Home literacy environment and early biliteracy engagement and attainment: A gendered perspective

ABSTRACT

This mixed-methods study was designed to examine how different home literacy environments shape gender differences in Chinese-Canadian first graders’ (N = 76) bilingual lexical attainment and literacy engagement. Quantitative analyses indicated that girls outperform boys in both Chinese (L1) and English (L2) vocabulary. Gender differences were not associated with the quantity of language exposure at home in either language but rather with the quality of home language input. Home Language Quality was found to be differentially associated with gender, with boys receiving quality input in both languages at home. Results reveal that parents engaged in more quality home literacy practices with girls than boys. Parental expectations and beliefs in gender differences, particularly girls’ superiority in language learning and self-regulation, shaped gendered home literacy engagement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [432-2018-0070].