Home literacy as cultural transmission: Parent preferences for shared reading in the United Arab Emirates

Barza, Lydia; Suchodoletz, Antje von

doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.08.002

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This nding is consistent with previous research indicating that children's books may play a role in the transmission of cultural values. (39,40) Previous research indicates that some cultural groups may not consider shared reading to be important in literacy promotion. A study of literacy promoting activities among Canadian parents reported that the majority of Canadian parents of ethnic Chinese origin tended not to prioritize shared reading as a literacy promotion activity when compared to Canadians of European ancestry.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Sociocultural Factors on Shared Reading in Jordan.

Nasir¹,

Bawaneh²,

Alaraj³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Shared reading has many benefits to children’s language and literacy development. The practice of shared reading varies widely among different cultural groups and is influenced by sociocultural factors. Promotion of shared reading in the healthcare setting has been shown to be effective in many western countries. Very little data are available from other nations, particularly those in the Middle East about parental experiences and attitudes towards shared reading with children. The aim of this study was to explore sociocultural factors that influence shared reading with children in Jordan, a low-middle income Arabic speaking country. Methods: We used survey methodology to collect information on shared reading from a sample of parents of children 3-8 years of age presenting to the Jordan University Hospital Pediatrics clinic in Amman, Jordan. Data were also gathered through solicitation of narrative unstructured comments from parents. Qualitative and statistical data analysis were performed. Findings: Mothers universally believed that shared reading is beneficial for children. However, only a small minority (16.4%) reported reading to their children daily. Shared reading behaviors correlated with frequency of mothers’ personal reading and with the number of books in the home. Mothers indicated a preference for culturally appropriate books, written in classical Arabic and books having a moral or a lesson. Barriers to shared reading included a perceived lack of encouragement of this practice from society and schools and lack of access to books and public libraries.Discussion: Promotion of shared reading is an effective way to enhance the literacy of children from varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds and represents an opportunity to reduce health disparities worldwide. Understanding regional sociocultural dynamics is an essential factor in planning successful interventions to promote literacy. We identified barriers to reading as well as cultural values that may be leveraged to enhance shared reading in Jordan.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Sociocultural Factors on Shared Reading in Jordan.

Nasir¹,

Bawaneh²,

Alaraj³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In total, the questionnaire included 34 items that assessed parents' preferred content, genre, illustrations, and use of storybooks in reading and interacting with their child (Barza and von Suchodoletz 2016). However, this paper focuses on the results for favored illustrations only.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muslim Parent Preferences for Children’s Storybook Illustrations: Cultural Relevance in the Context of the United Arab Emirates

Barza¹,

Suchodoletz²

2017

Interdiscip Educ Psychol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Literacy socialization begins at home with books chosen by parents. Using a sociocultural perspective, the purpose of this study was to document Arab, Muslim parents' (n = 118) preferences for children's storybook illustrations in the United Arab Emirates. Open-ended questions were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Cultural gender schemes were highlighted. Results imply that some innocuous themes commonly found in storybooks reflecting Western values were perceived as culturally peripheral to parents from a Muslim background. Findings have implications for creating more culturally relevant children's storybooks to improve the quantity and quality of home literacy experiences of Arab, Muslim families.

show abstract

“…These fairs have become popular evening outings for the whole family, and in the absence of public libraries, which are uncommon in the UAE, they are a place where books for younger as well as older children and adults are on display and available for purchase. Barza and von Suchodoletz (2016) have suggested that family literacy routines, such as reading bedtime stories, are not yet typically part of the Emirati national culture. A related study of Emirati parents' attitudes to children's reading found that they believed that the benefits of reading are linked to improving vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, and none of them mentioned reading for pleasure or for information (Carroll et al 2017).…”

Section: Public Literacy Events and Children's Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…are not yet typically part of the Emirati national culture (Barza and von Suchodoletz 2016). Yet research from other contexts shows that family literacy routines, such as shared reading, are critical in developing positive dispositions toward reading, and there is a positive correlation between parental shared reading with children and their emergent literacy skills (Hall et al 2018).…”

Section: Home Language and Literacy Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Emirati parents have reported that they lack culturally relevant books for their childrenthat is, books depicting culturally familiar characters and settingsand this has been identified as another barrier to emergent literacy development in Arabic (Barza and von Suchodoletz 2016). Parents also expressed a preference for children's stories with a moral message, and in this regard it has been argued that language and literacy skills can also be transmitted to young learners through spiritual texts, such as the Koran (Lytra et al 2016).…”

Section: Home Language and Literacy Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation