Home Literacy Practices of Three Ethno-Cultural Groups in the U.S.: A Collective Case Study on Culture and Support for Early Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to describe the home literacy beliefs and practices of eleven families and explore what discrepancies exist between their reading related behaviors depending on their ethno-cultural self-identification. American families of Haitian, Jamaican, and Cuban descent with a first grade child were sought. The focus of this study was the home as an educational context and shared activity surrounding storybook reading and other literacy related events, based on sociocultural theory and cultural discontinuity theories. A collective case study design was utilized for this descriptive and exploratory qualitative study. Interviews, participant observation, and photography were used to collect data from 24 family members. Themes were identified across the three ethno-cultural groups examined in this study. Families represented in this study revealed their belief that maintaining a strong school-home connection would increase their children's academic achievement. Further, their practices give us a glimpse as to how to bridge this home-school connection to support their children's early literacy skills.