Multilingual Scaffolding at Home: Parental Practices Supporting Early English Literacy

Abstract

This study examined how parents in multilingual households supported their children’s early English literacy through everyday interactions and access to home-based resources. Guided by sociocultural perspectives, a survey involving 523 parents of preschool-aged children (4–6 years old) was conducted across diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents were recruited through preschools, and data were collected using a primarily quantitative questionnaire adapted from established Home Literacy Environment measures and distributed in both online (QR-based) and paper formats. Descriptive analyses were used to document the availability of English-related materials and parent–child interaction patterns, while multiple regression analyses identified the strongest predictors of children’s reported English proficiency. Although many households possessed general literacy and play-based materials, structured English resources were less commonly available. Parents frequently engaged in interactional strategies such as shared reading, bilingual storytelling, vocabulary explanation, and conversational scaffolding; these strategies showed stronger predictive associations with children’s English proficiency than material access alone. These multilingual practices reflected families’ adaptive use of varied linguistic repertoires and differing parental English proficiency levels. Overall, the findings highlight the central role of parent-child interaction and culturally patterned mediation, rather than resource abundance alone, in young children’s English literacy development. Implications for practice and policy include strengthening family-school partnerships, providing clear guidance on home-based literacy engagement, and developing accessible literacy resources suited to linguistically diverse families.