The contribution of early home literacy activities to first grade reading and writing achievements in Arabic

This longitudinal study assessed the literacy development of native Arabic-speaking children from kindergarten to the end of first grade, focusing on the role of home literacy activities (mother–child shared book reading and joint writing). The contribution of these activities in kindergarten to chi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reading & writing 2013-10, Vol.26 (9), p.1517-1536
Main Authors: Aram, Dorit, Korat, Ofra, Hassunah-Arafat, Safieh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Age Differences
Alphabets
Arabic language
Cooperation
Education
Elementary education
Elementary School Students
Emergent Literacy
Families & family life
Family Literacy
Grade 1
Grade 4
Kindergarten
Language and Literature
Language Skills
Linguistics
Literacy
Longitudinal Studies
Mothers
Naming
Native language acquisition
Neurology
Parent Child Relationship
Parent Role
Parents & parenting
Parents as Teachers
Psycholinguistics
Reading Aloud to Others
Reading Comprehension
Reading instruction
Semitic Languages
Shared reading
Social Sciences
Socioeconomic Influences
Vocabulary
Writing
Writing (Composition)
Writing instruction
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Summary:This longitudinal study assessed the literacy development of native Arabic-speaking children from kindergarten to the end of first grade, focusing on the role of home literacy activities (mother–child shared book reading and joint writing). The contribution of these activities in kindergarten to children’s reading and writing at the end of first grade were evaluated, controlling for family SES and children’s early skills (vocabulary and letter naming). Eighty-eight Arabic-speaking children and their mothers participated in the study. Results revealed that family SES, children’s early skills and home literacy activities in kindergarten correlated with children’s achievements at the end of first grade. Joint writing contributed significantly to children’s literacy in first grade and the contribution of shared reading was almost significant. Joint writing was found to contribute to children’s literacy achievements in first grade beyond book reading. The study extends our knowledge on literacy acquisition in Arabic, highlighting the significance of early parent–child literacy activities as a predictor of Arabic-speaking children’s literacy achievements in school.
ISSN:0922-4777
1573-0905
DOI:10.1007/s11145-013-9430-y