Before the School Bus: Parental Influence on Early Language and Literacy Learning in the Home Environment.

The purpose of this study was to examine parent-child literacy interactions in the home environment. As parents are the first and often most important teachers, it is essential to understand what it is that parents and their young children do during literacy activities in the home and how these behaviors influence child receptive and expressive language. The sample for this study was comprised of 72 parent-child dyads consisting of a kindergarten child and his or her primary caregiver. The 72 dyads represented a range of socioeconomic levels. Data were gathered during three visits to the home environment. Parents and their children were asked to participate in three semi-structured literacy activities: a book reading, play session, and writing task. During these tasks, the following parent behaviors were analyzed: labeling, generalizing, repetition/paraphrasing, scaffolding, quantity/variety of parental language, and fostering of child autonomy. Parent-child literacy interactions were observed and audio taped. In addition, parents were asked to fill out a Parent Survey, which gathered demographic information and details pertaining to parent-child home interactions. Children’s language ability was assessed using The Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement-Picture Vocabulary subtest (Woodcock, Johnson, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition-PPVT-III (Dunn & Dunn, 1997). Data were coded and analyzed using analysis of variance and regression. Findings revealed that parents varied their behavior with their young children across the three literacy tasks. Specifically, parents used labeling, generalizing, and fostering child autonomy differently during the three tasks. Overall, parents were most interactive with their children during the play activity. In addition, specific parent behavior features predicted child language ability even after controlling for SES. The study revealed that the quantity and variety of parent language and how parents fostered child autonomy positively predicted child expressive and receptive language skills. The findings from this research study reinforce the influential relationship parents have in their children’s early learning in the home.PHDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93875/1/ckmeyer_1.pd