Home Literacy Practices and Beliefs of Spanish-Speaking Families: Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States

• In Event: 64.018 - International Perspectives on Schools, Communities, Families, and the State

Abstract

A number of studies, conducted mostly in the United States (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2008), have reported consistent relationships between the quality of the home literacy environments (HLE) and children’s later language and literacy skills for English-monolingual and Spanish-English-bilingual children (Gonzalez & Uhing, 2008). It is therefore important to investigate the experiences of young children’s HLE in international non-dominant contexts to reconceptualize the dominant western discourse regarding HLE (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 2013).
Specifically, research aims were to examine HLE practices, beliefs and factors across families of preschoolers living in 5 Spanish-speaking countries. Data was gathered using a mixed-method research approach using a 76-item questionnaire (author), and semistructured interviews. Implications about literacy development and policies are discussed.

Authors

• Ruby Batz, University of Oregon - Center on Teaching and Learning

• Daniela Bramwell, University of Toronto - OISE