The Influence of Home Language and Literacy Environment and Parental Self-Efficacy on Chilean Preschoolers’ Early Literacy Outcomes

Abstract

We examined the effects of shared reading workshops on children’s early literacy outcomes. Data was collected for 240 children, 144 of whom had their parents or caregivers participate in a shared reading workshop. The remaining 129 were included as a comparison group. Pre- and post-intervention measures of HLLE, narrative skills, alphabet knowledge, and parental self-efficacy scores were collected. Findings show higher and statistically significant scores in alphabet knowledge and narrative skills for children whose parents implemented shared reading. Parental self-efficacy increased after participating in the workshops. Correlations between HLLE, parental self-efficacy, and children’s outcomes were low yet significant. To further investigate the role of HLLE as a mediator of children’s outcomes, we used structural equation modeling. Results show an interaction of HLLE on children’s narrative skills and alphabet knowledge.