PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND THEIR IMPACT ON READING ENGLISH OF

STUDENTS AMONG THE RURAL SCHOOL IN MALAYSIA

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter deals with the review of study literature on many factors that
impact the reading English. It will also focus on the influence of parental
involvement among rural school in Malaysia. Moreover, this chapter will reveal
theories approach that helps the researcher to find information and enhances the
understanding of the study. All the literature review will support the findings by
researcher. This chapter will acquire a conceptual framework that used in this
study.
2.1 Literature Review
Reading English fulfils a pivotal role in the development and use of lifelong
reading skills. Richek, List & Learner (1989), stated that the ultimate success of
instruction is strongly affected by the readers attitude. Meanwhile, Lipson &
Wixson (1992), concluded that the students attitude toward reading English is a
central factor affecting reading performance.
(Spiegel, 1994), who investigated parents of successful readers, recognized
the importance of positive role models for reading. What parents do in their
homes (their literary environment) significantly affect the development of
positive attitudes toward reading. According to Spiegel, home literary
environments included several parts, such as artefacts (books, papers, pencils,
paper, letters, junk mail, and other mark-related material) and issues (reading to
kids).
While education stakeholders agree to shut the opening of academic
achievement between those who achieve and those who do not, the efforts that
focus on school policies while ignoring the students parental involvement, will
fail (Rothstein, 2004). It is because parents or primary caregivers influence much
in a childs early years. (Thompson, et. al., 1988; Peechia, 2002).
Attitudes to reading English begin to germinate in the prior-to-school period
and proceed to be refined as students move throughout the elementary school
age. Even at a young age, students are mindful that with literacy comes the
ability to exert increased control over ones life (Connell, 1985). The attitude of a

learner in English is fundamental to the outcome of their work (Lipson & Wixson,
1992).
Parent involvement, and behaviors, parental beliefs and family
socioeconomic status (SES) are frequently mentioned as parental factors related
to children are reading (Arnold, Zeljo, Doctoroff, & Ortiz, 2008; Baker, Serpell, &
Sonnenschein, 1995; Begum, 2007; Considine & Zappala, 2002). Family SES is
also associated with parents education and family income (Arnold, et al., 2008).
Family social economic status influences childrens reading achievement
(Begum, 2007), and SES was positively related to parents involvement (Arnold,
et al., 2008; De Baryshe, 1992).
Children with parents who demonstrate a highly positive attitude toward
reading English and who read to their children generally profit from instruction
when they begin learning to read and also enjoy considerable success (Durkin,
1966; Mc Cormick, 1983). (Parker, 1986), classified as "poor" readers were
predominantly from lower socioeconomic strata while the others were generally
of medium income.
Parents attitudes and support for their childrens learning influence
performance on literacy tests irrespective of socio economic status (Tizard,
Blatchford,Burke,Farquhar and Plewis, 1988; Wells, 1987). Parental involvement
in their childs literacy practices positively affects childrens academic
performance (Fan and Chen, 2001) and is a more powerful force for academic
success than other family background variables, such as social class, family size
and level of parental education (Flouri and Buchanan, 2004). Specifically parental
involvement with reading activities at home has significant positive influences
not only on reading achievement, language comprehension and expressive
language skills (Gest, Freeman, Domitrovich, and Welsh, 2004), but also on
pupils interest in reading, attitudes towards reading and attentiveness in the
classroom (Rowe, 1991). Parents make the greatest difference to achievement
through supporting their learning in the home rather than supporting activities in
the school (Harris and Goodall, 2007).
Longitudinal studies, provide research evidence confirming that parental
involvement in learning activities in the home is strongly associated with
childrens better cognitive achievement, particularly in the early years (such as
Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj- Blatchford, and Taggart,1999 and Melhuish,
Sylva, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, and Taggart, 2001, see also Harris and
Goodall, 2007).

To date, many studies have established the effect of parents

socioeconomic status on parental involvement. The influence of parents
socioeconomic status on parental involvement has been well documented in
explaining how the socioeconomic level of parents is translated into their childs
school achievement. Research in parent involvement, (Midraj & Midraj, 2011)
shows that involvement at home has a more significant impact on childrens
attainment than parent involvement in school activities. (Christenson & Sheridan,
2001; Hickman, Greenwood, & Miller, 1995; Izzo, Weissberg, Kasprow, &
Fendrich, 1999; Trusty, 1999).Olaniyi & Mageshni(2008) studies shows that,
Parental involvement positively correlated with students' academic achievement.
Children of parents involved in the home-based learning support activities and
direct communication with their children had superior school grades than those
from less involved parents. Kingsley (2011) carried out a study to analyse the
link between parental involvement and the academic achievement of young
students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, the results indicate a
positive and significant correlation between parental involvement and the
academic achievement of the students.
2.2 The Role of Parental Involvement
Researchers have evidence for the positive effects of parent involvement on
children, families, and school when schools and parents continuously support
and encourage the children's learning and development (Eccles & Harold, 1993;
Illinois State Board of Education, 1993). According to Henderson and Berla
(1994 ), the most accurate predictor of a student's achievement in school is not
income or social status but the extent to which that student's family is able to
create a home environment that encourages learning, express high (but not
unrealistic) expectations for their children's achievement and future careers and
become involved in their children's education at school and in the community (p.
160) Henderson and Berla (1994 ) reviewed and analyzed eighty-five studies that
documented the comprehensive benefits of parent involvement in children's
education. This and other studies show that parent involvement activities that
are effectively planned and well implemented result in substantial benefits to
children, parents, educators, and the school.

The evidence about the benefits of parents being involved in their childrens
education in general, and their childrens literacy activities in particular, is
overwhelming. Research shows that parental involvement in their childrens
reading positively affects the childs performance at school (Fan & Chen, 2001) in
both primary and secondary schools (Feinstein & Symons, 1999), leading to
higher academic achievement, greater cognitive competence, greater problemsolving skills, greater school enjoyment, better school attendance and fewer
behavioural problems at school (Melhuish, Sylva, Sammons et al., 2001). Similar
impacts have also been identified with regards to literacy practices, including:
Early reading experiences with their parents prepare children for the benefits of
formal
literacy instruction. Indeed, parental involvement in their childs reading has
been found to
be the most important determinant of language and emergent literacy (Bus, van
Ijzendoorn &Pellegrini, 1995). Furthermore, parents who introduce their babies to
books give them a head start in school and an advantage over their peers
throughout primary school (Wade & Moore, 2000).
Involvement with reading activities at home has significant positive influences
not only on reading achievement, language comprehension and expressive
language skills (Gest, Freeman, Domitrovich & Welsh, 2004), but also on pupils
interest in reading, attitudes towards reading and attentiveness in the classroom
(Rowe, 1991).
Parental involvement in their childs literacy practices is a more powerful force
than other family background variables, such as social class, family size and
level of parental education (Flouri & Buchanan, 2004), while reading enjoyment
is more important for childrens
educational success than their familys socio-economic status (OECD, 2002).
Research also shows that the earlier parents become involved in their
childrens literacy practices, the more profound the results and the longerlasting
the effects (Mullis, Mullis, Cornille et al., 2004). Additionally, of all school
subjects, reading has been found to be most sensitive to parental influences
(Senechal & LeFevre, 2002). In turn, success in reading is a gateway to success
in other academic areas as well (Jordan, Snow & Porsche, 2000).
Although parental involvement has the greatest effect in the early years, its
importance to childrens educational and literacy outcomes continues into the
teenage and even adult years (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003). For example,

Feinstein and Symons (1999) found that parental interest in their childs
education was the single greatest predictor of achievement at age 16.
Based on the above issues, the current study is to summarise the published
findings and to identify the activities in the home that contribute to children's
literacy. It sought to identify the most effective means of encouraging and
supporting parents and carers to help their children become competent and
confident readers and writers and to suggest the best way forward for policymakers, educational providers and parental organisations. It is important to
recognise, however, that activities that support literacy in one instance may not
work in all contexts, particularly where there are language and cultural
differences. The following conclusions were drawn from the review of what
benefits children's literacy at home
2.3

Theory Regarding Reading

Reading seems to derive from perceptions acquired from peoples reading

history and experience Guthrie & Greaney (1991). Day, Richard and Bamford
(1998), indicate that a learners experience of reading in the first language
influences the learners attitude to reading in all languages. Furthermore, it
seems that cultural beliefs are another cradle for the incubation of negative or
positive attitudes towards reading (McKenna et al. 1995). A culture where
reading is viewed in a negative light by people whose approval a learner seeks,
may not encourage positive reading attitudes. This statement emphasizes the
role of teachers, parents and communities in the development of positive reading
attitudes. Parents, teachers and communities play a significant role in the
mentoring and modelling of the culture of reading, as each group serves as a
vital part in the multilateral nature of influence on a child (McKenna 2001).
In sociology, a number of theories have been proposed to explain the reason for
poorer academic achievements among low SES students. Such theories can be
classified into three major types: cultural deficiency theories; institutional
deficiency theories; and cultural conflict theories (Hampton, et al. 1995, 484).
Cultural deficiency theories claim that lower SES groups develop distinct cultures
which prevent them from achieving in a given society and thus reproduce their
poverty status. Institutional deficiency theories argue that lower SES groups face
institutional discrimination that limits their access and prevents them from
benefitting from a high quality of education. Schools with higher concentrations
of lower SES students tend to have limited educational resources and fewer

educational opportunities for lower SES students to achieve academic success.

Lastly, cultural conflict theories attribute poor performance among lower SES
students to their lack of cultural capital such as certain types of expected
parental involvement in school activities and education at home. Lower SES
families cultural resources often do not match what the school and mainstream
society expect them to have.
2.3.1 Cultural deficiency Theories
Cultural deficiency refers to a theoretical argument that the cultural attributes or
practices often associated with historically disenfranchised racial/ethnic groups
have prevented them from assimilating and attaining social mobility. Examples of
cultural deficiencies include limited outlooks and attitudes toward the future, a
failure to internalize the work ethic, instant gratification behavior, a lack of
parent involvement in schools, low intellectual abilities, an emphasis on
masculinity and honor, and an aversion to honest work. Other so-called
deficiencies, as identified by Stanley Eitzen and Maxine Baca Zinn (2006), may
include early initiation to sex among children, female-headed households, a
fatalistic attitude toward life, and a limited interest in education. The cultural
deficiency argument also posits a causal linkage between certain cultural
attributes and upward socioeconomic mobility. It identifies the attributes of
economically and socially successful middle-class as the mechanisms that enable
success.
Cultural deficiency has been used since the mid-1900s in academic discourse
and in various fields, at times referred to as the culture of poverty or culture
of deprivation. Some sociologists have applied the discourse of cultural
deficiency to analyses of limited social mobility. Education specialists have used
cultural deficiency arguments to explain why differences in academic
performance exist and persist among racial/ethnic minority groups.
2.3.2 Institutional Deficiency Theories
Institutional deficiency theories argue that lower SES groups face institutional
discrimination that limits their access and prevents them from benefitting from a
high quality of education. Schools with higher concentrations of lower SES
students tend to have limited educational resources and fewer educational
opportunities for lower SES students to achieve academic success. It focuses on
the deeper and more resilient aspects of social structure. It considers the

processes by which structures, including schemas, rules, norms, and routines,

become established as authoritative guidelines for social behavior (Scott, 2004).
Different components of institutional theory explain how these elements are
created, diffused, adopted, and adapted over space and time; and how they fall
into decline and disuse. Powell and DiMaggio (1991) define an emerging
perspective in organization theory and sociology, which they term the 'new
institutionalism', as rejecting the rational-actor models of classical economics.
Instead, it seeks cognitive and cultural explanations of social and organizational
phenomena by considering the properties of supra-individual units of analysis
that cannot be reduced to aggregations or direct consequences of individuals
attributes or motives. (cannot find the real theory regarding reading)
2.3.3 Cultural Conflict Theories
Cultural conflict theories attribute poor performance among lower SES students
to their lack of cultural capital such as certain types of expected parental
involvement in school activities and education at home. Lower SES families
cultural resources often do not match what the school and mainstream society
expect them to have. Culture conflict theory is also known as cultural deviance
theory. This theory suggests that crime is caused due to the clash of values that
arises when different social groups have different ideas of acceptable behavior.
In other words, different social groups have different cultural beliefs and ideas
which conflict, and this conflict sometimes leads to different achievement. This
theory has differential opportunity such as legitimate opportunities for success
and illegitimates opportunities also for success.