Major and Classification
Psychology
Faculty Mentors
- Professor Joann Farver
Department
McNair Project
“The Influence of Acculturation and Parental Stress on Literacy Outcomes for Low-Income Latino Preschool Children”
While the risk of poor literacy outcomes for low-income and minority children has been well documented in the literature, the influence of ethnic difference on these outcome variables has not been thoroughly investigated. In the Latino population, specifically, questions about the influence of the Latino acculturation experience on literacy have not been explored. Using several measures of acculturation the present study examined the relationship between acculturation and early literacy abilities, assessing the relative effects of the correlates of acculturation on emergent literacy skills. Data were collected from pre-school children attending a Head Start program in Los Angeles and their mothers. Children were assessed for their language skills. Mothers filled out questionnaires assessing aspects of the home literacy environment. Relationships between acculturation and literacy outcomes were examined as well as the relationship between acculturation and the home literacy environment. Correlates of the acculturation process (i.e., parental education level, language spoken at home) were also tested for their association to children’s literacy outcomes as well as to the home literacy environment.