Skip to content
2018
Volume 103, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 0360-9170
  • E-ISSN: 1943-2402

Abstract

Using the lens of new literacy studies, this literature review examines how immigrant families’ literacy practices and parents’ perspectives are demonstrated in empirical studies.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.58680/la2025103289
2025-11-01
2026-04-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Arzubiaga A. E., Noguerón S. C., & Sullivan A. L. (2009) The education of children in im/migrant families. Review of Research in Education, 33(1), 246–71. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X08328243
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Auerbach E. R. (1993) Reexamining English only in the ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 27(1), 9–32. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X083282
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Baird A. S., Kibler A., & Palacios N. (2015) “Yo te estoy ayudando; estoy aprendiendo también/I am helping you; I am learning too:” A bilingual family’s community of practice during home literacy events. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(2), 147–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414551949
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Barton D., & Hamilton M. (1998) Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Barton D., Hamilton M., & Ivani? R Eds (2000) Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context. Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Belur J., Tompson L., Thornton A., & Simon M. (2021) Interrater reliability in systematic review methodology: Exploring variation in coder decision-making. Sociological Methods & Research, 50(2), 837–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124118799372
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Benson B. E. (2003) Framing culture within classroom practice: Culturally relevant teaching. Action in Teacher Education, 25(2), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2003.10463301
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Chappel J., & Ratliffe K. (2021) Factors impacting positive school-home communication: A multiple case study of family-school partnership practices in eight elementary schools in Hawai’i. School Community Journal, 31(2), 9–30. http://www.schoolcommunitynetwork.org/SCJ.aspx
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Chiswick B. R., & Miller P. W. (2004) Where immigrants settle in the United States. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 6(2), 185–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/1387698042000273479
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Coba-Rodriguez S., & Jarrett R. L. (2022) An investigation of the perspectives of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers transitioning to kindergarten. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 22(1), 31–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798420901822
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Compton-Lilly C., Rogers R., & Lewis T. Y. (2012) Analyzing epistemological considerations related to diversity: An integrative critical literature review of family literacy scholarship. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(1), 33–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/RRQ.009
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Crawford P. A., & Zygouris-Coe V. (2006) All in the family: Connecting home and school with family literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(4), 261–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0047-x
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Cun A. (2024) Findings from two pilot studies: The perspectives of teachers and Chinese immigrant parents on education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Teacher Educator, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2024.2425962
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Delgado-Gaitan C. (1992) School matters in the Mexican-American home: Socializing children to education. American Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 495–513. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312029003495
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Dettlaff A. J., & Fong R. Eds (2016) Immigrant and refugee children and families: Culturally responsive practice. Columbia University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Dolean D. D. (2022) Home literacy practices that support language and literacy development in bilingual children: A longitudinal case study. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(7), 2621–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2021.1943304
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Dudley-Marling C. (2009) Home–school literacy connections: The perceptions of African American and immigrant ESL parents in two urban communities. Teachers College Record, 111(7), 1713–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100705
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Esterline C., & Batalova J. (2022) Frequently requested statistics on immigrants. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/source_images/FRS2022-print_version_FINAL.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Faltis C. (1995) Building bridges between parents and the school. In Baker C. & Wright W. E. (Eds.), Bilingualism and Bilingual Education–Extending the Foundation (pp. 245–57). Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Figlio D., Giuliano P., Marchingiglio R., Ozek U., & Sapienza P. (2024) Diversity in schools: Immigrants and the educational performance of US-born students. Review of Economic Studies, 91(2), 972–1006. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdad047
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Flores T. T. (2019) The family writing workshop: Latinx families cultivando comunidad through stories. Language Arts, 97(2), 59–71. https://doi.org/10.58680/la201930336
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gee J. P. (1991) What is literacy? In Mitchell C. M. & Weiler K. (Eds.), Rewriting literacy: Culture and the discourse of the other (pp. 3–11). Bergin and Garvey.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Gee J. P. (1996) Social linguistic and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Gillanders C., & Jiménez R. T. (2004) Reaching for success: A close-up of Mexican immigrant parents in the USA who foster literacy success for their kindergarten children. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 4(3), 243–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798404044513
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Gisev N., Bell J. S., & Chen T. F. (2013) Interrater agreement and interrater reliability: Key concepts, approaches, and applications. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 9(3), 330–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2012.04.004
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Godina H. (2004) Contradictory literacy practices of Mexican-background students: An ethnography from the rural Midwest. Bilingual Research Journal, 28(2), 153–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2004.10162812
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Goldenberg C., Gallimore R., Reese L., & Garnier H. (2001) Cause or effect? A longitudinal study of immigrant Latino parents’ aspirations and expectations, and their children’s school performance. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 547–82. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038003547
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Guo Y. (2012) Diversity in public education: Acknowledging immigrant parent knowledge. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l’éducation, 35(2), 120–40. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/canajeducrevucan.35.2.120.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Gougeon T. D. (1993) Urban schools and immigrant families: Teacher perspectives. The Urban Review, 25, 251–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01111851
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Haneda M. (2006) Becoming literate in a second language: Connecting home, community, and school literacy practices. Theory into Practice, 45(4), 337–45. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4504_7
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Harraway V., & Wong J. S. (2024) Broad strokes for ‘foreign folks’: A thematic content analysis of migration within news articles containing migrant crime. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 22(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2021.1995925
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Harriett R. O. M. O (1984) The Mexican origin population’s differing perceptions of their children’s schooling. Social Science Quarterly, 65(2), 635. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1291641759
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Heath S. B. (1983) Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge University.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Hilliker S. M., & Washburn E. K. (2021) Family literacy night: A student-centered clinically rich experience for teacher candidates in literacy and TESOL. Journal of Education, 201(1), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022057420904381
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Honeyford M. A. (2014) From aquí and allá: Symbolic convergence in the multimodal literacy practices of adolescent immigrant students. Journal of Literacy Research, 46(2), 194–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X14534180
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Hughes M., & Greenhough P. (2006) Boxes, bags and videotape: Enhancing home–school communication through knowledge exchange activities. Educational Review, 58(4), 471–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131910600971958
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Johnson L. R. (2009) Challenging “best practices” in family literacy and parent education programs: The development and enactment of mothering knowledge among Puerto Rican and Latina mothers in Chicago. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 40(3), 257–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2009.01044.x
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Kajee L. (2011) Literacy journeys: Home and family literacy practices in immigrant households and their congruence with schooled literacy. South African Journal of Education, 31(3), 434–46. doi:10.15700/saje.v31n3a545
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Kanaya T., & Santiago M. (2022) Mother-child storytelling patterns among first-generation Latino dyads: Implications for improving home-school engagement in early literacy skills. Journal of Latinos and Education, 21(2), 157–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2019.1634573
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Lam W. S. E., & Warriner D. S. (2012) Transnationalism and literacy: Investigating the mobility of people, languages, texts, and practices in contexts of migration. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(2), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/RRQ.016
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Lapinski J. S., Peltola P., Shaw G., & Yang A. (1997) Trends: Immigrants and immigration. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 61(2), 356–83. www.jstor.org/stable/2749556
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Lee J. S. (2010) Culturally relevant pedagogy for immigrant children and English language learners. Teachers College Record, 112(14), 453–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811011201408
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Li G. (2003) Literacy, culture, and politics of schooling: Counternarratives of a Chinese Canadian family. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 34(2), 182–204. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2003.34.2.182
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Li G. (2006) What do parents think? Middle-class Chinese immigrant parents’ perspectives on literacy learning, homework, and school-home communication. School Community Journal, 16(2), 27–46. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ794796
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Li J. (2001) Expectations of Chinese immigrant parents for their children’s education: The interplay of Chinese tradition and the Canadian context. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l’éducation, 477–94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1602178
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Liu A., Heath M., & Grzywacz J. G. (2024) Cultural meaning of education and parents’ involvement in education: Perspectives of immigrant Latinos. Family Relations, 73(1), 262–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12940
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Liu J. (2023) Framing Syrian refugees: Examining news framing effects on attitudes toward refugee admissions and anti-immigrant sentiment. Newspaper Research Journal, 44(1), 6–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/07395329221077251
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Lowenhaupt R., & Montgomery N. (2018) Family engagement practices as sites of possibility: Supporting immigrant families through a district-university partnership. Theory into Practice, 57(2), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2018.1425814
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Markose S. J., & Simpson A. (2016) “I want them better than me”: Pedagogical strategies employed by four immigrant parents in the face of perceived forms of exclusion by school authorities. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(3), 659–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.885423
    [Google Scholar]
  50. McDevitt S. E. (2016) Rediscovering and reconnecting funds of knowledge of immigrant children, families, and teachers. Childhood Education, 92(6), 470–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2016.1251796
    [Google Scholar]
  51. McNeill E. (2022) Immigration stories to reveal funds of knowledge and brave spaces in literacy curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 65(4), 287–96. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1205
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Menard-Warwick J. (2007) Biliteracy and schooling in an extended-family Nicaraguan immigrant household: The sociohistorical construction of parental involvement. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(2), 119–37. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2007.38.2.119
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Miller G. E., & Khatib S. M. (2023) Honoring diverse cultures through family literacy approaches that build family, school, and community partnerships. The Reading Teacher, 76(5), 586–93. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2181
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Orellana M. F., Reynolds J., Dorner L., & Meza M. (2003) In other words: Translating or “para-phrasing” as a family literacy practice in immigrant households. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(1), 12–34. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.38.1.2
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Panferov S. (2010) Increasing ELL parental involvement in our schools: Learning from the parents. Theory into Practice, 49(2), 106–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841003626551
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Paratore J. R., Homza A., Krol-Sinclair B., Lewis-Barrow T., Melzi G., Stergis R., & Haynes H. (1995) Shifting boundaries in home and school responsibilities: The construction of home-based literacy portfolios by immigrant parents and their children. Research in the Teaching of English, 29(4), 367–89. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte199515334
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Peets K. F., Yim O., & Bialystok E. (2022) Language proficiency, reading comprehension and home literacy in bilingual children: The impact of context. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(1), 226–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1677551
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Reese L., & Gallimore R. (2000) Immigrant Latinos’ cultural model of literacy development: An evolving perspective on home-school discontinuities. American Journal of Education, 108(2), 103–34. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/444236
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Rowsell J. (2006) Family literacy experiences: Creating reading and writing opportunities that support classroom learning. Pembroke Publishers Limited.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Sarroub L. K., Pernicek T., & Sweeney T. (2007) “I was bitten by a scorpion”: Reading in and out of school in a refugee’s life. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(8), 668–79. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.50.8.5
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Schultz K., & Coleman-King C. (2012) Becoming visible: Shifting teacher practice to actively engage new immigrant students in urban classrooms. The Urban Review, 44, 487–509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0204-7
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Schulz M. M., & Kantor R. (2005) Understanding the home-school interface in a culturally diverse family. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 10(1), 59–79. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ966164
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Seals C. A., & Peyton J. K. (2017) Heritage language education: Valuing the languages, literacies, and cultural competencies of immigrant youth. Current Issues in Language Planning, 18(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2016.1168690
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Segal U. A., & Mayadas N. S. (2005) Assessment of issues facing immigrant and refugee families. Child Welfare, 563–83. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45398733
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Severino F., & Salas V. (2024) Moving north: Analysis of news representation of Central American immigration in the US and Mexico. Journalism Practice, 18(8), 2085–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2135127
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Sibley E., & Brabeck K. (2017) Latino immigrant students’ school experiences in the United States: The importance of family-school-community collaborations. School Community Journal, 27(1), 137–57. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1146470
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Sirin S. R., & Ryce P. (2009) Cultural incongruence between teachers and families. In Grigorenko E. L. & Takanishi R.. (Eds.), Immigration, diversity, and education (pp. 151–75). Taylor & Francis Group
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Smith P., Lee J., & Chang R. (2022) Characterizing competing tensions in Black immigrant literacies: Beyond partial representations of success. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(1), 59–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.375
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Song K. (2016) “Okay, I will say in Korean and then in American”: Translanguaging practices in bilingual homes. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 16(1), 84–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414566705
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Souto-Manning M., & Mitchell C. H. (2010) The role of action research in fostering culturally-responsive practices in a preschool classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 269–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0345-9
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Suarez A. M. G. (2021) Building family literacy of Hispanic immigrant communities in the elementary classroom setting. Greensboro College.
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Suárez-Orozco C. (2017) The diverse immigrant student experience: What does it mean for teaching? Educational Studies, 53(5), 522–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2017.1355796
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Street B. (1984) Literacy in theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Street B. (1993) The new literacy studies, guest editorial. Journal of Research in Reading, 16(2), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.1993.tb00039.x
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Street B. (1995) Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography and education. Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Street B. (2005) At last: Recent applications of New Literacy Studies in educational contexts. Research in the Teaching of English, 39(4), 417–23. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte20054482
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Valdes M. C. (2020) A review of daily conversations and practices at home: Exploring practices that promote early literacy in Spanish-speaking homes and home-school interactions. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.5070/D4161044705
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Wiley T. G., & Lukes M. (1996) English?only and standard English ideologies in the US. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 511–35. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587696
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Xu Y., Farver J. A. M., & Krieg A. (2017) The home environment and Asian immigrant children’s early literacy skills. Parenting, 17(2), 104–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2017.1304783
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Yang J., Lawrence J. F., & Grøver V. (2023) Parental expectations and home literacy environment: A questionnaire study of Chinese-Norwegian dual language learners. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 37(1), 159–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2022.2098427
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.58680/la2025103289
Loading
/content/journals/10.58680/la2025103289
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test