Children’s literacy and language development has been found to share an intimate link with their home literacy environment (HLE) by many researchers. However, as HLE is not a unitary construct and children’s literacy and language development also includes multifaceted sets of skills, most existing studies focus on one or only a few aspects of HLE and literacy and language skills. Therefore, listerature in this area lacks a coherent approach and theoretical integration. One potential problem is that, while some aspects of HLE and their associations with language and literacy skills are frequently studied, some other aspects tend to be ignored. This systematic review selects 15 related empirical studies through rigorous screening and examines the variables used to measure HLE along with the correlations between different aspects of HLE and specific domains of children’s literacy and language development across studies. The results indicate that parent-child activities (not direct teaching behaviours) are the most frequently discussed aspect of HLE while child-led literacy activity is one of the least measured items. Regarding the correlation between HLE and literary and language development, oral language skills, such as receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary, are more related to parental demographics and attitudes towards reading and informal literacy activities. Meanwhile, decoding skills, such as letter knowledge and phonological development, are more linked with parental direct teaching behaviours. Based on the findings, implications for future HLE research are discussed.

Xin Lyu. The influence of home literacy environment on children’s literacy and language development: A systematic review. Frontiers in Educational Research (2023) Vol. 6, Issue 23: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2023.062301.

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