Home Environments and Literacy Achievement in Taiwan, Norway, Iran, and South Africa

• In Event: Poster Session 16
  In Poster Session: Home and Cultural Environments

Abstract

Previous research has highlighted home environment’s importance in fostering children’s literacy development. However, because parenting practices are strongly influenced by culture (Bradely & Corwyn, 2005), we sought to investigate the relative impact of various home environment factors across different countries. We analyzed data from fourth-grade children in Taiwan (n=3,466), Iran (n=3,480), Norway (n=2,540), and South Africa (n=3,640) from the 2006 Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study. Findings indicate that across all four countries, the availability of print resources in the home had the strongest association with reading comprehension, while the effect of other home factors differed by culture. Implications include that our understanding of reading is greatly enhanced by taking into account the universal and culture-specific aspects of literacy.

Authors

• Nicola McClung, University of San Francisco

• Diana J. Arya, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Andrew Maul, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Anne E. Cunningham, University of California - Berkeley