The Effects of Parental Reading Socialisation on the Reading Skill Performance of Rural Primary School Students in Sarawak

Abstract

Extant research on home literacy practices such as parental reading socialisation have demonstrated positive impacts on children in terms of academic performance. A particular aspect that sparks pedagogic importance is the scaffolding potential of reading at home to the learning of English language in non-native English Language contexts. This study aimed to examine the effects of mother's involvement in homereading sessions on students' English reading skill performance in Bau, Sarawak. Prior to carrying out the intervention of reading at home with their children, 31 mothers of Bidayuh ethnicity voluntarily attended a one-day workshop to orient them to the intervention and the use of logbooks to record details of their shared readings. However, only 18 mothers conducted reading sessions with their children and submitted a total of 21 logbooks detailing the frequency and material selection for reading. Their children, consisting of primary 1 to 4 students were required to sit for a pre-test and a post-test that measure their English language reading proficiency. The test scores were analysed using the paired-sample T-test. There was a significant increase in the students' post-test scores following the reading intervention. The results revealed that despite the low frequency of mother-child shared reading sessions, the sessions positively affected the students' reading performance. This finding suggests that parental reading socialisation can facilitate students' literacy development. However, the use of materials in Bidayuh as a native language as opposed to Malay or English may increase the rural parents' participation in home-literacy activities, and encourage early literacy in children. Contribution/ Originality:This study contributes to existing literature by examining the effects of mother's involvement in home-reading sessions on students' English reading skill performance in Bau, Sarawak.

A systematic review of understanding parental involvement in children’s ESL learning: What the literature says?

“…reading performance (Raslie et al, 2020). Therefore, parents needed to be further guided to fully utilize the reading activities for more significant outcomes in children's ESL learning.…”

“…Emerson et al (2012) also stated that parental involvement in children's ESL learning can improve children's development in term of motivation, affection, social and cognitive. Specific types of parental involvement such as reading activities have also contributed a positive impact on children's ESL reading (Raslie, Deli, John, Mikeng, & Pandian, 2020).…”

A systematic literature review on levels and effects of parental involvement in children’s learning

“…Conversely, Ramalingam, Maniam, and Karuppanan [10] identify a significant relationship between achievements of students and parental involvement, namely in the aspects of at home learning, parenting, making decisions and volunteering. Besides that, Raslie et al [11] revealed a positive relationship between the way parents get involved with their children in home literacy and students' academic achievement despite the low level of involvement.…”

“…Raslie et al [11] reported a low level of involvement when the frequency of mother-child shared reading sessions was found to be generally low. Majority of the participating mothers attended primary school and high school.…”

“…For instance, home-based and schoolbased have been widely utilized as components of parental involvement in empirical research in the local studies [5], [6] and international studies [7], [8]. Other forms of parental involvement include among others: communication with children [9]- [13], monitoring academic progress [12], parenting practices [11], and reading activities with children [14]. Empirical studies have shown that parental involvement in education correlates with academic achievement [15], [16], students' engagement at school [17], school attendance [18], and students' motivation [19].…”