Enhancing Preschoolers’ Reading Interest and Habits through Home-School Collaboration: Design and Implementation of Reading Curriculum in Chinese Kindergartens

Authors

  • Lei Wu

    Faculty of Education, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi Selangor 43600, Malaysia
  • Kamariah Abu Bakar

    Faculty of Education, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi Selangor 43600, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.8541
Received: 23 January 2025 | Revised: 25 March 2025 | Accepted: 26 March 2025 | Published Online: 10 April 2025

Abstract

This study investigates the phenomenon of family-school partnership practices and their contributions to language development through reading participation of Chinese preschool children, using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and application-based models of language development, especially concerning the domain of social interaction and language skills development. This study utilises an integrated reading programme that merges the home and school contexts aimed at creating a positive macro linguistic environment for language and reading interest development. The curriculum focuses on phonological, semantic, and pragmatic features of speech in the reading materials designed to illustrate various features of Mandarin Chinese such as the complexity of characters, tone patterns, and syntactic structures appropriate for preschoolers. Through a Design and Development Research approach, data were gathered from kindergartens by means of questionnaires (n = 300), semi-structured interviews (n = 30), and observations of lessons (n = 20). Analysing the data collected through multiple methods allowed me to understand how children’s language development, specifically vocabulary learning, syntactic variety, and discourse development were impacted by different reading environments. The analysis indicated notable changes in the children’s language development, with 45% of participants evidencing heightened metalinguistic awareness, communicative competence, and vocabulary use. The integrated home-school environment which supported the children’s language development led to improvement of the quality of linguistic input (Collaboration Quality Index increased from 0.65 to 0.88, p < 0.01), which in turn enhanced language understanding and expression. Theoretically and practically, these findings carry significant meaning pertaining to official language policies within early childhood care and education in China especially.

Keywords:

Home-School Collaboration; Reading Interest; Reading Habits; Preschool Education; Curriculum Design; Language Acquisition

References

[1] Liu, B., Wang, K., Wang, W., et al., 2023. The difficulty and challenge in Chinese children's character reading: An analysis based on Chinese curriculum standards and Chinese character reading research. Journal of Chinese Writing Systems. 7(3), 202–211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/25138502231197733

[2] Silinskas, G., Sénéchal, M., Torppa, M., et al., 2020. Home literacy activities and children's reading skills, independent reading, and interest in literacy activities from kindergarten to grade 2. Frontiers in Psychology. 11, 1508. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01508

[3] Liu, C., Zhang, X., Cheung, W.M., 2024. The longitudinal interplay of mothers' and fathers' literacy teaching and Chinese preschool children's literacy interest and word reading abilities. Reading and Writing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-024-10619-3

[4] Baker, L., Scher, D., 2002. Beginning readers' motivation for reading in relation to parental beliefs and home reading experiences. Reading Psychology. 23(4), 239–269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/713775283

[5] Goldfeld, S., Moreno-Betancur, M., Guo, S., et al., 2021. Inequities in children's reading skills: The role of home reading and preschool attendance. Academic Pediatrics. 21(6). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2021.04.019

[6] Cui, S., Greger, D., 2024. Do kindergartens mitigate or exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities in language exposure? The case of home-based and kindergarten-based shared book reading activities in China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 11(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03652-8

[7] Zhang, N., Yu, D., Guo, K., 2021. Home-school cooperation in rural kindergartens: A survey study with Chinese kindergarten teachers. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education. 31(2), 18–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v31i2.281

[8] Qiao, P., Chen, S., Deng, L., 2024. Empowering rural early childhood education through shared book reading and school-family-community partnerships. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2024.2403423

[9] Yan, J., 2023. Strategies for early childhood literacy education in homeland co-education. Frontiers in Educational Research. 6(17), 141–147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2023.061722

[10] Li, G., 2025. Factors influencing reading interest of rural children in China. Reading & Writing Quarterly. 41(1), 84–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2024.2431498

[11] Hu, B.Y., Zhou, Y., Chen, L., et al., 2021. Exploring home-school partnership and Chinese parental satisfaction of preschool services: The moderating effect of childrearing beliefs. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 30, 206–219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01876-3

[12] Bigozzi, L., Vettori, G., Incognito, O., 2023. The role of preschoolers' home literacy environment and emergent literacy skills on later reading and writing skills in primary school: A mediational model. Frontiers in Psychology. 14, 1113822. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113822

[13] Esmaeeli, S., 2024. A Model of the Home Literacy Environment and Family Risk of Reading Difficulty in Relation to Children's Preschool Emergent Literacy. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 57(3), 181–196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194231195623

[14] Laitinen, S., Lepola, J., Kajamies, A., 2022. The role of pre-reading skills in the development of task orientation and interest in reading and play from preschool to kindergarten. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research. 11(3), 51–81.

[15] Han, J.H., Kim, H., 2024. Exploring children's responses during ‘school' picture book reading for kindergarten-elementary school transition. Korean Journal of Early Childhood Education. 26(3), 342–366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15409/riece.2024.26.3.14

[16] Celik, B., 2024. A Study on the Factors Affecting Reading and Reading Habits of Preschool Children. International Journal of English Linguistics. 10(1), 101–114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n1p101

[17] Botto, V., Kerr, J., 2023. Facilitating Reading-Centered Discussions in Families: Pedagogical Approaches that Satisfy Multiple Learning Objectives. Reading Psychology. 44(2), 175–193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2023.2165290

[18] Wu, Q., Hindman, A., 2024. The Relations Between Parents' Beliefs, Parents' Home Reading Practices, and Their Children's Literacy Development in Kindergarten. Child & Youth Care Forum. 54, 187–205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-024-09813-9

[19] Zhang, S.Z., Inoue, T., Georgiou, G., 2024. Examining the relations between mothers' reading skills, home literacy environment, and Chinese children's word reading across contexts. Reading and Writing. 37, 1779–1804. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10475-7

[20] Zhao, L., Chen, X., Yang, Y., et al., 2024. How do parental attitudes influence children's learning interests in reading and mathematics? The mediating role of home-based versus school-based parental involvement? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 92, 101647. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101647

[21] Tanji, T., Inoue, T., 2023. Home literacy environment and early reading skills in Japanese Hiragana and Kanji during the transition from kindergarten to primary. Frontiers in Psychology. 14, 1052216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1052216

[22] Xiao, N., Che, Y., Zhang, X., et al., 2020. Father–child literacy teaching activities as a unique predictor of Chinese preschool children's word reading skills. Infant and Child Development. 29(4), e2183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2183

[23] Li, X., Li, S., 2022. The varied influence of the home literacy environment on Chinese preschoolers' word reading skills. Reading and Writing. 35, 803–824. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10212-y

Downloads

How to Cite

Wu, L., & Abu Bakar, K. (2025). Enhancing Preschoolers’ Reading Interest and Habits through Home-School Collaboration: Design and Implementation of Reading Curriculum in Chinese Kindergartens. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(4), 547–561. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.8541

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 4 (April 2025)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Lei Wu, Kamariah Abu Bakar

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.