Exploring the role of language, home literacy environments, and emotions during parent-child shared reading interactions
Date
2021
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Parents play a crucial role in shaping children’s emergent literacy through shared book reading. Shared book reading can foster literacy acquisition, promote vocabulary development, and improve print awareness, phonological awareness, and story comprehension (e.g., Bus et al., 1995; De Temple & Snow, 2003; Mol et al., 2008; Snow et al., 1998). There is an abundance of research on the benefits of shared book reading for children’s language and literacy skills, yet most focus on language and literacy outcomes for monolingual families. This three-paper dissertation addressed two gaps in the literature on shared book reading. ☐ The first gap addressed in Study 1 and Study 2 focuses on the need for more research on the reading interactions and practices in Hispanic families, specifically exploring the role that language plays in these interactions. Study 1 presents results from a new survey, the Spanish and English Reading Questionnaire (SER-Q), which was designed to examine parents’ reading beliefs and practices during shared reading in English and Spanish. The SER-Q was used to explore how reading practices may differ depending on the language of the book and the language used during shared reading. A convenience sample of 94 Hispanic caregivers of 1- to 6-year-old children completed the 10–15-minute survey online or over the phone. Parents’ reading frequency, feelings, and instruction during shared reading differed by mothers’ level of education, the language used to communicate with the child, and the language of the book. These findings suggest that it is critical to examine demographics, parents’ language use, and book language to understand the complex nature of reading interactions in Hispanic families. ☐ Study 2 used structural equation modeling to explore the relation between SES, language, home literacy environment (HLE), and children’s scores on specific and global literacy outcomes. Hispanic children (N = 354) in kindergarten and first grade completed English literacy assessments at the beginning of the school year and their parents completed a questionnaire about language use, literacy practices, and demographics. There was a direct relation from parental education and the global literacy measure. The number of English books at home also mediated the relation between income and the global literacy measure and between income and passage comprehension. Further investigating HLE and language use in Hispanic families will provide a better understanding of shared reading interactions and how they relate to literacy outcomes and allow researchers to be better equipped to design culturally sensitive interventions and offer families the support they need to succeed in school. ☐ Finally, Study 3 explores emotions and physiological arousal when parents and children read traditional books together, e-books together, or e-books alone. While numerous studies have examined the importance of shared book reading for children’s language and literacy outcomes (e.g., Bus et al., 1995; De Temple & Snow, 2003; Mol et al., 2008), there is limited research on parents’ and children’s emotions during shared reading and even less research on emotions during reading comparing traditional books and e-books. Seventy-four 4-year-old children and their parents completed a lab-based study in which they read a book either together or alone while wearing Empatica E-4 multi-sensor wristbands to measure their physiological arousal. Reading interactions were videotaped and coded to capture participants’ expression of different emotions. Children had higher physiological arousal and displayed more positive emotions when they read an e-book or traditional book with their parents than when they read an e-book alone. There were no significant differences in parents’ or children’s physiological arousal or emotions when they read an e-book together or a traditional book together which suggests that the format of the book is not as crucial as reading together with a parent. ☐ While the current studies focused on reading interactions with parents, future studies should also examine shared reading with other family members. These studies also assessed the frequency of reading interactions and reading practices, but further research should examine the quality of reading interactions and literacy activities and if they differ when reading occurs in English or in Spanish. Together these three studies contribute to the literature by providing new information about the complexity of parent-child shared reading interactions and may provide useful information to design reading interventions.
Description
Keywords
Early literacy, Emotions, Hispanic families, Home literacy environment, Parents, Shared book reading