Language and Literacy Practices of Parents of Kindergarten Registrants in a Highly Multilingual Context

• In Event: 2-094 - Social Language Ecology in Dual Language Learners in the U.S.

Integrative Statement

Early literacy experiences in the home lay the foundation for school readiness (e.g., Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002). For Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in the U.S., the degree to which each language is used for shared book reading has been found to predict vocabulary skills within and across languages (Farver, Xu, Lonigan, & Eppe, 2013). In settings where the minority language is not supported in school, literacy experiences in the minority language may be particularly important for maintaining DLL’s home language skills (Duursma et al., 2007). Furthermore, studies have shown that minority language use at home does not interfere with English acquisition in school, and non-native English input is less effective for promoting English outcomes (Place & Hoff, 2011). Studies of low-income Latino families have reported less shared book reading compared to English-monolingual parents (Raikes et al., 2006; Rodriguez et al., 2009). However, little is known about the home literacy environments of DLLs from diverse language backgrounds.

The purpose of our study is to describe the relationship between parent language background, child language usage, and home literacy practices. Participants were parents of kindergarteners in four linguistically-diverse districts in the northeastern U.S. The Home Language and Literacy Questionnaire (HLLQ) was completed by 215 parents during their districts’ registration process in the spring prior to the beginning of kindergarten. The questionnaire, available in five minority languages, gathered information about the parents’ language background and literacy practices, as well as their children’s language use.

We found that though English was not the primary language for 46% of these parents, 78% read to their children all or mostly in English. Moreover, English was the only or predominant language spoken at home by 63% of children and used for watching videos by 85% of the children. Though most parents (94%) reported reading with their child, parents for whom English was the primary language read close to twice as many times per week (M = 6.5, SD = .24) compared to parents whose primary language was not English (M = 3.68, SD = .27); t (205), p < .001). Both groups were more likely to read with their child in English than in a non-English language, though this varied by the minority language spoken (see Study 3 Figure 1). Regression results (Study 3 Table 1) revealed that among parents whose primary language was not English, the degree to which the child watched videos in a non-English language significantly predicted the frequency of being read to in a non-English language, controlling for parent language background and the child’s home language use (b = 0.50, S.E. = 0.19, p = .009, β = 0.31). In contrast, only the child’s home language use significantly predicted the frequency of being read to in English (b = -1.06, S.E. = 0.28, p < .001, β = -0.43). A nuanced understanding of young children’s home language and literacy environments in multilingual communities can inform policy and practice related to parent engagement, professional development, and classroom pedagogy designed to support DLLs early in their academic trajectories.

Authors

• Gladys María Aguilar, Harvard University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Surrain, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Analiese Reigstad, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gigi Luk, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author