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Literacy Development in the FamilyContextOlivia N. Saracho aa Department of Curriculum & Instruction , University ofMaryland , College Park, Maryland 20742, USAPublished online: 07 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Olivia N. Saracho (2000) Literacy Development in the Family Context,Early Child Development and Care, 163:1, 107-114, DOI: 10.1080/0300443001630107

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Literacy Development in the Family Context

OLIVIA N. SARACHO

Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Maryland,College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

(Received 6 April 2000)

This study investigated the types of literacy activities and materials that family membersuse to promote the children's literacy development in their home environment. Thesample consisted of families of children who were enrolled in four kindergarten classroomsin one school. The initial target sample consisted of 60 families of which 36 volunteeredto complete the questionnaire. The Family Literacy Questionnaire was used to collectthe data. It provides information on the types of activities and materials family membersuse to promote their children's literacy development. The results show that the familymembers (e.g., father, mother, grandmother, aunt) are sensitive to their children'sinterests and skills in their selection of activities and materials that promote theirchildren's literacy development and family-child interactions in their home environment.Family members engaged in literary activities in both inside and outside the homeincluding trips to the library. Families engaged in informational.

Key words: Literacy development, family context

Research has demonstrated that families provide children with language experiencesin the home environment that contribute to their literacy development such as (a)print awareness, concepts, and functions; (b) knowledge of the structure of narratives;(c) literacy as a source of enjoyment; and (d) vocabulary and discourse patterns(Snow & Tabors, 1996). The success of family literacy experiences depends on theirhome environment.

HOME ENVIRONMENT

For the last four decades researchers (e.g., Durkin, 1974-1975; Goldenberg, Reese& Gallimore, 1992; Heath, 1983; Labov, 1965; Saracho, 1997,1999,2000) in reading,linguistics, psychology, and sociology have explored how the home environmentinfluence the children's success and failure in school. Durkin (1974-1975) showshow the home environment of low-income parents from Chicago contributes toBlack children's reading development, performance, and behaviors. Labov (1965)

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describes how the language of Black children from urban homes and communitieshas an impact on their literacy development. Goldenberg, Reese and Gallimore(1992) demonstrate how low-income parents assist their children in reading. Theygenerally emphasize letter naming and spelling-sound correspondences.

Children's daily family life experiences help them to learn the purpose of literacy.Heath (1983) explains how children use their families' experiences to explainnarratives in the course of their everyday lives, which helps them to become familiarwith the structural organization of stories. During a family's discourse family membersrecount the day's activities, while children accumulate knowledge about narrativesand learn about language and communication (Snow & Tabors, 1993). Snow andTabors (1996) propose four mechanisms of intergenerational transfer of literacy:(1) simple and direct transfer, (2) participation in literacy practice,(3) enjoymentand engagement, and (4) linguistic and cognitive mechanisms. Simple transferincorporates activities where family members read storybooks and write shoppinglists with children, which provides a source of knowledge about print (Clay, 1979),about letters (Burgess, 1982), and about the features of written language (Purcell-Gates, 1988). Evidently, die home environment is influenced by die parents'contributions to their children's literacy development.

PARENTS' INFLUENCE

Recent studies examine family literacy in relation to children's performance inschool and how parents practice literacy within home contexts (Gadsden, 1994;Saracho, 1997,1999). Research show an important relationship between parentalreading and children's literacy development. Hiebert and Adams (1987) indicatehow the fathers' responses influence their young children's knowledge of literacy.Fitzgerald, Spiegel, and Cunningham (1991) reveal that low-income parents ratethe value of education higher than do high-income parents. According to Wigfieldand Asher (1984), parents' attitudes and expectations for their children'sperformances can predict their children's attitudes toward learning, effort inschool, and classroom performance. Lancy and Begin (1992) indicate tfiat childrenbecome more fluent and positive about reading if parent-child dyads perceivereading as fun, read stories utilizing "semantic" instead of "decoding" techniques,and initiate questions and promote humor during reading. Lancy, Draper andBoyce (1989) describe how parents of good readers apply diverse approaches diatmerge scaffolding when children attempt to comprehend stories. For example,parents demonstrate ways to predict in a story. Parents read the books many times,subtly talk less, and encourage the child to become more active in reading ortelling a story. In comparison, parents of poor readers implement uncreativeapproaches such as decoding, and shielding the pictures to keep the child from"cheating" in identifying the word. In Goldenberg, Reese, and Gallimore's (1992)study, parents learned to wait for children's responses, to offer more praise, touse contextual prompts instead of word-level prompts, and to read storybooksusing dramatic techniques.

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LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FAMILY CONTEXT 109

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Families members usually engage in literacy activities and materials where theyrecurrently read to children, model reading to children, make reading and writingmaterials accessible to children, and stimulate children to raise and respond toquestions. It is imperative to explore the children's literacy development within thefamily context. The purpose of this study was to examine the types of literacyactivities and materials that family members use to promote their children's literacydevelopment in their home environment

METHODOLOGY

Sample

The sample consisted of families of children who were enrolled in four kindergartenclassrooms in one school. To initiate the study, a packet of materials were sent tothe families of these kindergarten children including (1) letters describing thestudy, (2) a response form indicating whether they would volunteer to participatein the study, and (3) a family literacy questionnaire. Families returning the responseforms indicating their willingness to participate in the study were subsequentlycontacted by telephone. At that time additional information was provided to thefamilies, the families' questions were answered, and interview appointments werescheduled for those family members who needed help with the questionnaire.Families were given the option to complete the questionnaire themselves or to havethe researchers help them complete it. The initial target sample consisted of 60families of which 36 volunteered to complete the questionnaire.

INSTRUMENT

The Family Literacy Questionnaire (FLQ, Saracho, 2000) was used to collect the data.It is a questionnaire that is composed of 60 items in 9 sections on family variablesthat provide information on literacy activities and materials that are used in thehome. Each section consists of 1 to 8 items. The questionnaire provides informationon the types of activities and materials family members use to promote theirchildren's literacy development The Family Literacy Questionnaire has been validatedby Saracho (2000).

ANALYSIS

Analysis consisted of frequency counts that were converted to percentages for themost frequent responses. The frequency of responses for all of the items on theFamily Literacy Questionnaire were tallied. Several categories were generated from the

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different responses. Percentages were calculated for those categories that emergedwith frequency.

RESULTS

The results indicate that 100% of the families read to their child at home includingthe mother (39%), grandmother (30%), father (19%), and grandfather (12%).They read to them frequently (66 2/3) and daily (33 1/3). Family members engagein literary activities in both inside and outside the home including trips to thelibrary. The library seems to be less popular since 25% go to the library and 75%read materials at home such as books, letters, and newspapers. They would read(45%) at home (e.g., stories, comic books), read (23%) away from home (e.g. roadsigns, billboards), play (7%) board games (e.g. monopoly, scrabble), and engage(25%) in writing activities (phone messages, shopping lists). At home they readbooks, letters, and newspapers. They also engage in a variety of writing activities,play board games, and watch television programs.

Several categories emerged from the analysis of the data. These categories indicatethat families engage in informational reading. Specific responses for informationalreading in the home and outside the home are presented in Tables 1, 2, and 3.At home they read (16%) storybooks,(4%) newspapers (comic strips, sports page,horoscopes, etc.), (8%) comic books, (4%) personal letters, (8%) personal notesor messages left by family members in the home, (4%) recipes or cooking instructions,(8%) student homework assignments, (12%) notes sent home by school or teachers,(8%) school cafeteria menus, (16%) labels on food or other consumer products,(4%) catalogs or advertisements, and (8%) phone book. Literacy activities in thehome provide information on education and advertising. They also served to provideinformation as a means of communication between the school and the home (SeeTable 1).

Other literacy activities in the home include writing, board games, and televisionprograms (See Table 2). Writing activities include (21%) writing notes or phonemessages, (21%) writing shopping lists, (14%)playingword-games such as "hangman,"(21%) writing personal letters to friends or family, and (23%) attempting "play"or "invented" writing. Other writing activities consist of helping children rememberwords on index cards that are sent home by the teacher. Families also played boardgames such as monopoly (25%), scrabble (25%) and others (50%) includingcheckers, computer word games and stories. They participate in crossword puzzles(50%) and word searches (50%). They watch television together and would watchsuch programs as Living Single, Wheel of Fortune, Full House, Family Matters,Barney, Cartoons, Fresh Prince, Goose Bumps, Walt Disney Movies, Walt DisneyChannel, Sesame Street, and Educational Programs.

Families participate in literacy activities that take place outside the home.These literacy activities also provide information in education and advertising (SeeTable 3). Away from home, family literacy consist of reading (31%) road/streetsigns, (8%) billboard signs, (31%) video boxes at the video store, (14%) menus

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LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FAMILY CONTEXT 111

Table 1 Informational Reading

Literacy Activities in the Home

Educational Information Advertising Information School/Home Information

16% storybooks4% recipes or cooking

instructions8% comic books

4% newspapers(comic strips, sports page,horoscopes, etc.)

4% catalogs or advertisements16% labels on food or other

consumer products

4% personal letters8% personal notes or messages left

by family members in the home8% student homework assignments12% notes sent home by school or

teachers

Table 2

Writing

Other Home

8% phone book

Literacy Activities

Board Games

8% school cafeteria menus

TV Shows

21%

21%

14%

21%

writing notes orphone messageswriting shoppinglistsplayingword-games suchas "hangman"writing personalletters tofriends orfamilyattempting"play" or"invented"writing

helping childremember wordson index cards

25% Monopoly

25% Scrabble

Others (e.g.,checkers,computer wordgames andstories)

50% crosswordpuzzles

50% word searches

Living SingleWheel of FortuneFull HouseFamily MattersBarneyCartoonsFresh PrinceGoose BumpsWalt Disney MoviesWalt Disney ChannelSesame StreetEducational Programs

Table 3 Literacy Activities Outside the Home

Educational Information Advertising Information

booksmagazinesencyclopedia

8%31%14%8%8%

road/street signsbillboard signsvideo boxes at the video storemenus at restaurantsshopping listsbooks and magazines at grocery store and/or bookstore

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at restaurants, (8%) shopping lists, and (8%) books and magazines at grocery storeand/or bookstore.

DISCUSSION

The results indicate that family members participate in literary activities in bothinside and outside the home including trips to the library. Families engage ininformational reading. Literacy activities in the home provide information oneducation and advertising. They also serve to provide information as a means ofcommunication between the school and the home. Other literacy activities in thehome include writing activities, board games, and television programs. Familiesparticipated in literacy activities that take place outside the home. These literacyactivities also provide information in education and advertising.

The data describe the types of literacy activities and materials that family membersuse to promote the children's literacy development in their home environment.These descriptions suggest that the family members (e.g., father, mother,grandmother, aunt) are sensitive to their children's interests and skills in theirselection of activities and materials that promote their children's literacy developmentand family-child interactions. Literacy activities in the home and outside the homecan inspire young children to generate literacy experiences (e.g., reading stories,telling stories, discussing stories, interacting about stories, teaching vocabulary,dramatizing stories, writing experiences).

For more than a decade, studies support the importance of parent-child interactionsin the children's literacy development. Family literacy studies offer importantinformation including strategies that help parents to concentrate on literacyinstruction. Parents need to know successful literacy strategies (Saracho, 1997,1999). Family literacy studies often propose two predominant concepts on literacylearning in the home: (1) the parents' situation in their knowledge of literacy thatstimulates the children to acquire, develop, and use literacy and (2) the physicalenvironments where books are accessible to provide a positive influence on children'sliteracy development.

For instance, Leichter (1984) suggests that parents with levels of literacy thatprecipitate them to believe that they are efficient with print, speech, and otherliterate behaviors increase the number of books in the home as well as the quantityand quality of interactions between parents and their children. Parents become rolemodels (Auerbach, 1989,1995) in communicating to their children the importanceof literacy (Saracho, 1997, 1999).

Family members can foster the children's literacy learning with activities andmaterials in the home environment. Family members usually provide activities andmaterials where children can be continually read to, are able to see others reading,have access to reading and writing materials, and are motivated to ask and answerquestions (Teale & Sulzby, 1986). Family members can be influential resources inyoung children's literacy development in innumerable settings and contexts.

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LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FAMILY CONTEXT 113

The results from this study are promising and suggest that this study be replicatedbefore generalizing to the results. The study should include diverse and largerpopulations. Studies should also include a variety of geographic areas and familycontexts. Data may include an analysis of the children's literacy behaviors to examinethe effects of the family members' activities and materials on their children's literacydevelopment. Independent family literacy factors related to emergent literacy needto be explored to be able to generalize that a relationship exists between homeliteracy and the children's literacy development.

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Lydia Gonzalez, kindergartenteacher, in coordinating the collection of the data.

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