The Association of the Home Literacy Environment and Parental Reading Beliefs with Oral Language Growth Trajectories of Spanish-English Bilingual Children

Purpose: This study examines the extent to which the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) as measured by reading habits and resources, library use, and subscriptions or materials, as well as parental reading beliefs predict both language skills (i.e., vocabulary) at kindergarten and students’ trajectories of growth from kindergarten (K) to grade 3 (G3).

Method: The sample included 259 Spanish-English bilingual children and their parents living in Arizona. We measured HLE and parental reading beliefs with a questionnaire administered to parents during the kindergarten year. Children completed measures of English and bilingual Spanish-English vocabulary in grades K to G3.

Results: Findings indicated that library use and reading habits and resources predicted skills at kindergarten, but not growth. Across all language outcomes, library use was the consistent factor associated with skills in kindergarten.

Conclusion: Given that HLE was associated with variability in children’s vocabulary skills at kindergarten but not with vocabulary growth, this suggests that timely HLE supports are essential. Supports around library use show promise, given their significant associations with vocabulary skills in Spanish-English bilingual children.