Poster #73 - Home Literacy Environments in Maya Communities in the Yucatan Peninsula

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

This study provides a broad, macro-analysis of how the home literacy environment (HLE) manifests among Mayan families with preschool-aged children in Yucatan, Mexico. Despite a substantial body of work showing the significant contribution of the home literacy environment to children’s reading achievement in the U.S., there is little work that considers the setting, sociocultural practices, and language functions that shape literacy experiences of children outside of European American contexts. Therefore, the current study has two research aims: (a) what is the dimensionality of the HLE in Maya communities in the Yucatan Peninsula and (b) is the HLE related to children’s emergent-literacy skills. For the present study, 235 Mayan caregivers were given questionnaires asking about their literacy practices and beliefs. Children’s preliteracy skills were assessed using the Spanish version of the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening - PreK (PALS; Invernizzi, Sullivan, & Meier, 2004). Family characteristics that were included in the final models were child age, gender, language, and mother/father education. The first research aim involved investigating the dimensionality of the HLE. To examine dimensionality, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Mplus 7 (Muthén & Muthén, 2006). The factor structure was hypothesized to be a two-dimension model. Model fit was examined using the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) and the Weighted Root Mean Square Residual (WRMR). The test of model fit for CFI and TFI were both 0.96. Further, the RMSEA was 0.21 and the WRMR was 1.11. Therefore, the two-dimension structure of HLE was a moderate fit for the data resulting in the factors of literacy activities and barriers to reading. Second, we completed a series of regression models. Children’s scores on the five emergent-literacy skills from the fall were the outcomes in the models and the predictors included the HLE (factors and items) and family characteristics (child age, gender, language, mother/father education). Specifically for the HLE predictors, results indicated that barriers to reading was related to children’s skills in Maya letters and Maya book and print concepts. Such that as mother-report of barriers to reading increased, children’s scores were lower on the Maya subtests. The amount of children’s books in the home was related to children’s name-writing skills, with results indicating that more books in the home was related to better name writing skills.

Authors

• Jaclyn Dynia, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Kelly M Purtell, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Justice, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author