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Parents' provision of home literacy practices for preschool children in low income families in Singapore
Author
Choy, Jane Pei Ling
Supervisor
Tupas, T. Ruanni F.
Abstract
Extensive research has been conducted on home literacy practices in other countries but there has been little attempt to explore this topic in Singapore. This paper presents a mixed-methods study focusing on Singaporean parents’ provision of home literacy activities for their preschool children in families of low socioeconomic status. The 16 participating parents of Kindergarten One children were recruited from four private childcare centres in Singapore. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on the types of home literacy practices parents provide, the frequency of literacy activities and the parents’ views on the benefits of literacy activities in order to gain insight into the different home literacy activities in low income families in Singapore. Two follow-up interviews were also conducted and the transcripts revealed meaningful information that supplemented the questionnaire responses. Results indicated that parents provided a variety of home literacy activities such as books, computers, papers and pencils, television, magazines, advertising materials and newspapers for their children. Children ‘always’ engaging in their own books was the most frequently reported literacy activity by parents whereas the use of magazines and advertising materials was the least frequently reported activity. The majority of parents read to their children on a daily basis and all the parents saw benefits in reading, which included improving vocabulary, acquiring knowledge and helping children to spell. These results caution against the assumptions made in association with low socio-economic status (SES) families in many research studies as the parents in the sample were able to gain access to literacy resources and made time to read with their children. Issues requiring further investigation are identified and recommendations include replicating this study with a more diverse sample of preschool children and their families. The present study has implications for local early childhood professionals and particularly those who plan literacy programmes including awareness that the frequencies of home literacy activities vary to the importance of supporting children’s literacy development by coming up with ways to enhance their home experiences.
Date Issued
2014
Call Number
LB1140.5.L3 Cho
Date Submitted
2014