Latino Maternal Literacy Beliefs and Practices Mediating Socioeconomic Status and Maternal Education Effects in Predicting Child Receptive Vocabulary

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: This study investigated the association between Mexican American maternal education and socioeconomic status (SES) and child vocabulary as mediated by parental reading beliefs, home literacy environment (HLE), and parent–child shared reading frequency. As part of a larger study, maternal reports of education level, SES, HLE, and reading beliefs along with child expressive and receptive vocabulary were collected for 252 mothers and their preschool children from 2 demographically similar school districts in 1 county. Correlations were moderate and positive, with higher levels of maternal education related to family income, HLE, book availability, and children’s expressive and receptive vocabulary. Consistent with long-standing evidence, maternal education and SES were predictors of children’s vocabulary, albeit indirectly through maternal reading beliefs, HLE, and reading frequency. Practice or Policy: Findings extend current knowledge about specific pathways through which social class variables impact children’s language. Policy implications, directions for future research, and study limitations are noted.

Funding

Preparation of this article was supported in part by Project Words of Oral Reading and Language Development (WORLD), Grant No. R305G050121 Reading Comprehension and Reading Scale-Up Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. This material does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, nor is the material necessarily endorsed by the federal government.