Martine van der Pluijm

125 How to support lower-educated parents? INTRODUCTION Oral language development of young children deserves attention, as it is a key factor in language and literacy development (Aikins & Barbarin, 2008; Beals, De Temple, & Dickinson, 1994; Sénéchal & Lefevre, 2002; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Young children’s vocabulary and syntactic knowledge originate from oral language used at home, influencing their skills in reading and writing (Shanahan, 2006). The richness and diversity of interactions and activities that parents provide at home, often defined as the Home Language Environment (HLE), have a strong impact on the language and literacy development of young children (Bus, Van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Niklas & Schneider, 2013; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2014; Van Steensel, 2006). Most differences between children’s language skills can be explained by parents’ low educational attainments (e.g., Golinkoff, Hoff, Rowe, Tamis-Le Monda, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2019; Hoff, 2013; Leseman & Van den Boom, 1999; Rowe et al., 2016; Van Kleeck, 2008), defined as a maximum of primary education (very low) or lower secondary education (low) (OECD, 2015, p. 15). Many of these lower-educated families are challenged to provide a rich HLE because of less knowledge, language, and literacy skills (Hoff, Laursen, & Tardif, 2002; Rowe, Denmark, Harden, & Stapleton, 2016; Van Tuijl, Leseman, & Rispens, 2001). Such family environments can be at the root of children’s language and literacy delays (Gilkerson, Richards, & Warren et al., 2018; Hart & Risley, 1995). Two main factors impact the language and literacy development of children in the home situation: the quality of the parent-child interaction during daily family routines and the quantity of language parents provide at home (Hoff, 2013; Leseman & De Jong, 1998; Van Steensel, 2006). In lower-educated families, the quality of parent-child interaction is lower compared to higher-educated families in several respects. Lower-educated parents tend to use less positive and sensitive communication styles (Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994; Hart & Risley, 1995; Leung, Hernandez, & Suskind, 2018; Mistry, Biesanz, Chien, Howes, & Benner, 2008). Parents may also use less decontextualized language that stimulates the child to use oral language that refers to situations and ideas that are not present in the immediate environment (Curenton, Craig, & Flanigan, 2008; De Temple & Beals, 1991; Rowe, 2012; Snow, 1991; Van Kleeck, 2008; Van Kleeck, Gillam, Hamilton, & McGrath, 1997). In contrast, higher-educated parents use decontextualized language more often and are more capable of fostering their child’s initiative by using responsive communication strategies, such as following the child’s perspective and scaffolding. In lower-educated families, the quantity of verbal interaction is also lower compared to higher-educated families in several respects. Lower-educated parents tend to talk less to their children (Fekonja-Pekla, Marjanovic, & Kranjc, 2010; Gilkerson et al., 2017; Hart & Risley, 1995; Hoff, 2003; Van Kleeck, Lange, & Schwarz, 2011) and engage their children less frequently in language and literacy activities (Gonzalez et al., 2017; Suizzo & Stapleton, 2007) or in school-related dialogues (Kutner, Greenberg, Yin, Boyle, Hsu, & Dunleavy,