Home language and literacy practices among immigrant second-language learners

Abstract

Because certain home language and literacy practices have been found to be beneficial to monolingual children's literacy development, we examine immigrant children's home language and literacy practices in different countries. Presenting findings from 92 post-2000 articles, we examine research into these practices, what factors influence their occurrence, how they influence immigrant children's development of literacy in the societal language, and what factors seem to moderate or mediate the effects of home literacy activities on societal-language literacy. We found that immigrant families engage in a wide variety of oral language and literacy activities at home, but that most of these practices have not been investigated in relation to immigrant children's literacy development. Book reading, the most-studied practice, seems to promote such development. Additional research is needed into the many factors that influence children's literacy development, including government policies and community context. In addition, researchers need to build on existing descriptive and correlational studies to design and implement innovative school curricula and family literacy programs that connect home and school practices and encourage parental involvement in the school.

Teachers’ Perspectives on Promoting Reading and Writing for Pupils with Various Linguistic Backgrounds in Grade 1 of Primary School

“…And not least the pupils' different linguistic backgrounds. Views on and knowledge of multilingualism are important for the conditions created for multilingual pupils to develop their written language (Damber, 2009;Dixon & Wu, 2014;Ortiz & Fránquiz, 2016). The focus group interviews indicate that there is some uncertainty among the teachers as to how to relate to the pupils' multilingualism in a classroom situation.…”

“…Earlier research shows that qualified knowledge of the development of reading and writing is required and also of how obstacles can arise and be prevented to ensure that all pupils receive adequate support. In addition to in-depth theoretical competence, there are other dimensions of the teachers' professionalism that are important in the didactic context, for instance, empathy and respect for the individual child, a deliberative approach and a procedure that extends beyond a method or learning system (Alatalo, 2011;Dixon & Wu, 2014;Tjernberg & Heimdahl Mattsson, 2014).…”

How a Third‐Grade Reading Retention Law Will Affect ELLs in Michigan, and a Call for Research on Child ELL Reading Development

“…In addition to indicators of the child's English‐language reading growth (which could include the child's longitudinal ACCESS scores), such a portfolio could include information on the ELL child's home language, prior schooling, and home‐language literacy practices. These should be included because they have been proven to influence English reading development in bilingual children (August & Shanahan, ; Dixon & Wu, ; Halle et al., ; Howard, Páez, August, Barr, Kenyon, & Malabonga, ) and thus are important for understanding an ELL's academic trajectory.…”

Determinants of English as language choice among Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) in Makassar, Indonesia

“…The movement is commonly in the form of permanent residents or naturalized citizens. The people are also moving for taking up employment as a migrant worker or temporarily as a foreign worker (Dixon & Wu, 2014). The migration of people from one country (nation-state) to another country, they are a citizen.…”