HOMELY – Home literacy environment and family language policy of language minority children in Luxembourg

Early literacy skills are critical for later academic achievement of all children. While most of the studies focused on monolingual and bilingual children, there has been a growing interest to study multilingual children. This mixed-method project aimed to explore home literacy environment (HLE), family language policy (FLP) and language competences of multilingual preschool children aged 4 to 6 in Luxembourg. To achieve the aim there were three studies exploring: (1) the factors of HLE that influence multilingual preschool children’s emergent literacy through 600 parent questionnaires and 32 parent interviews, (2) the FLP of multilingual families through 32 interviews with 41 participants, and (3) the early literacy and numeracy of multilingual preschool children through testing of 196 multilingual preschool children in their language competences in home language (Portuguese, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, French, German, and English) and Luxembourgish. The structural equation modelling analysis based on 600 parent questionnaires showed that the most important predictors for children’s early reading were parent involvement, parent reading habits and numbers of books, while for children’s print knowledge this was parent involvement. The content analysis based on 32 interviews revealed that number of books and other literacy resources, child’s agency, parent involvement as shared reading (meaning, code, and well-being), and phonological awareness were the most important factors, with the focus on shared reading as a well-being activity. Finally, the content and discourse analyses showed that out of 32 multilingual families, 16 families reported speaking one language, three families one language “mostly”, 10 families applying ‘one parent, one language’ policy, one family reported a “mix up” two languages, and two families reported speaking three languages. The FLP promoting home languages is in contrast, and not in conflict, with the languages of new environment in multilingual Luxembourg. The results of this rare study have national and international impact.