Children’s acquisition of early literacy skills: examining family contributions
Introduction
The processes underlying children’s acquisition of language and literacy have been a focus of research for many years. Much of this research aims not only to understand these processes, but also to improve children’s language-related competencies. Research of this nature is important given the paramount role played by language and literacy in children’s academic development and achievement. For example, Werner and Smith (1992) found that literacy was one of the strongest predictors of children’s academic success. Walker, Greenwood, Hart, and Carta (1994) found that preschoolers’ language abilities predicted their reading achievements in grades one through three. Scarborough (1991) showed that expressive vocabulary skills during the preschool years predicted later reading skills in second grade. Weinberger (1996) also demonstrated that children’s literacy abilities at age 5 predicted their reading levels at age 7. Additionally, Dickinson and DeTemple (1998) found evidence that parents’ assessments of children’s language abilities at ages 3 and 4 were significantly related to teacher assessments of language and vocabulary skills in grades two and four.
Given the important role played by language and literacy abilities in young children’s later academic competencies, the present study examines the relationships between the family environment and preschool children’s language and literacy skills. Although many studies investigating the developmental roots of children’s language and literacy skills have focused on children from low-income families (e.g., Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998; Payne, Whitehurst, & Angell, 1994), we now understand that many home literacy environment-related processes also are important for preschool children from middle-income families. For example, research highlights the importance of parent–child book reading (e.g., Griffin & Morrison, 1997), parental expectations (e.g., Evans, 1998), family stressors (e.g., Entwise & Alexander, 1996), and emotionally healthy family environments (e.g., McMullen & Darling, 1996) in later academic achievements among children from middle-income families. Therefore, it is possible that all children, regardless of socioeconomic status, benefit from home literacy environments that foster their language and literacy skill development. Thus, the current study will investigate the role played by the family literacy environment among preschool-age children from middle-income families.
Section snippets
Young children’s emerging literacy skills
Emergent literacy is the term used to describe young children’s developing literacy skills before formal schooling. Emergent literacy encompasses oral (i.e., expressive and receptive), reading, and writing skills that young children acquire (Teale & Sulzby, 1987). Teale (1987) states:
By looking not merely at conventional manifestations of reading or writing, but considering also such manifestations as children’s rereading of familiar books before they are fully literate, 3-year-olds’ uses of
Family contribution to children’s language and literacy development
Much research has demonstrated that the home environment serves as an important influence in the development of emergent literacy skills in young children (e.g., Beals & DeTemple, 1993, Dickinson & Tabors, 1991, Teale, 1987). The importance of the home environment is grounded in the fact that the home serves as a setting in which language and literacy is first encountered (Strickland & Taylor, 1989). Many conceptualizations of the home literacy environment have focused primarily on the
Purpose of study
Although Snow et al. (1991) studied the contributions of these models to language and literacy skill development among elementary school children, no study of which we are aware has examined the Snow et al. models’ possible contributions among younger children. In addition, while the authors’ efforts concentrated on children from low-income families, research cited above (e.g., Baker et al., 1996) points to the possible importance of these theoretical models in explaining literacy and language
Procedures
Preschool-age children and their families were recruited through licensed child care centers in an urban county in a western state. Child care centers were randomly selected from a list of all licensed facilities, excluding home providers, in the county in which the study was conducted. The researchers contacted directors of the randomly selected child care centers to request consent for participation. Of the 80 directors contacted, a total of 30 (37.5%) gave consent for their centers to
Results
CFA was used to create measurement models of the three theoretical models (i.e., latent constructs), Family as Educator, Resilient Family, and Parent–Child Care Partnership, proposed by Snow et al. (1991). Care was taken to insure that variables similar to those used by Snow et al. were included in each measurement model. Although the variables in the measurement models do not exactly match ones used by Snow et al., appropriate measures for preschool children, as opposed to elementary school
Discussion
The goal of this study was to examine associations between the three theoretical models, Family as Educator, Resilient Family, and Parent–Child Care Partnership (Snow et al., 1991), and emergent literacy skills among middle-income preschool children. Results from this study showed that the Family as Educator model was significantly associated with preschool children’s book-related knowledge and receptive and expressive language skills. Results did not, however, show the Resilient Family and
Conclusion
Results from this study suggest that parental literacy-related beliefs and activities that afford children opportunities to learn are important in preschool children’s acquisition of language and literacy skills. Given that children are exposed to words and language when reading books with their parents, these results are not surprising. It also is likely that parents who are well-educated, as many of the ones sampled in this study, can better provide a literacy-enriched home environment,
Acknowledgements
The study was supported by a Nevada Agriculture Experiment Station Grant.
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