Family Matters Related to the Reading Engagement of Latino Children

Abstract

This article reports on the relation between ecocultural (Weisner, 1984) features of 18 Latino families in relation to their children's motivation to read. Five ecocultural features emerged as salient in families' daily living: Immigration, Culture and Language, Nurturance, Instrumental, and Workload. The 5 ecocultural features were examined in relation to children's perceptions of themselves as readers: self concept as reader and value of reading (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996) findings indicated that questions on how and why children read are better understood with a sociocultural lens, as the expression of culturally, historically, and socially mediated processes.