Home Literacy Environment and Early Literacy Development Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency

Abstract

We examined the relation between home literacy environment (HLE) and early literacy development in a sample of children learning four alphabetic orthographies varying in orthographic consistency (English, Dutch, German, and Greek). Seven hundred and fourteen children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and tested on emergent literacy skills (vocabulary, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness) at the beginning of Grade 1 and on word reading fluency and spelling at the end of Grade 1, the beginning of Grade 2, and the end of Grade 2. Their parents responded to a questionnaire assessing HLE [parent teaching (PT), shared book reading (SBR), access to literacy resources (ALR)] at the beginning of Grade 1. Results showed first that PT was associated with letter knowledge or phonological awareness in Dutch and Greek, while ALR was associated with emergent literacy skills in all languages. SBR did not predict any cognitive or early literacy skills in any language. Second, PT and ALR had indirect effects on literacy outcomes via different emergent literacy skills in all languages. These findings suggest that not all HLE components are equally important for emergent literacy skills, reading fluency, and spelling. No specific trend in the role of orthographic consistency in the aforementioned relations emerged, which suggests that other factors may account for the observed differences across languages when children start receiving formal reading instruction in Grade 1.

Developmental Relations Between Home Literacy Environment, Reading Interest, and Reading Skills: Evidence From a 3‐Year Longitudinal Study

“…(2020) and Inoue et al. (2020) showed that when “number of children’s books at home” was treated as a separate predictor of children’s reading skills, the meaning‐related activities (i.e., shared book reading) were no longer predictive of children’s reading skills. Second, “books at home” is an interesting variable from a theoretical point of view.…”

Early Literacy Skills and Later Reading and Writing Performance Across Countries: The Effects of Orthographic Consistency and Preschool Curriculum

“…To test whether the activities carried out at preschool could also influence early literacy acquisition processes, in line with Inoue et al (2020), we compared the performance of the children in Italy and in Romania in the same early literacy tasks. While Italy and Romania share similarities in the orthographic system consistency of their languages, only the preschools in Romania are instructed to present children with specific activities that are aimed at supporting their literacy development.…”

“…As shown by Inoue et al (2020), other factors besides orthographic consistency may intervene: in their study the differences between the reading abilities of school-age children speaking English, Dutch, German, or Greek were more affected by variables such as the educational context in which the children lived than by the language's orthographic consistency. The early learning experiences and the kind of activities that are carried out at preschool seem to have a significant impact on the acquisition and development of literacy skills (Campbell et al, 2001;Graue, Clements, Reynolds, & Niles, 2004;Nelson, Brenner, & Gonzalez, 2003).…”

Home Literacy and Numeracy Interact and Mediate the Relationship Between Socio-Economic Status and Early Linguistic and Numeracy Skills in Preschoolers

“…), with possible long-term outcomes ( Suggate et al, 2018 ). It has been suggested that home activities may serve as a buffer that promotes resilience in the context of low-SES ( Benzies and Mychasiuk, 2009 ), although literature reports diverse effects sizes and patterns of moderators ( Inoue et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, some contrasting results are reported in the literature on the relationship between home literacy and early literacy skills. A study by Inoue et al (2020) , conducted on children from first to second grade, found that home literacy formal activities were associated with better letter knowledge or phonological awareness in Dutch and Greek, while access to literacy resources was related to emergent literacy skills in all languages. On the counterpart, informal activities such as shared book reading did not predict any cognitive or early literacy skills in any language.…”