Home environment, family context, and young children's early English development in Hong Kong

Abstract

English is one of Hong Kong’s official languages, and children start learning it as a second language (L2) in kindergarten. English proficiency is vital for children’s educational success, and parents tend to place a high value on English language learning. However, much remains unknown about how parents and the home literacy environment (HLE) contribute to their children’s L2 learning, especially when the L2 is not the dominant societal language. Against this background, this thesis endeavors to investigate the role of HLE and family characteristics in Hong Kong kindergarten children’s L2 learning. This thesis consists of four interrelated sub-studies. Study One investigated the pathways between socioeconomic status (SES), different aspects of HLE, and children’s L2 skills. The results indicated SES-related variations in all HLE components, along with disparities in children’s English receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and letter knowledge. Structural equation modeling showed that HLE mediated the influence of SES and was differentially related to children’s L2 skills. Study Two explored the determinants of HLE by examining the relations among parental self-efficacy, marital satisfaction, HLE, and children’s L2 skills. This study tested a moderated mediation model, and the results indicated that parental self-efficacy has positive indirect effects on children’s L2 skills through the HLE. Marital satisfaction moderated the association between parental self-efficacy and HLE, showing that higher levels of marital satisfaction strengthened the positive association between parental self-efficacy and HLE, which eventually contributed to children’s better L2 skills. Study Three adopted a two-wave longitudinal design to examine the bidirectional relations between HLE and preschoolers’ L2 skills, and investigated whether child interest and home language use moderated the relations. Cross-lagged path analysis revealed that while literacy resources and direct teaching positively predicted children’s later L2 skills, children’s earlier phonological awareness and vocabulary in turn shaped parents’ subsequent literacy practices. The results further suggested that the relation between HLE and L2 skills varied depending on child interest and home language use. Study Four used a mixed methods approach to investigate parents’ L2-related involvements at home, in school, and in extracurricular English classes. Results from hierarchical regression showed that parents’ home literacy practice was the only significant predictor of children’s L2 skills. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain a deeper understanding of parents’ specific practices and rationales for their involvement strategies. Findings from this study provided a comprehensive understanding of the influence of parental involvement on children’s L2 learning. This thesis provides both concurrent and longitudinal, quantitative and qualitative insights into the relations among home environment, family characteristics, and children’s L2 learning. Taken together, findings demonstrated that the home environment was one of the most significant driving forces of children’s L2 development, which was collectively shaped by contextual factors situated within the family and society. The research contributes to the existing literature by providing a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms and antecedents of HLE in young children’s L2 learning in Hong Kong.