Family Matters Related to the Reading
Engagement of Latina/o Children
Angela Arzubiaga
Vanderbilt University
Robert Rueda and Lilia Monzó
University of Southern California
CIERA Inquiry 1: Readers and Texts
What is the relationship between family ecocultural factors and Latina/o children's engagement in reading?
This article reports on the relationship between ecocultural (Weisner, 1984) features of 18 Latina/o families and their children's motivation to read. Five ecocultural features emerged as salient in families' daily living: immigration, culture and language, nurturance, instrumental, and workload. Ecocultural features were examined in relation to children's perceptions of themselves as readers (self concept as reader and value of reading, [Gambrell et al., 1996]). Nurturance related to how much children valued reading, culture and language related to how children viewed themselves as readers, and workload was inversely related to how much children valued reading. Our findings indicated that questions about how and why children read are seen more clearly through a sociocultural lens, as the expression of culturally, historically, and socially mediated processes.
University of Michigan School of Education
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ciera@umich.edu
We are grateful to the students, families, teachers, and school staff who allowed us into their lives. Address correspondence to:
Angela Arzubiaga, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies
1207 18th Ave. South
Nashville, TN 37212.
Phone: (615) 322-8508
Fax: (615) 322-8081
E-mail: a.arzubiaga@vanderbilt.edu
This paper is currently in press at the Journal of Latinos and Education.
