Receptive vocabulary of preschool children with migration backgrounds: the effect of home literacy activities

Notwithstanding their relevance to children's cognitive development, home literacy activities of preschool children with migration backgrounds have only been partly explored. Therefore, the current understanding of this topic, particularly in a German setting remains incomplete. This study aimed to evaluate the differences between preschool children with and without migration backgrounds with respect to both the exposure rate of home literacy activities and the connection between home literacy activities and receptive vocabulary. The study used data from the German National Educational Panel Study, Starting Cohort Newborns. Using a structural equation model, this study confirms that children with migration backgrounds were less exposed to informal literacy activities compared to German children. Interestingly, the opposite result was found for formal literacy activities. Furthermore, the results of the multigroup analysis suggests that the inferiority of children with migration in receptive vocabulary is attributed to their low exposure to informal literacy activities.