This study examined the home literacy practices of bilingual families. We were specifically interested in the literacy practices families developed to answer the challenge of biliteracy. Through the home visits and supplying high quality bilingual books, we listened, observed, and gained a deeper understanding of the children and their families…

In all, 15 Latina mothers participated in a 10-week bilingual family reading project implemented at a public elementary school in rural Texas. Convivencia and pláticas were critical components for the implementation of the family reading project. Thus, the research question guiding the present article is as follows: How can pláticas with Latina…

This case study examines how three American Indian families' language and literacy practices influence their children's emergent bilingual development in a predominately White, urban community in a Northwestern U.S. city. The study explores the families' life stories and their expressions of Indigenous language use and cultural practices. The…

The paper describes the role parental language ideology and the home literacy environment play in heritage language (HL) literacy learning of bilingual Arabic-English-speaking children in the UK. Information about the under-reported literacy practices of Arabic-English-speaking families will enhance current knowledge about HL literacy practices…

Through in-home ethnographic observations of three multilingual immigrant families' shared book reading, we identified recurring literacy practices in the home in which mothers, older siblings, and younger children participated during the reading. We found that families engaged in context-sensitive and cooperative shared reading practices, wherein…

This collective case study employs both family literacy theory (Taylor, 1983) and funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) to examine the ways that Mexican American parents conceptualize and practice literacy in the home with their emergent bilingual elementary-aged children. "Emergent bilingual" is used to reference students who are…

This article features the literacy practices, resources, and strategies reported and observed in two households, by Latina mothers and their children in elementary school. Drawing on asset-based frameworks (funds of knowledge, transnational literacies, and family language policies), the analysis presents case studies of two households, featuring…

Many family literacy programs are designed to teach bi/multilingual families school-based reading strategies, which often downplays families' rich cultural and linguistic resources and accentuates the gap between home and school literacy. We designed Reading Without Words to investigate how wordless picture books could be used to feature the…

This study introduces parents' roles in the community Korean-English bilingual family literacy program named Family Storytime. It was offered at the Korean church for 30 minutes during lunch time on Sundays over 3 months. The Korean parents played two major roles: facilitators and participants. As facilitators, the parents advertised the literacy…

Bilingual children demonstrate varying levels of proficiency in each of the two languages to which they are exposed. Even though it is widely acknowledged that bilingual children are not a homogenous group, existing studies on dual-language profiles in bilingual children have focused on expressive language profiles. In this study, we used the…

In the "Bilingual Literacy Development Model: A holistic way to support Spanish-speaking children" research study, I studied bilingual families over a 5-month period in their home environments through home visits. Drawing from data obtained through home visits, including interviews with mothers and observations of family literacy…

As the number of dual language learners (DLLs) increases globally, it is critical that well-developed questionnaires are available to researchers and educators that capture the characteristics and language experiences of preschool DLLs and their families. To fill this need, the Center for Early Care and Education Research-Dual Language Learners…

Research Findings: Are family literacy activities linked to gains in preschool-aged dual language learners' (DLLs') societal language vocabulary? To understand connections between literacy activities and vocabulary, we separately considered literacy activities in the respective heritage language and in the societal language, German, and accounted…

The purpose of this study, which employed mixed methods, was to document the implementation of a bilingual family literacy program with immigrant and refugee families from four different language groups in five different communities in a metropolitan area of Canada. Results indicated: 1) the program had a significant impact on children's early…

This study provides a broad, macro-analysis of how the home literacy environment (HLE) manifests among Mayan families with preschool-aged children in Yucatan, Mexico. Despite a substantial body of work showing the significant contribution of the HLE to children's reading achievement in the U.S., little work examines the HLE and children's learning…