Development of a home literacy environment questionnaire for Tamil-speaking kindergarten children

Abstract

Background: The development of emergent literacy skills depends upon the literacy environments and experiences of children at home. Children's home literacy environment is closely related to the development of various aspects of emergent literacy like letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Dimensions of home literacy environment, such as physical (literacy) environment, child's own literacy habits, parental literacy habits, parent-child interaction for language and literacy activities, and parental beliefs about literacy, have been reported in literature. Methods: The present study describes the construction of a home literacy environment questionnaire for Tamil-speaking kindergarten children in the Indian context. The various dimensions of home literacy environment were described, and items related to each dimension were listed. Seventeen judges rated each item on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (no fit) to 4 (excellent fit). Their comments/ remarks/opinion, specific to an item or dimension, were also taken. The rating responses were analyzed for content validity and internal consistency. Results: Content validity index was calculated at item level as well as scale level. The items in each subscale/dimension which had the item level content validity index scores higher than 0.78 were included in the final questionnaire and the other items were rejected. The scale level content validity index scores were higher than 0.90, indicating good content validity. Cronbach's alpha was calculated as a measure of internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha values were lower than 0.7 for three domains: physical environment, parent literacy habits, and parental beliefs. Conclusions: The questionnaire developed promises to be a useful tool to evaluate the home literacy environment of Tamil children who undergo formal education in English medium schools like in India. The questionnaire developed and presented here can help in collecting reliable data to make informed decisions about children's (whether typically developing or with developmental disabilities) home literacy environment.

Parental Perspectives on Storybook Reading in Indian Home Contexts

“…It may be that parents are doing other behaviors that were not captured in this survey. For example, in Indian homes, parents engage children in the oral tradition of storytelling which has developed as a folk art in India (Buvaneswari and Padakannaya 2017;Kalia and Vagh, 2008;Khurana and Rao 2011;Sheoran 1975). Presence of grandparents and elders in children's home environment further enriches the use of oral story telling practices.…”

Peran Orang Tua dalam Menyediakan Home Literacy Environment (HLE) pada Anak Usia Dini

“…Lingkungan literasi rumah (HLE) telah didefinisikan baik sebagai frekuensi membaca bersama orang tua-anak prasekolah atau sebagai definisi luas multifaset untuk memasukkan ukuran durasi membaca buku bergambar bersama, jumlah buku bergambar, perhatian bersama, dan variabel kontekstual sebagai literasi keluarga (Buvaneswari & Padakannaya, 2017;Mascarenhas et al, 2017). HLE merupakan praktik kegiatan di rumah yang dilakukan oleh orang tua dalam kaitannya dengan kegiatan yang berhubungan dengan keterampilan membaca, menulis, dan berbahasa lisan.…”

“…Praktik keaksaraan di rumah merujuk pada jenis kegiatan berorientasi keaksaraan yang terjadi di rumah dan mencakup praktik yang berhubungan dengan membaca (misalnya, membaca buku bersama anak, pengajaran orang tua tentang nama huruf) dan praktik yang berhubungan dengan menulis (misalnya, kegiatan menulis bersama anak, pengajaran orang tua tentang menulis nama atau kata lain) (Guo et al, 2021). Van Steensel (Buvaneswari & Padakannaya, 2017) menjelaskan tiga jenis lingkungan literasi rumah: (a) lingkungan literasi rumah yang kaya, dimana orang tua dan anak-anak berpartisipasi dalam berbagai kegiatan literasi; (b) lingkungan literasi rumah yang diarahkan anak, dimana aktivitas literasi kurang, tetapi aktivitas penting seperti membaca bersama, kunjungan perpustakaan, dan lain-lain; dan (c) lingkungan literasi rumah yang buruk, dimana sangat sedikit partisipasi orang tua atau anak dalam kegiatan literasi.…”

“…Selain itu, kebiasaan literasi orang tua dapat memprediksi kualitas kompetensi literasi anak. Orang tua atau pengasuh yang menunjukkan kegembiraan membaca memiliki pengaruh terbesar pada seorang anak, yaitu kemampuan membaca dan minat membaca seumur hidup (Buvaneswari & Padakannaya, 2017).…”

Implementation of the school literacy movement during the covid-19 pandemic

“…Literacy can have a positive impact if it is carried out sustainably. The concept of literacy develops continuously throughout the child's life (Buvaneswari & Padakannaya, 2017). The government proclaimed literacy in the school literacy movement as a continuous effort to foster good influence in students.…”