Publication: Learning from each other: The role of siblings in literacy learning
Date
2006-05
Authors
Mukhlis Abu Bakar
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Abstract
Siblings play an important and reciprocal role in each other’s literacy development. The younger sibling’s exposure to the older sibling’s literacy activities creates the opportunity for many shared literacy experiences. Gregory (2001) calls this bidirectional and reciprocal learning relationship a “synergy” where siblings act as adjuvants in each other’s learning, i.e., older children ‘teach’ younger siblings at the same time develop their own learning.
This paper presents data from two contrasting pairs of siblings who display a very close relationship through shared activities as playmates. Close in age (one in Primary 2, the other in K2), the younger sibling is exposed to the academic and literacy activities of the older sibling, spurring his/her interest to participate in the same activities. Differences in the dynamics of the pairs’ reciprocal relationship seem to be shaped by three factors: the parent’s expectation of the level of involvement the older child plays in his/her younger sibling’s literacy learning, the literacy competence of the older sibling, and the gender make-up of the sibling pair.
Differences such as these in the home literacy experience with siblings, it is argued, may impact differently on reading activities with peers in the classroom unless teachers embrace the different cultural resources that children take with them to school.
Description
Keywords
Literacy, Learning, Siblings, Reciprocal relationship
Citation
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Educational Research Association of Singapore, Singapore, 2006.