Can earlier literacy skills have a negative impact on future home literacy activities? Evidence from Japanese

Abstract

We examined the cross‐lagged relations between the home literacy environment and literacy skills in Japanese, and whether child's gender, parents' education and child's level of literacy performance moderate the relations. One hundred forty‐two Japanese children were followed from Grades 1 to 2 and assessed on character knowledge, reading fluency and spelling. Their parents responded to a questionnaire assessing the frequency of their teaching and shared reading. Results showed that parent teaching increased and shared reading decreased from Grades 1 to 2. Cross‐lagged path analysis indicated that the literacy skills in Grade 1 were negatively associated with parent teaching in Grade 2. The results further suggested that more educated parents of higher performing children, particularly boys, adjusted their involvement to their children's literacy skills, while less educated parents of lower performing children did not. These findings indicate the importance of parents' sensitivity to their child's performance. What is already known about this topic Home literacy environment (HLE) plays an important role in children's literacy acquisition in Western and some East Asian contexts. Children's early reading skills can have an impact on later HLE. The direction of the relationship between HLE and children's reading skills may change from positive in Kindergarten to negative in Grade 1. What this paper adds In line with the findings of previous studies in other languages, Japanese parents adaptively adjust their home literacy activities to their child's literacy skills. The effect of children's literacy skills on later shared reading is stronger among boys than among girls. More educated parents of higher performing children adjust their involvement to their child's literacy skills, while less educated parents with lower performing children do not. Implications for theory, policy or practice We should encourage parents to be sensitive to their child's literacy skills to help them build a foundation that will boost future literacy development. This can be particularly true of less educated parents with poorly performing children. We should encourage educators to communicate the children's literacy achievement to their parents and also suggest the means by which HLE could be beneficial for their children's literacy development.

Developmental Relations Between Home Literacy Environment, Reading Interest, and Reading Skills: Evidence From a 3‐Year Longitudinal Study

“…The term "evocative effect" has been used to describe adults' responses to their children's characteristics, such as academic performance or socioemotional responses (Scarr & McCartney, 1983). Previous studies have shown that children's earlier reading skills impact later parental reading-related involvement (e.g., Deng et al, 2015;Inoue, Georgiou, Muroya, Maekawa, & Parrila, 2018;Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2014;Silinskas et al, 2012Silinskas et al, , 2021. For example, Silinskas et al (2012) found that Finnish parents engaged in more frequent teaching of word reading and shared book reading in kindergarten if their children had relatively good early reading skills.…”

Home Literacy and Numeracy Environments in Asia

“…For instance, parents in some places seem to vary in their perceived importance of developing children’s reading and writing competencies prior to formal school entry, as well as the roles of homes and play in children’s learning ( Lee, 2002 ; Howell et al, 2016 ; Chan, 2012 ). They also reported different frequencies in various formal and informal home learning activities with children ( Kim, 2009 ; Howell et al, 2016 ; Huang et al, 2017 ; Inoue et al, 2018 ; Cheung et al, 2020 ). Though these differing parental beliefs and home practices may be attributed to inexplicable variance, individual differences between participants, and different research methodologies adopted across studies, they may also emerge from variations in cultural values and social situations of different places within the vast region of Asia.…”

“…In a low- and middle-income sample in Korea, parents, on average, helped children with homework about three to four times a week, taught children Korean alphabet letters/symbols (Hangul) and literacy and read books with children about once a week, but brought children to the library or bookstore only about once a month ( Kim, 2009 ). In Japan, a study showed that parents taught first graders character/kanji names, word reading and character writing a few times a month, and read to children about 5–30 min per day on average ( Inoue et al, 2018 ). In some places, families tend to prioritize the direct instruction of literacy skills over storybook reading and storytelling, as is the case in samples from Cambodia ( Howell et al, 2016 ) and Indonesia ( Mayasya, 2017 ).…”

Characteristics of the preschool home literacy environment which predict writing skills at school

“…Differential relationships have been identified between reading and the HLE dependent upon when the home environment is assessed, with weaker relationships observed when the HLE is assessed after schooling has begun (Inoue et al, 2018;Krijnen et al, 2020). Whilst previous studies have evaluated contemporaneous associations between spelling and writing and the preschool HLE (Hofslundsengen et al, 2019;Puranik et al, 2018), or longitudinal associations with the school HLE (Guo et al, 2020), the present study will explore relationships between school writing and the earlier preschool HLE.…”

“…Moreover, whilst it may be tempting to conclude that earlier preschool skills have a causal influence on later writing, this interpretation cannot be unambiguously upheld by the current data. Any relationships may be bi-directional with parents altering home experiences in accordance with children's skill levels (Inoue et al, 2018;Kim, 2009).…”