V. Purcellgates, STORIES, COUPONS, AND THE TV GUIDE - RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HOME LITERACY EXPERIENCES AND EMERGENT LITERACY KNOWLEDGE, Reading research quarterly, 31(4), 1996, pp. 406-428
Citations number
57
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology, Educational","Education & Educational Research
THIS DESCRIPTIVE study documented the range and frequency of literacy
practices in 20 low-socioeconomic-status homes over an aggregated week
of observation and measured the emergent literacy knowledges held by
24 children, ages 4 to 6, in these homes. The analysis focused on the
social domains mediated by print as well as the linguistic unit and co
mplexity of discourse text read and/or written by the participants in
the homes. The analysis also examined relationships between the types
and frequencies of literacy events and the emergent literacy knowledge
s held by the focal children. Results revealed a description of litera
cy practice and literacy learning which included great variability in
type and frequency of literacy events across the 20 homes. The results
also suggested the following patterns of relationships between home l
iteracy practices and emergent literacy knowledge: (a) children's unde
rstanding of the intentionality of print is related to both the freque
ncy of literacy events in the home and to their personal focus and inv
olvement in the literacy events, (b) children knew more about the alph
abetic principle and the specific forms of written language more in ho
mes where literate members read and wrote at more complex levels of di
scourse for their own entertainment and leisure, and (c) parents' inte
ntional involvement in their children's literacy learning was higher w
hen their children began formal literacy instruction in school. Reflec
tions on literacy as cultural practice and the ways in which school an
d home learning can build upon each other are discussed.