaneously considering both formal and informal literacy experiences, only the informal literacy environment significantly predicted children’s performance on various orthographic skills. These findings suggest that home literacy environments, particularly informal home literacy experiences, play a crucial role in supporting the development of children’s orthographic skills.