Supporting children’s language and literacy development through family literacy : a scoping review

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of family literacy on the language and literacy development of children up to 10 years of age. Family literacy refers to the ways in which families engage in reading and writing together as part of their day-to-day life. This plays a pivotal role in shaping children’s language and literacy skills. The research question guiding this study is: What is the impact of family literacy on the language and literacy development of children? To address this, a scoping literature review is utilised according to the framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). This scoping literature review focuses on peer-reviewed literature published between 2019 and 2024. After establishing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the implementation of the scoping protocol, n=71 peer-reviewed papers were included for analysis. Following the scoping strategy, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework is used to thematically analyse the textual data from the included papers. Two main themes emerged from the analysis: family background and interaction. These main themes reflect the complex and multifaceted nature of family literacy. This is further explored through nested sub-themes from each main theme. The findings reveal that the impacts of family literacy differ depending on the variations in children’s family background in addition to variations in the quality of interactions children engage. Several gaps in literature were identified throughout the process of this study. In response, this study offers recommendations for future research as well as practical suggestions for teachers and educators seeking to support children’s language and literacy development through family literacy.