The Role of Home Literacy Environment, Mentalizing, Expressive Verbal Ability, and Print Exposure in Third and Fourth Graders’ Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Children with a rich home literacy environment generally show better reading comprehension. For children in the higher grades of primary school, this relation is thought to be indirect. We propose a model in which this relation ran via children's higher order language and cognitive skills (i.e., expressive verbal ability and mentalizing ability) and via print exposure. In our correlational study with 117 children ages 8-11, we found both a direct relation between children's home literacy environment and reading comprehension and 2 indirect relations: via children's print exposure and via mentalizing abilities. There was no significant indirect relation via expressive verbal abilities. Our findings imply that enhancing children's mentalizing abilities and encouraging them to read books might contribute to their reading comprehension. In addition, parental involvement in children's reading activities can contribute to their reading performance, both directly and indirectly, even in this age group.The relation between children's home literacy environment, reading behavior, and reading comprehension has been well established in previous studies. For example, a meta-analysis showed that primary school children who read frequently during their leisure time perform better on a variety of language and reading tasks (Mol & Bus, 2011). Furthermore, an international comparative study showed that fourth graders' reading comprehension was predicted by their home literacy environment, consisting of a variety of parental attitudes, literacy resources, and home activities related to reading (Park, 2008). In the current study, parental print exposure and the availability of reading materials at home are examined as indicators of children's home literacy environment.

Distinguishing cause from effect – many deficits associated with developmental dyslexia may be a consequence of reduced and suboptimal reading experience

“…Accurate assessments of home literacy environments will be crucial (cf. Boerma, Mol, & Jolles, 2017;Katzir, Lesaux, & Kim, 2009;Mol & Bus, 2011;Stanowich & West, 1989). Third, cross-sectional studies will continue to be useful but we need to recognise and take more seriously their limitations.…”

Literacy Advantages Beyond Reading: Prediction of Spoken Language

“…What kind of research and experimental evidence should be considered crucial to further test the account we have put forward here (see Outstanding Questions)? It is important that experimental studies more precisely quantify how much people actually read and that such studies assess rigorously the quality and type of people's reading experience (including home literacy environments and social media reading experience [92][93][94]). Correlational evidence from cross-sectional studies will remain useful but it is important to recognize their limitations with regard to confirming causal explanations.…”

The Influence of Instructional Models and Learning Styles on the Ability to Read to Understand

“…Boema, Mo and Jolles (2017) state that developing reading comprehension skills is one of the responsibilities of teachers teaching reading in elementary schools. The development of reading comprehension ability is directed at analyzing and understanding the contents of the text and providing responses that are appropriate to the contents of the text (Boerma, Mol, & Jolles, 2017).…”