Literacy interest, home literacy environment and emergent literacy skills in preschoolers

Purpose Children's literacy interest is positively associated with their literacy attainments. However, interest in literacy activities, particularly for younger children, is likely influenced by their home literacy environment (HLE), which may also be bound up with socio‐economic factors, such as parental education levels. Method In the present study, we examine whether literacy interest, HLE and socio‐economic status (SES) make independent contributions to emergent literacy skills. Fifty‐five preschoolers aged 4 to 5 years completed a self‐report measure of interest in literacy and three emergent literacy tasks. The parents provided information on SES and HLE. Results Children's literacy interest explained nearly 25% of the variance in emergent literacy skills after controlling for HLE and SES (which also made significant contributions). Conclusions The findings underscore the importance of literacy interest, independent of HLE and SES, and highlight the role that children themselves play in choosing their literacy environments.