The German Music@Home: Validation of a questionnaire measuring at home musical exposure and interaction of young children.

The present study introduces the German version of the original version of the Music@Home questionnaire developed in the UK, which systematically evaluates musical engagement in the home environment of young children. Two versions are available, an Infant version for children aged three to 23 months and a Preschool version for children aged two to five and a half years. For the present study, the original Music@Home questionnaire was translated from English into German and 656 caregivers completed the questionnaire online. A confirmatory factor analysis showed moderate to high fit indices for both versions, confirming the factor structure of the original questionnaire. Also, the reliability coefficients for the subscales (Parental beliefs, Child engagement with music, Parent initiation of singing, Parent initiation of music-making for the Infant version and Parental beliefs, Child engagement with music, Parent initiation of music behavior and Breadth of musical exposure for the Preschool version) ranged from moderate to high fits. Furthermore, the test-retest analysis (N = 392) revealed high correlations for the general factor and all subscales confirming their internal reliability. Additionally, we included language questionnaires for children of two and three years of age. Results showed that higher scores on the Music@Home questionnaire were moderately associated with better language skills in two-year-olds (N = 118). In sum, the study presents the validated German Music@Home questionnaire, which shows good psychometric properties. The two versions of the questionnaire are available for use in order to assess home musical engagement of young children, which could be of interest in many areas of developmental research

Context and Implications: Home language, school language and children’s literacy attainments: A systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries

For many children, the language of the home differs from the language of instruction in school. In this paper, we examine the implications of such a disconnection in home–school language for literacy development along with considerations of the language and literacy environment in the home. The current literature on the topic is limited in two ways: first, it primarily focuses on the home environment prevalent in high-income countries; second, a synthesis of the evidence drawn from quantitative and qualitative frameworks of research is missing. Our review addresses this gap by examining evidence from low- and middle-income countries (sometimes called ‘the majority world’) and presenting the converging evidence derived from multiple and mixed methodologies. Specifically, we investigate attributes of the home (the place of dwelling of the child), which lead to positive language and literacy outcomes in preschool and primary school-age children in low- and middle-income countries. We focus on three key attributes (books-at-home, home tutoring and adult literacy practices) and synthesise descriptive, correlational and causal evidence related to the disconnection between home–school languages. We build an evidence base that may be of interest to both researchers and interventionists who design programmes for school and community settings. For instance, the ethnographies show that interactions around print is generally low, but more so when family members are not fluent in the school language, and the intervention studies show that programmes that specifically target the connection between home and school language and provide parents the training and strategies to engage with literacy materials have the most success in supporting children’s literacy attainments

Home language, school language and children's literacy attainments: a systematic review of evidence from low‐ and middle‐income countries

The general consensus in the field is that when the home language is different from the language of instruction in school then children’s literacy attainments could slow down. In this 26-year review of the literature on children’s literacy attainments in low- to middle-income countries, 40 correlational, ethnographic and intervention studies provide the data. We test the ‘home language advantage’ hypothesis where we expect children who speak the same language at home and school to show better literacy learning. We also examine other attributes in the home language and literacy environment (HLLE). Among the multivariate studies, trends differ across countries, age and grade levels, and child measures. Rather than a universal home language advantage, the evidence shows that home language advantage is context-sensitive. The correlational and ethnographic evidence point to a multiple risk factors model of home and school language disconnection; and the ethnographic and intervention studies provide complementary evidence of both feelings of unease, disempowerment and wish to help among family members, and increased confidence following guided support. Possible underlying mechanisms are examined through parallel synthesis of evidence from multiple research methods on three HLLE dimensions—books-at-home, home tutoring and adult literacy practices. The data partially corroborate findings from high-income countries (e.g. home environments impact literacy development, responsive parenting is present across families) but also bring focus on context-specific realities. Neither low-income nor low-print environments are uniform constraints because communities differ and some homes use available resources more efficiently than others

The Assessment of Emergent and Early Literacy Skills in the Akshara Languages.

The assessment of language and literacy skills in the akshara languages pose distinct challenges that are related to the specificities of the orthography, contextual variability and population diversity, which in turn tend to be compounded by generally low levels of achievement. In this chapter, we discuss an assessment framework targeted at capturing children’s language and literacy learning in the early years. Using assessments for Hindi and Kannada as cross-linguistic illustrative examples, we bring focus on psychometric rigor, test utility for research purposes versus practice, appropriateness of test adaptations, and challenges related to monitoring growth in language and literacy skills over time. A key consideration is the urgent need for sensitivity of assessments to contextual factors including demographic diversity (e.g. socioeconomic factors, home language(s), and access to literacy resources), classroom practices, and orthography

The Assessment of Emergent and Early Literacy Skills in the Akshara Languages.

The assessment of language and literacy skills in the akshara languages pose distinct challenges that are related to the specificities of the orthography, contextual variability and population diversity, which in turn tend to be compounded by generally low levels of achievement. In this chapter, we discuss an assessment framework targeted at capturing children’s language and literacy learning in the early years. Using assessments for Hindi and Kannada as cross-linguistic illustrative examples, we bring focus on psychometric rigor, test utility for research purposes versus practice, appropriateness of test adaptations, and challenges related to monitoring growth in language and literacy skills over time. A key consideration is the urgent need for sensitivity of assessments to contextual factors including demographic diversity (e.g. socioeconomic factors, home language(s), and access to literacy resources), classroom practices, and orthography