Family Literacy Practices Research Articles

The Digital Biliteracies of Arab Immigrant Mothers

Few studies have explored how the literacies of immigrant parents are influenced by participation in their children’s emerging biliteracy. This study addressed this lacuna using a qualitative case study design to investigate the biliteracy development of Arab immigrant mothers in the U.S. Southwest. We used the framework of digital biliteracy to study participants’ literacy practices in Arabic and English and how these changed in the process of raising bilingual/biliterate children. As participants experienced life changes as immigrants, mothers, and language learners, they navigated this work through forms of digital technologies previously unfamiliar to them. They learned new words in both languages and developed digital literacy skills needed to use computers, tablets, and cell phones; access the Internet; create e-mail accounts; and translate terms across English and Arabic. The study contributes to knowledge of the literacy practices of Arab immigrant families and offers implications for research and practice.

Home literacy beliefs and practices among low-income Latino families

The aim of this study was to explore within-group patterns of variability in the home literacy environments (HLEs) of low-income Latino families using latent profile analysis. Participants were (N = 193) families of Latino preschoolers enrolled in a larger study. In the fall of 2012, mothers filled out a family literacy practices inventory, a literacy beliefs inventory, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results revealed three psychometrically distinct HLE profiles. Profile 1 (37%), labelled Low Beliefs, Low Practices (LBLP), was characterized by very low incomes, low caregiver education, reading infrequently to children, primarily speaking Spanish and reported lowest literacy beliefs and practices. Profile 2 (16%), labelled Moderate Beliefs, Moderate Practices (MBMP), was also low income, had few books in the home, read in both English and Spanish to their children, and held moderately facilitative literacy beliefs and practices. Profile 3 (47%), labelled High Beliefs, High Practices (HBHP), reported the highest literacy beliefs and practices, highest percentage English-speaking, read more often to children, and had more books in the home. These findings highlight considerable variability in terms of literacy beliefs and practices among Latino families. The profiles have practical relevance in terms of children's readiness at school entry and working with their families.

Relationships between Family Literacy Practices and Successful School Performance in Learning Languages

According to a lot of people, home literacy practices are closely related to language learners’ school performance. Therefore, for more successful language learning the relationships between both of them are required to investigate. In this study, particularly the relationships between home literacy practices and school performance in bilingual and multilingual contexts have demonstrated. A variety of literacy practices involving family literacy practices, community cultural literacy, and social background were discussed. A number of studies showed that family literacy practices in first and second languages influence language learners’ literacy learning and school performance positively or negatively. Thus, the role of families and parents at home for language-minority learners’ literacy development and academic success in school might be very important.

“So we would all help pitch in:” The family literacy practices of low-income African American mothers of preschoolers

The development of emergent literacy skills are important for the development of later literacy competencies and affect school readiness. Quantitative researchers document race- and social class-based disparities in emergent literacy competence between low-income African American and middle-income White children. Some researchers suggest that deficits in parenting practices account for limited literacy skills among low-income African American children. A small body of qualitative research on low-income African American families finds that despite economic challenges, some African American families were actively engaged in promoting child literacy development. Using qualitative interviews that emphasize family strengths, we add to this small body of research to highlight positive family practices obscured in many quantitative analyses that concentrate on family shortcomings. Specifically, we examine in-home literacy practices and child literacy development with a sample of low-income African American mothers (families) of preschoolers. Key findings include identification of various literacy activities promoting child literacy development and inclusion of multiple family members assisting in literacy activities. These findings add to substantive discussions of emergent literacy and resilience. Insights from the qualitative interviews also provide culturally-sensitive recommendations to childhood educators and speech-language pathologists (SLP) who work with low-income African American families and children.Learning outcomes: Reader should recognize that (1) there is not a ‘right’ phenotype and therefore not a right form of environmental input and (2) that context matters (at both the level of the cell and the individual organism).

INICIO DE LA ALFABETIZACIÓN, HABILIDADES PRELECTORAS Y CONTEXTO ALFABETIZADOR FAMILIAR EN UNA MUESTRA DE NIÑOS URUGUAYOS

Los efectos de las habilidades prelectoras así como del contexto familiar alfabetizador en el inicio de la alfabetización, tienen implicaciones significativas tanto para los avances teóricos como para las prácticas educativas relacionadas con la adquisición de la habilidad lectora. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las relaciones entre el desarrollo de las habilidades prelectoras, entendidas en términos de alfabetización emergente, el contexto alfabetizador familiar y el inicio de la alfabetización, a partir de una muestra de 56 niños de educación inicial. Se aplicaron pruebas para evaluar el conocimiento léxico, habilidades metafonológicas, velocidad de nominación y reconocimiento de letras, así como un cuestionario para conocer el contexto alfabetizador familiar de los niños participantes. Los resultados dan muestra de una relación significativa entre las habilidades prelectoras y el inicio de la alfabetización, así como de la importancia de las prácticas alfabetizadoras familiares.

Building Relationships with diverse students and families: A funds of Knowledge Perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine how preservice teachers, from a funds of knowledge perspective, in a community-based early childhood teacher preparation programme learned about the language and (bi)literacy development of young English emergent bilinguals. Through a series of in-depth home observations their early childhood education (ECE) coursework preservice teachers reflected on young children's literacy learning and family literacy practices. We followed case studies of six participating preservice teachers who were placed with families with children enrolled in preschool programmes as part of their field experience. A research team composed of two university professors and two graduate students gathered a variety of data during one academic year. Data sources include field notes, video and audio recordings and children's emergent literacy samples from six family home interactions by the preservice teachers with their assigned case study families. During these family home visits, preservice teachers conducted observations and documented their respective case study child's language development and the family's literacy practices. The focus of the analysis entailed an ongoing examination of how preservice teachers' reflections and the home family literacy interactions helped deepen their understanding of funds of knowledge and cultural practices. We found that their extensive and consistent experiences, interacting with the families for one academic year, allowed them to reflect on how their views of those interactions had evolved. In all cases, the preservice teachers we interviewed commented on how they appreciated having the opportunity to interact with the children, their parents and family in various nonschool-related contexts. For these preservice teachers, there was gradual, uneven and continuous learning about funds of knowledge that challenged the ways and possibilities of embracing this perspective as part of their professional experience.

The Impact of the Raising A Reader Program on Family Literacy Practices and Receptive Vocabulary of Children in Pre-Kindergarten

This research explored the effectiveness of the Raising A Reader (RAR) program on improving children’s receptive vocabulary and improving parents’ support of reading activities in the home. A total of 148 children in twelve pre-K classrooms were involved in this research study. In addition, parent surveys were conducted to determine if RAR improved parents’ support of reading activities in the home. Receptive vocabulary was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The RAR is an evidence-based program that is designed to encourage parents to read to their children. High quality books were provided to pre-kindergarten classrooms and books were distributed to children weekly for 12 weeks. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of RAR on: family reading behavior, family visits to the library, and receptive vocabulary of participating children. Findings show significant improvements in reading routines, quality of visits to the library, and significant gains in receptive vocabulary.

Building bridges between the school and the home: understanding the literacy practices of children living in residential care

Research has consistently shown that children in residential care fall behind at school. This proves a great challenge for educators who have to cater to the students' needs to ensure no one is left behind. Studies investigating family literacy practices of different social classes show a positive implication if the home literacy practices are similar to the school's literacy practices. In order to discover if there is a disconnect between formal schooling and outside of school, this paper describes the out-of-school literacy practices of children living under the Malaysian residential care system.

Exploring the Literacy Practices of Refugee Families Enrolled in a Book Distribution Program and an Intergenerational Family Literacy Program

This ethnographic study presents findings of the literacy practices of Burmese refugee families and their interaction with a book distribution program paired with an intergenerational family literacy program. The project was organized at the level of Bronfenbrenner’s exosystem (in Ecology of human development. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1979) to effect a change at the immediate level of the microsytem (i.e., the child’s home life). These two programs–Imagination Library and Storycircles–were organized by the local Literacy Coalition in a Central New York community in the United States in order to assist the refugee families to transition into their new sociocultural context and increase their involvement in the school-based education of their children. Participant observations and interviews with parents and program providers indicated that, while the family literacy practices mostly centered on oral traditions, participation in the two programs led to the familiarity and use of print-based forms of literacy. Additionally, parents reported an interaction with books that were reaching their homes and consciously modeling the shared reading practices demonstrated by the program providers. The linguistic and cultural barriers are discussed in light with the pedagogical implications of the study in finding ways to provide culturally responsive instruction.

Exploring Cumulative Risk and Family Literacy Practices in Low-Income Latino Families

Research Findings: The home literacy environment and other early learning settings such as preschool play a role in children's language and literacy outcomes, yet research suggests that Latino, Spanish-speaking families are less likely than other families to participate in family literacy activities. This study explored the relations among cumulative family risk (i.e., defined by the presence of multiple risk factors, including single-parent household, poverty, welfare receipt, low maternal education, and maternal depression), enrollment in an early learning setting, and family literacy activities in a sample of 238 low-income families of 3-year-old children. The majority of families were of Latino descent (71.6%), but other ethnic groups made up the rest of the sample for comparison purposes. Children who attended family child care programs experienced the least cumulative risk compared to children attending public center-based programs or children not enrolled in any early learning setting. Children in families with the most cumulative risk engaged in the fewest literacy activities. Home language and maternal immigrant status, but not enrollment in an early learning setting, were significant predictors of family literacy activities. Practice or Policy: These research findings yield practical descriptive information indicating that most families in this high-risk sample participated in some family literacy practices, and they shed light on which families might particularly benefit from family literacy interventions.

Prolepsis, syncretism, and synergy in early language and literacy practices: a case study of family language policy in Singapore

This article reports a case study of two Chinese–English bilingual families in Singapore and illustrates the importance of incorporating two hitherto disconnected fields of research—family language policy and family literacy practices—to an understanding of early language and literacy acquisition in the familial milieu. Specifically, this work illuminates how such language socialization processes as prolepsis, syncretism, and synergy mediate the influences of the larger sociocultural context on the focal children’s bilingual and biliteracy learning at home. A comparison of the two families reveals similarities and differences in the way they drew on language practices from multiple resources to involve their children in an array of bilingual/biliteracy activities and to align these activities to the current and projected future needs of the children. The study shows how the family members’ cultural backgrounds, past experiences of learning and parenting, educational beliefs, and aspirations for the children shaped language ideology, language practices, and language management at home.

Family Literacy Practices and Parental Involvement of Latin American Immigrant Mothers

This article draws upon three years of interviews and participant observation research in the Chelsea Public Schools, to discuss the impact of the Chelsea Family Literacy Program on promoting Latin American immigrant mothers' involvement in their children's education. The authors present the voices of Latin American immigrant mothers who describe how they increased their involvement in their children's as a result of participating in Parent & Child Together (PACT) activities at their children's schools, English as a Second Language classes, and Parent Time sessions in which they shared their parenting experiences with other mothers.

Korean mothers’ attitudes and motivations toward bilingualism and family literacy practices in EFL context

Korean mothers’ attitudes and motivations toward bilingualism and family literacy practices in EFL context

Home Literacy Environment of African American Head Start Children

Researchers have documented culturally specific family literacy practices in which low-income families engage, which are often a function of the context in which the family is currently embedded. These practices are well documented in ethnographic literature. Although this evidence exists, its utility is limited due to small sample sizes and lack of quantitative documentation on their contribution to children’s language and literacy development. This study attempted to quantify those culturally specific family literacy practices. 51 low-income African-American mother-child dyads participated. The contribution of multiple literacy practices was examined in relation to child language and literacy outcomes. Most low-income African-American families engaged in multiple literacy practices. Recommended areas for future research directions are discussed.

Family literacy practices and home literacy resources: An Australian pilot study

The combined impact of social class, cultural background and experience upon early literacy achievement in the first year of schooling is among the most durable questions in educational research. Links have been established between social class and achievement but literacy involves complex social and cognitive practices that are not necessarily reflected in the connections that have been made. The complexity of relationships between social class, cultural background and experience, and their impact on early literacy achievement have received little research attention. Recent refinements of the broad terms of social class or socioeconomic status have questioned the established links between social class and achievement. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to move beyond deficit and mismatch models of explaining and understanding the underperformance of children from lower socioeconomic and cultural minority groups when conventional measures are used. The data from an Australian pilot study reported here add to the increasing evidence that income is not necessarily related directly to home literacy resources or to how those resources are used. Further, the data show that the level of print resources in the home may not be a good indicator of the level of use of those resources.

Literacy journeys: home and family literacy practices in immigrant households and their congruence with schooled literacy

Literacy journeys: home and family literacy practices in immigrant households and their congruence with schooled literacy

Literacy Journeys: Home and Family Literacy Practices in Immigrant Households and Their Congruence with Schooled Literacy.

Major sociocultural contexts of learning such as families, communities and schools are imbued with power, and power favours some more than others. Given that schools are important sites of social and cultural reproduction, one of their major tasks is to teach learners to be literate. However, literacy is often viewed only as schooled literacy in the dominant language, and the role of the home has been undervalued in the past. In this paper I examine, through a sociocultural lens, the role played by the home and community in literacy learning. Through data elicited from observations of family interactions and conversations, as well as interviews with family members in two immigrant households, I examine their home and community literacy practices and ask how these practices intersect with schooled literacy. I conclude that immigrant children have far greater language and literacy skills than presumed, and that schools need to recognize language and literacy practices that children engage in at home and in the community, and emphasize that social justice for all requires educational shifts. Keywords: family literacy practices; immigrant families; language; schooled literacy; social justice

Playing Fair With Latino Parents as Parents, Not Teachers: Beyond Family Literacy as Assisting Homework

Family literacy has moved of late to the forefront of school reform, mostly because of the implementation of the No Child Left Behind policy. Family literacy has become a process of colonization: Standardization of the skill-based approach and Euro-American middle-class practices have become the norm for evaluating the involvement of all parents. In this article the authors present evidence for how homework and other school family literacy practices are massively striking Latino families. The authors argue that Latino parents should not be delegated the school's responsibilities of teaching children academics. These enlarged responsibilities exasperate socioeconomic, linguistic, and schooling inequities rather than alleviate them. The call is for schools to broaden and value the multiple and rich Latino family literacy practices by creating an ecology of parental engagement that implies the adjustment of the whole system.

How Effective Are Family Literacy Programs?

This meta-analysis examines the effects of family literacy programs on children’s literacy development. It analyzes the results of 30 recent effect studies (1990–2010), covering 47 samples, and distinguishes between effects in two domains: comprehension-related skills and code-related skills. A small but significant mean effect emerged ( d = 0.18). There was only a minor difference between comprehension- and code-related effect measures ( d = 0.22 vs. d = 0.17). Moderator analyses revealed no statistically significant effects of the program, sample, and study characteristics inferred from the reviewed publications. The results highlight the need for further research into how programs are carried out by parents and children, how program activities are incorporated into existing family literacy practices, and how program contents are transferred to parents.

Nontraditional Literacy Nontraditional Forms of Parental Involvement in Literacy Development: The Book Mobile and Other Stories

This qualitative research examines family literacy practices used by working-class Latina/o parents. Through personal narratives two Latina researchers illustrate how their parents and family members engage in nontraditional parental involvement activities that promote literacy development and learning. Analysis of narratives reveals incidental learning occurs through nontraditional parent involvement. In literacy development this learning occurs when parents and children interact in daily life activities. Three themes are explored -- nontraditional reading resources, value assigned to literacy, and family interactions. Each theme is explained and accompanied by example narratives. Relevant implications for family literacy instructors are provided.