Exploring the relationshop between family literacy, ICT and literacy skills

Abstract

From the emerging literacy theories, the impact of the family environment on literacy acquisition is emphasized. In this sense, several works have reported the influence of the socioeconomic and sociocultural level of parents in the practice of literacy activities at home. The current socialization of information and communication technologies (ICT) offers new contexts that require the development of family literacy research focused on this variable. This work presents a quantitative tool for measuring the degree of family literacy and parental control in children's exposure to ICT, as well as the competence perceived by families in their children’s literacy skills. The results of the exploratory research carried out with 100 families confirm the strength of the tool. The results also show the impact of the parents' socioeconomic and academic level on family literacy practices and on the control of access and use of ICT by their children. Furthermore, positive correlations are found between a richer literacy environment and better parental management of ICTs, and also between a richer literacy envirorment and the level perceived by parents in the literacy skills of their children.