The Role of Home Literacy Environment in the Acquisition of Oral Language Skills in the Preschool Years

Parental involvement, home literacy environment, socioeconomic status, and literary resources are some of the factors that positively influence language acquisition. Exposure to materials and activities that support oral language development, such as picture books, alphabet books, stories, songs and shared book reading experiences create a responsive and encouraging home literacy environment. However, there is currently no evidence in Zambia to show how the home literacy environment (HLE) affects the development of oral language in children. Therefore, the overall objective of the study was to examine the extent to which the home literacy environment influenced children’s oral language development. The study further sought to identify the factors within the home environment that supported development of oral language skills. The study used a mixed methods approach because it allowed the researcher to benefit from detailed insights offered by the participants on one hand as well as the generalizable inferential statistics drawn using quantitative data. This was important because it allowed for the triangulation of the data and offered complementary advantage in drawing conclusions. The study used a Familiar Language Test (FLT) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) tests to conduct child assessments while a home structured guide was used to collect socio-economic data and home parent-child practices. The data generated from the study was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while qualitative data was analysed thematically. The study comprised 100 preschoolers (50 males and 50 girls) drawn from selected early childhood centres in Lusaka district. The study concluded that activities such as shared book reading, singing, and storytelling were crucial in fostering language development at home. Therefore, it was recommended that parents or caregivers should engage children at home in storytelling, book reading and songs to promote the development of oral language skills in the early years.