Bilingual Home Literacy Profiles and their Associations with Language and Literacy Skills

• In Event: Heterogeneity in Multilingual Children: Language Skills and Experiences, Home Literacy Environment, and Learning Contexts

Abstract

In the U.S., nearly one-quarter of the total population is bilingual, and two-thirds of the bilingual population are Spanish-English speakers (Gándara & Escamilla, 2017). The significance of home literacy practices (HLPs) among bilingual children has been well documented (e.g., Dong & Wing-Yin Chow, 2022; Lewis et al., 2015); however, a critical gap in the literature is the limited understanding of the heterogeneity of the home literacy environment among this population. Families may differ in the amount and type of home literacy practices used, the language(s) in which home literacy practices are carried out, and the specific challenges encountered in creating a supportive literacy environment for children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to: (1) identify distinct profiles of home literacy practices among Spanish-speaking families, (2) examine how these profiles relate to children’s language and literacy skills in both Spanish and English, and (3) explore the associations between home literacy practice profiles and parental concerns about language development, which can inform solutions to the challenges and needs faced by Spanish-speaking families in supporting literacy at home.

Parents of 127 kindergarten children completed surveys on home literacy practices. Children completed standardized measures of oral language (vocabulary, sentence repetition) and early literacy (rapid letter naming) in kindergarten, and measures of reading (real and nonsense word reading, reading comprehension) in first grade. All measures were administered in both Spanish and English. Latent profile analysis was used to examine the profiles of HLPs. Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars approach was used to examine the differences in children’s language and literacy skills across profiles. The relation between HLP profiles and parental concern was examined using multinomial logistic regression.

A three-profile solution fit the data well, including a limited literacy practice Profile (17%), a Spanish-dominant literacy practice profile (43%), and an English-dominant bilingual literacy practice profile (40%). The limited literacy practice profile was characterized by infrequent shared reading and the lowest level of explicit teaching of literacy skills across languages. This group had the lowest level of Spanish exposure at school and the lowest self-rated parent reading skills. The Spanish-dominant group had the most shared reading in Spanish and the most explicit teaching of literacy skills, with the lowest level of parent education. The English-dominant bilingual profile had the most shared reading in English, and parents in this profile reported the highest education and reading levels. Children in the bilingual English-dominant profile outperformed those in the Spanish-dominant profile on English language and emergent literacy skills. Parents in the limited-literacy profile expressed significantly greater concern about their children’s language development than parents in the bilingual profile.

Findings suggest the heterogeneity of home literacy practices among Spanish-speaking families in the U.S. and the importance of considering individual differences when investigating the home literacy environment of Spanish-English bilingual children. Moreover, there are potential implications for classroom instruction, as parents were more likely to support Spanish literacy at home when children were attending classrooms with dual-language instruction. Implications related to practices and theoretical frameworks will be discussed.

Authors

• Marc Goodrich, Texas A&M University

• Jiali Wang, University of California - Irvine

• Rhea Pai, Texas A&M University

• Lisa Fitton, Florida State University