The effect of home literacy environment on preschool children’s learning dispositions

Previous studies have identified the home literacy environment (HLE) as a crucial factor influencing preschool children’s learning and developmental outcomes. Conceptualizing the HLE as comprising three constructs–parent expectations, parent practices, and home resources–this study investigated how the HLE affects preschool children’s learning dispositions within the context of language and literacy learning. The participants were 242 parents of 4- to 6-year-old children attending kindergarten in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Data were collected through a parent survey. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that: (1) parent expectations positively affected children’s learning dispositions, with parent practices mediating this effect, and (2) parent practices positively affected children’s learning dispositions, with home resources mediating this effect. Treating learning dispositions as an outcome variable, our study suggests that children’s learning dispositions are influenced by all components of the HLE in different ways.