Home Literacy Experiences Research Articles

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

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.

Bilingual Home Literacy Experiences and Early Biliteracy Development among Chinese–Canadian First Graders

This study was designed to examine the role of early bilingual home literacy experiences (HLE) (including parent–child shared reading, parents’ direct teaching in Chinese and English, the availability of books in both languages, and children’s access to digital devices for bilingual learning) in the biliteracy development of 66 Chinese–Canadian first graders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive analyses reveal that overall, parents report higher engagement in English than in Chinese across the four HLE measures. Parent’s engagement in bilingual HLE differs by gender, SES, and immigration status. Pearson correlational analyses of English reading, decoding, and bilingual oral receptive vocabulary reveal that the four dimensions of HLE are not strongly related to English early literacy skills but are positively related to Chinese receptive vocabulary. Finally, hierarchical regression analyses indicate that the availability of books in Chinese and parent–child shared reading in Chinese are key factors associated with Chinese receptive vocabulary score variance; the amount of time using digital devices is found to be significantly related to English reading comprehension, but not Chinese vocabulary; and parents’ direct teaching is not significant with either English early literacy skills or Chinese receptive vocabulary. These findings have important implications for parental engagement in early bilingual home literacy activities and early literacy instruction in school.

The Relationship between Young Children's Graphomotor Skills and Their Environment: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The current study aimed to examine the unique contribution of personal and environmental factors to explain graphomotor skills in typically developing preschoolers and first-year elementary school students. A convenience sample of 136 Israeli children aged three-seven years was recruited. Graphomotor skills were assessed using the Gilboa Functional Test (GIFT); personal and environmental factors were assessed using a demographic questionnaire and the Home Literacy Experiences Questionnaire (HLEQ). A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that home literacy and educational approach accounted for 43.1% of the variance of graphomotor skills (R2 = 40.4, p < 0.000), each providing a unique contribution to the explained variance after controlling for age, gender, and spoken language. Generally, our results supported the bioecological model, with proximal factors (home literacy and educational approach) having a greater influence on child graphomotor skills than distal factors (parental socioeconomic and immigration status). By highlighting the role of environmental factors in graphomotor development, these results can be used as a conceptual framework for developing early intervention programs.

Home Literacy Experiences and Shared Reading Practices: Preschoolers With Hearing Loss.

Home literacy experiences and observed parent and child behaviors during shared book reading were investigated in preschool-age children with hearing loss and with typical hearing to examine the relationships between those factors and children's language skills. The methods involved parent-reported home literacy experiences and videotaped parent-child dyads during shared book reading. Children's language skills were tested using the Preschool Language Scale-4. The results indicated significant differences between groups for home literacy experiences and observed parent and child behaviors. Parents of children with hearing loss were found to read more frequently to their children than parents of children with typical hearing, yet scored lower for literacy strategies and teaching techniques compared to parents of children with typical hearing. Children with hearing loss scored lower in interactive reading behaviors compared to children with typical hearing. For children with hearing loss, frequency of book reading and child interactive reading behaviors were strong predictive factors for children's language skills. These results suggest that families of children with hearing loss would benefit from professional support as they read storybooks to their children. Similarly, children with hearing loss should be encouraged to be more interactive during shared book reading.

Mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs: associations with home literacy experiences

ABSTRACT This study intends to extend previous work by examining associations between literacy-related beliefs and home literacy experiences during the transition from preschool to Grade 1, taking maternal education into consideration. Fifty-seven Portuguese children and their mothers participated. Data about families’ sociodemographic characteristics, home literacy environment, mothers’ interactive behaviours during storybook reading, and mothers’ literacy beliefs were collected in two moments during home visits. Overall results indicate that mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs are variables of particular interest for understanding home literacy experiences. Together, mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs explained a moderate proportion of the variance in reported and observed home literacy experiences, when children were at the end of preschool education, and one year later, when children were at the end of Grade 1. Moreover, findings reveal that mothers’ literacy beliefs contribute independently to the quantity and quality of home literacy experiences after controlling for maternal education. These findings have implications for professionals who have the responsibility of working with families to increase the likelihood of academic success, particularly in contexts that serve children at-risk for reading failure.

Examining Associations Between Preschool Home Literacy Experiences, Language, Cognition And Early Word Reading: Evidence From A Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The study investigated whether preschool code-related home literacy experiences had direct associations with regular and irregular word reading in the first year of primary school as well as exploring whether there were indirect associations between these experiences and later word reading via children’s language skills or inhibitory control. The parents of 274 preschool children completed a home learning questionnaire at time 1 (Mage = 3:11). At time 2, the children completed phonological awareness, vocabulary, inhibitory control and nonverbal reasoning assessments (Mage = 4:3) and at time 3 a word reading assessment (Mage = 5:3). Letter-sound interactions (a code-related home literacy index that included discussions about letter-sound associations) bore significant associations with children’s word reading, whereas letter activities (a code-related index that was less focussed on letter-sound links) did not. Path analyses indicated that letter-sound interactions directly predicted regular word reading and predicted regular and irregular word reading indirectly via children’s phonological awareness. These findings highlight that different aspects of code-related home literacy experiences are differentially associated with later word reading skills. Practice and Policy: The findings suggest that parents’ integration of interactive, age-appropriate discussions that focus on letter-sound associations into children’s everyday experiences may support emerging word decoding skills.

Nurturing the reading brain: home literacy practices are associated with children\u2019s neural response to printed words through vocabulary skills

Previous studies indicate that children are exposed to different literacy experiences at home. Although these disparities have been shown to affect children’s literacy skills, it remains unclear whether and how home literacy practices influence brain activity underlying word-level reading. In the present study, we asked parents of French children from various socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 66; 8.46 ± 0.36 years, range 7.52–9.22; 20 girls) to report the frequency of home literacy practices. Neural adaptation to the repetition of printed words was then measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a subset of these children (n = 44; 8.49 ± 0.33 years, range 8.02–9.14; 13 girls), thereby assessing how sensitive was the brain to the repeated presentation of these words. We found that more frequent home literacy practices were associated with enhanced word adaptation in the left posterior inferior frontal sulcus (r = 0.32). We also found that the frequency of home literacy practices was associated with children’s vocabulary skill (r = 0.25), which itself influenced the relation between home literacy practices and neural adaptation to words. Finally, none of these effects were observed in a digit adaptation task, highlighting their specificity to word recognition. These findings are consistent with a model positing that home literacy experiences may improve children’s vocabulary skill, which in turn may influence the neural mechanisms supporting word-level reading.

Preliterate Young Children’s Reading Attitudes: Connections to the Home Literacy Environment and Maternal Factors

Emergent literacy is an umbrella term that encompasses developmental precursor skills, knowledge, and attitudes related to reading and writing. Previous studies have focused on the cognitive aspects of reading, such as word recognition, phonological awareness, and comprehension. However, reading is also an activity that requires effort and involves motivation and attitudes. These affective dimensions are given little attention in the literature on children’s literacy development. To fill this gap, this study investigates preliterate preschoolers’ attitudes toward reading in relation to gender, maternal factors, and home literacy environment. The sample included 261 parents and their 5 year-old children. The data were collected using a preschool reading attitudes scale, a home literacy environment questionnaire, and a parent survey. The findings reveal that gender, time spent watching television, and computer use were unrelated to children’s reading attitudes. However, children’s home literacy environment, the number of books in their household, and maternal reading attitudes and reading habits were significantly related, accounting for 62% of the variance in children’s reading attitudes. These results suggest mothers are role models for children’s attitudes regarding direct literacy experiences and affective responses to reading. Investigating the contribution made by early home literacy experiences to reading attitudes and early literacy skills allows an understanding of how cognitive and motivational factors are involved in the learning-to-read process.

Characteristics of the preschool home literacy environment which predict writing skills at school

Aspects of the preschool home learning environment which may foster reading development have been identified, although their relationships with spelling and writing remain unclear. The present study explored associations between the preschool home literacy environment (HLE), language and nonverbal abilities and children’s spelling and writing skills measured two years later. A parental questionnaire recorded the reported frequency of pre-schoolers’ code- and meaning-related home literacy experiences, alongside an index of book exposure. One hundred and twenty one children (60 female, Mage = 6:7, SD = 3.67 months) contributed data assessing their transcription skills, indexed by handwriting fluency and word spelling, and translation abilities, indexed by sentence generation and the ability to produce more extended text. Exploratory factor analyses confirmed distinct factors relating to the productivity and complexity of writing samples. Regression analyses revealed that the frequency of preschool code-related, letter-sound interactions explained significant variance in children’s transcription skills at school, independently of earlier language and nonverbal abilities. In contrast, experiences in the preschool HLE were not related to the higher level writing skills of translation and text production. The implications of the findings for our understanding of the cognitive and environmental factors associated with children’s early writing development are discussed.

The impact of home literacy on bilingual vocabulary development

ABSTRACT For bilingual children, home literacy experiences contribute to the development of both languages. In this study, survey data were gathered on the frequency of home literacy activities in two languages for forty-two early-elementary students in a French-English dual language immersion program. Using growth modeling, this study focuses on the effects of print and media exposure on the students’ vocabulary development. Findings suggest no effect of English literacy activities on English baseline vocabulary, whereas there was a positive effect of French literacy activities on French baseline vocabulary. Home language status was a significant factor in French, but not English, vocabulary growth. Results imply that regardless of home language background, for children to develop vocabulary skills in a language other than English, emphasis should be placed on home literacy activities in that language.

Unpacking the relations between home literacy environment and word reading in Chinese children: The influence of parental responsive behaviors and parents’ difficulties with literacy activities

In this study, we examined the relationship of family socioeconomic status (SES), children's interest in reading, home literacy environment and children's word reading, as well as the moderation of parents’ perceived difficulties with literacy activities on the relationship in China. One hundred and ninety-four first grade students and their parents (119 boys, 75 girls; mean age = 86.20 months) were recruited. The parents completed a questionnaire on their education, occupation, home literacy environment, and their children's interest in reading. The children were tested for Chinese character reading and reading fluency. The results showed that the effects of formal home literacy experiences and access to literacy resources on word reading were significant. Moreover, for parents having little difficulty with literacy activities (i.e., those more capable and more available to conduct literacy activities), the effect of formal home literacy experiences on word reading was negative when the frequency of formal literacy experiences was low, and became positive as the frequency increased. However, for parents experiencing high levels of difficulty, the effect of formal home literacy experiences increased monotonically. Finally, the indirect effects of children's interest in reading and family SES on word reading were significant. Our findings indicated that the difficulty of teaching to read Chinese and parents’ particular attentiveness to children's academic success may be keys to expound the unique results found in the home literacy environment studies in Chinese societies.

“I Know How to Read and All, but . . .”: Disciplinary Reading Constructions of Middle School Students of Color

This study explores the disciplinary literacy perspectives of middle school students of color attending urban parochial schools and the reader subject positions they took up across content-area classrooms. Qualitative analysis of 19 student interviews and accompanying observations of subject-area classes revealed that students’ constructions of reading, circumscribed by classroom literacy activities, inhibited discipline-specific reading subject positions. In particular, this study highlights how teachers’ reading activities promoted reading as being about accomplishing a task rather than being apprenticed in ways of taking discipline-specific knowledge from text. When the boundaries between students’ home literacy experiences and school disciplinary literacy experiences were more contiguous, and when more meaningful, authentic literacy experiences were provided, students evidenced deeper disciplinary literacy engagement. Educational implications, including troubling disciplinary knowledge to open the disciplines to wider ways of knowing and learning for all learners, are discussed.

No Differences in Code-Related Emergent Literacy Skills in Well-Matched 4-Year-Old Children With and Without ASD.

This study used data from a prospective community-based sample and compared the code-related emergent literacy skills (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) of 4-year-old children with ASD (n = 36) to their peers without ASD (n = 36), matched for age, gender, socio-economic status, language ability, and nonverbal cognition. We also compared groups on parent-reported home literacy measures, including the amount of time their child enjoyed being read to. There were no significant group differences in emergent literacy, indicating that an ASD diagnosis was not related to children's emergent literacy performance. We found no group differences in parent-reported home literacy experiences. This highlights the need for careful consideration of factors beyond ASD traits that may influence literacy outcomes in this population.

Identifying the preschool home learning experiences that predict early number skills: Evidence from a longitudinal study

This study examines the longitudinal relationships between home learning experiences and early number skills. The counting, number transcoding and calculation skills of 274 children were assessed in the penultimate term of preschool (Mage = 4:0). Prior to these assessments, parents completed questionnaires that surveyed the frequency of the children's home learning experiences. Three types of experiences were indexed: code-focused home literacy experiences that focus on the phonological and orthographic features of language, meaning-focused home literacy experiences that focus on sharing the meaning of language and text, and home number experiences. The children's language abilities (phonological awareness and vocabulary) and nonverbal abilities (inhibitory control and nonverbal reasoning) were assessed in the final term of preschool (Mage = 4:3). Their number skills were reassessed in the final term of the first year of primary school (Mage = 5:3). Home letter–sound interaction experiences (interactive code-focused literacy experiences) had significant longitudinal relationships with counting and number transcoding that were independent of language and nonverbal abilities. The relationship between letter–sound interaction experiences and later counting was also independent of the autoregressive influence of baseline counting ability. We extend previous findings by demonstrating that interactive code-focused home literacy experiences in the preschool period predict growth in counting skills even when a broad range of language and cognitive abilities are controlled. Supporting parents to engage in code-focused home literacy experiences may benefit pre-schoolers’ counting skills.

Shared storybook reading interactions between children with complex communication needs and their caregivers

Quality early home literacy experiences, specifically young children’s shared storybook reading experiences, have been identified as critical for establishing the foundations of reading and writing skills. Despite this, literature reports that children with complex communication needs (CCN) have limited exposure to literacy material. There is, however, a paucity of research regarding the home literacy experiences of children with disabilities specifically those with CCN and in developing countries contexts. This study aims to analyse the behaviours of both primary caregivers and their children with CCN during shared storybook reading using a descriptive, observational design. Twelve primary caregivers and their children participated in the study. The 12 participating dyads were video recorded during shared storybook reading activity. Their interactions were analysed using a communicative behaviour checklist coding communicative behaviour of both dyad participants during the shared storybook reading. Results were similar to previous studies conducted on children with CCN from developed countries. The caregivers showed higher rates of interaction as compared to their children, whilst they focused on labelling the pictures rather than reading the story verbatim. Although patterns of interaction varied across the caregivers, they seldom asked complex questions or related the story to the child’s utterances. The children, on the other hand, seldom asked questions or commented on the stories. Their interaction patterns could have been improved, should the children have had access to communication devices and caregivers guided on using strategies to facilitate learning during these shared literacy activities. Keywords: augmentative and alternative communication; caregiver-child interaction; communicative behaviours patterns; complex communication needs; literacy development

Pre-Schoolers’ Home Numeracy and Home Literacy Experiences and Their Relationships with Early Number Skills: Evidence from a UK Study

ABSTRACTResearch Findings. It has been proposed that the home literacy environment may influence the development of early number skills. However, the results of studies examining the association between home literacy experiences and early number skills are mixed. This could be due to the way that the home literacy experiences are conceptualized and measured. This study examines the relationship between early number skills and aspects of the home learning environment. Alongside home number experiences and parental mathematical attitudes, two types of home literacy experiences were examined in a sample of 274 pre-schoolers (mean age 4:0, SD 4 months); code-focused home literacy experiences that focus on the phonological and orthographic features of language, and meaning-focused home literacy experiences that focus on sharing the meaning of language and text. Home number experiences and letter-sound interactions (interactive code-focused literacy experiences) were related to the children’s counting, number transcoding, and calculation skills whereas meaning-focused home literacy experiences and parental mathematical attitudes were largely unrelated to these early number skills. Structural equation models indicated that only letter-sound interactions could predict statistically significant unique variance in counting, number transcoding, and calculation. Practice or Policy. These findings suggest that code– rather than meaning-focused home literacy experiences are related to pre-schoolers early number skills. Supporting parents to engage in code-focused home literacy experiences may benefit pre-schoolers number skills as well as their emergent literacy.

Muslim Parent Preferences for Children’s Storybook Illustrations: Cultural Relevance in the Context of the United Arab Emirates

Literacy socialization begins at home with books chosen by parents. Using a sociocultural perspective, the purpose of this study was to document Arab, Muslim parents’ (n = 118) preferences for children’s storybook illustrations in the United Arab Emirates. Open-ended questions were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Cultural gender schemes were highlighted. Results imply that some innocuous themes commonly found in storybooks reflecting Western values were perceived as culturally peripheral to parents from a Muslim background. Findings have implications for creating more culturally relevant children’s storybooks to improve the quantity and quality of home literacy experiences of Arab, Muslim families.

Modeling the relationships of parents’ expectations, family’s SES, and home literacy environment with emergent literacy skills and word reading in Chinese

Τhe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of parents’ expectations, family’s socioeconomic status (SES) and home literacy environment (formal and informal literacy experiences and literacy resources at home) with emergent literacy skills (phonological awareness, vocabulary) and word reading in Chinese. One hundred and forty third-year kindergarten Chinese children (71 girls and 69 boys; mean age=70.54months) were assessed on nonverbal IQ, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and word reading. Parents also filled out a questionnaire on their educational level and income, the frequency of engaging in different home literacy-related activities with their child, and their expectations about their child’s reading/school performance. Results of path analysis showed that formal literacy activities predicted phonological awareness and literacy resources at home predicted vocabulary. In addition, family’s SES was a significant predictor of literacy resources at home and parents’ expectations was a significant predictor of all home literacy aspects and of word reading. Results of multiple mediation analysis further showed that the effects of parents’ expectations on word reading were partly mediated by formal literacy experiences and literacy resources at home. In contrast, the effects of literacy resources at home on word reading were fully mediated by the effects of vocabulary on phonological awareness. Taken together, these findings suggest that the links between home literacy environment (including the factors that shape the quantity and quality of the home literacy experiences) and reading in Chinese are not as straightforward as those previously reported in alphabetic languages.

Using Binary Logistic Regression to Predict Long-term Effects of Early-Age Home Literacy Environment on Reading Motivation

Home literacy environment has ubiquitously been investigated against its impact on academic achievement and reading motivation. This study is an investigation of the long-lasting effects of home literacy environment on Moroccan students’ reading motivation. 178 students aged 14-24 were surveyed online to elicit their early-age home literacy experiences and to test them against the odds of their reading motivation. Using data gathered on such environments and experiences, a binary logistic regression inferential test was conducted to test if students who grow up in literacy-rich home environments are more likely to be motivated readers, and vice versa. The purpose of using this test in particular is to find out whether reading motivation can be predicted based on home literacy environment data. The accuracy of prediction of this test can be indicative of its potential to detect and diagnose reading motivation at various academic levels. As far as findings of this study are concerned the BLR test affirms that the odds of reading motivation being tied to HLE factors are significantly high. Using BLR to predict, diagnose, and intervene may help educators, parents, and curricula developers in considering HLE and early-age literacy experiences in policy making and curricula designs.

Parenting styles and home literacy opportunities: Associations with children's oral language skills

AbstractThis study examined associations among parenting style, home literacy practices, and children's language skills. A total of 181 ethnically diverse parents, primarily African American, and their preschool‐aged child participated. Results suggest that an authoritative parenting style was positively associated with informal home literacy (book reading) practices and formal literacy (parental teaching) practices whereas an authoritarian parenting style was negatively associated with informal home literacy practices. Informal home literacy experience was positively and parents' teaching literacy was negatively related to children's oral language scores. In a mediational model, parents who were more likely to have authoritative parenting style provided their children with informal (reading) home literacy experiences, which in turn, was associated with children's oral language skill. Parent education was positively related to home literacy experiences and directly related to children's oral language skill. Findings suggest that researchers should acknowledge multiple aspects of parenting when considering relations among home literacy practices and children's language and literacy development.Highlights Parenting style is associated with parents' engagement in home literacy activities with children. The relation between parenting style and children's oral language skills is mediated by the home literacy environment. Parent education has a strong and direct impact on children's oral language skills.