Premium
Inequality and the home learning environment: Predictions about seven‐year‐olds’ language and literacy
Author(s) -
Hartas Dimitra
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/01411926.2011.588315
Subject(s) - literacy , psychology , family literacy , reading (process) , developmental psychology , inequality , language acquisition , cohort , mathematics education , pedagogy , medicine , political science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , law
Using a UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the unique and cumulative contribution of children's characteristics and attitudes to school, home learning environment and family's socio‐economic background to children's language and literacy at the end of Key Stage 1 (age seven‐years‐old). Consistently with previous studies, the findings showed that family's socio‐economic background made a substantive contribution to teacher‐rated language and literacy. Moreover, children's characteristics and attitudes to school as well as certain aspects of the home learning environment explained a significant amount of variance in language and literacy. Homework support and book reading, however, were not found to associate with children's language and literacy outcomes, despite a high percentage of parents being involved with home learning support routinely. These findings are likely to contribute to debates regarding the role of home learning in reducing underachievement, drawing important implications for family policy.