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Poster #77 - Relations Between Home Language and Literacy Practices and Spanish-Speaking Children's Reading Outcomes

Thu, March 21, 4:00 to 5:15pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Research indicates that factors related to the home language environment, such as language exposure (e.g., Hoff, 2013) and socioeconomic status (SES; e.g., Hart & Risley, 1995) are important predictors of literacy-related outcomes. Furthermore, evidence indicates that the achievement gap between low SES white and Hispanic/Latino students broadened in the last two decades (Paschall, Gershoff, Kuhfeld, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between children’s home language and literacy environment (HLLE), foundational reading skills (i.e., oral language and decoding), and reading comprehension in a sample of Spanish-speaking LM children.

Method: Second and fourth-grade Spanish-speaking LM children (N = 95) participated in this study. Parents completed a demographic and linguistic background survey that contained questions regarding children’s quantity and quality of language and reading exposure at home. At the first time point (T1), children completed measures of decoding, oral language, and reading comprehension in Spanish and English, as well as a measure of conceptual vocabulary knowledge. At the second time point (T2), children completed two measures of English reading comprehension.

Results: Multivariate path analysis was conducted to evaluate the relations between the HLLE, foundational reading skills, and reading comprehension (see Figure 1 for a depiction of the model; see Table 1 for results). Results indicated language and reading exposure at home significantly predicted foundational reading skills in English. Amount of reading exposure at home and percent of time Spanish was spoken at home predicted foundational reading skills in Spanish. When predicting English and Spanish reading comprehension concurrently, results indicated that predictors of reading comprehension were language specific (e.g., English foundational reading skills predicted English reading comprehension). Additionally, there was a significant indirect effect of exposure to reading activities at home on English reading comprehension via its effect on foundational reading skills in English. Similarly, there was a significant indirect effect of percent of time Spanish was spoken at home on Spanish reading comprehension via its effect on foundational reading skills in Spanish. Additionally, children’s conceptual vocabulary knowledge (number of concepts known, regardless of language) was a significant predictor of English vocabulary knowledge. Spanish vocabulary knowledge and home language exposure were marginally related to English reading comprehension at T2 (ps < .10). There was a significant indirect effect of reading exposure at home on English reading comprehension at T2 via its effect on foundational English reading skills at T1.

Conclusions: Taken together, these findings indicate that the HLLE has a significant influence on children’s foundational reading skills in second and fourth grade, and that these skills, in turn, predict Spanish and English reading comprehension outcomes. The best concurrent predictors of reading comprehension are children’s foundational skills in the same language. However, when predicting future development in the second language, knowledge and skills children possess in their first language are important indicators of future development, beyond the effects of second language foundational skills. Additionally, variation in the HLLE continues to have a significant effect on LM children’s Spanish and English reading skills at least through fourth grade.

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