Associations Between Children’s Literacy Skills and Home Literacy Environment Factors in a Low-Income Context

Associations between parental factors, home literacy environment (HLE) factors, and Grade 2 level students’ (mean age = 6.7 years) English language and literacy skills were examined in the Indian context. Students (N = 60) were individually tested on vocabulary, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and reading skills in English. Their parents were asked to provide data on paternal and maternal formal education and English literacy level as well as on HLE factors including book access at home, shared reading in English, shared reading in first language, reading instruction at home, and private tutoring. Path models indicated associations between the parental factors, HLE factors, and children’s skills. In particular, more reading instruction at home and private tutoring were associated with better phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and oral vocabulary skills in children. Further, in the final model, mother’s higher education was predictive of child’s oral language and early literacy skills. Father’s literacy in English was associated only with child’s oral language. Additionally, significant indirect paths emerged from mother’s education level to reading skills and oral vocabulary via shared reading and reading instruction in English. This study extends prior findings on the links between HLE and children’s language and literacy skills into multi-lingual and low-income contexts.