Maternal mediation in book reading, home literach environment and children's emergent literacy

The researchers addressed two questions: (1) Does maternal reading mediation
and family home literacy environment (HLE) relate to children
s emergent literacy (EL)
level? and (2) Do the relationships among these variables differ as a function of socioeconomic
strata (SES) level. A total of 94 5-6-year-old children, 47 from low SES (LSES)
and 47 from high (HSES) families, and their mothers participated. Mother-child interactions
while reading an unfamiliar book were videotaped and their verbal expressions
were coded for extracting maternal mediation level. Children
s independent EL level was
assessed prior to the interaction. Compared with the LSES group, HSES children showed
higher EL levels and their homes had a richer literacy environment. Maternal mediation
level differed by SES: LSES mothers paraphrased text more often; HSES mothers
higher
mediation level included a discussion of the written system and making connections
beyond the text. In the HSES group, maternal mediation level and HLE related to
children
s EL; no such relationships appeared in the LSES group. Results are discussed in
terms of children
s socio-economic background and their reading experiences. Implications
for researchers and educational practices about the relationships between children
s
literacy development, SES, HLE, and parental mediation are discussed