Direct and Indirect Effects of Home Literacy Environment and Reading Comprehension in Monolinguals and English Learners

• In Event: Critical Issues in Literacy Research 1

Abstract

The current study explored the relationships between home literacy environment (HLE) and English reading comprehension (RC) among 4th- and 5th-grade native-English-speaking students (NEs) and English-language learners (ELLs). The study specifically examined the differential mediating roles of morphological awareness (MA), word-reading fluency (WRF), and vocabulary in serial. Results from multi-group sequential mediation model indicated that NEs and ELLs demonstrate significant indirect effects of HLE on RC via a sequential pathway of MA to vocabulary. However, the indirect effects of HLE on RC via MA and sequential mediation of MA to WRF to vocabulary between HLE and RC were only found in NEs, but not in ELLs. Finding suggests that HLE facilitates the development of metalinguistic awareness and reading-related skills for both groups.

Authors

• Jackie Eunjung Relyea, University of Houston

• Jie Zhang, University of Houston

• Ma. Glenda Lopez Wui, University of Houston

• Yan Yan, University of Houston

• Tzu-Ying Ho, University of Houston