Abstract
Cross-linguistic skills transfer from the first language (L1) to the second/foreign language (L2) has been widely investigated and the impact of L1 on L2 learning has been documented. On the other hand, there are few studies that have investigated the reverse transfer of skills that are from L2 to L1. These studies support the CRT hypothesis which claims that such a transfer exists and that when an intervention program for the improvement of specific linguistic skills in L2 is applied in children with learning disabilities there is an improvement of the same skills in their L1, except for spelling skills (Abu-Rabia & Bluestein-Danon, 2012; Abu-Rabia, Shakkour, & Siegel, 2013). In the present study, a linguistic skill transfer from L2 (English) to L1 (Greek) is investigated, after an intervention in the L2, among secondary school students with learning disabilities (LD). The students (mean age 13.6 years old) were divided into an experimental group which received an intervention in L2’s decoding and spelling skills and also into a control group which did not receive any intervention. Both groups were tested in their decoding reading skills and spelling in both languages. Our results showed that there was a transfer from L2 to L1 for decoding skills in the intervention group but not for spelling. These findings are in line with the CRT Hypothesis giving support to a linguistic skill transfer from L2 to L1, except for orthographic knowledge which seems to be language specific.
Highlights
IntroductionIt is generally accepted that students with reading difficulties and general learning disabilities face problems when they learn a foreign language (Abu-Rabia & Bluestein-Danon, 2012; Cummins, 1991; Geva, Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Schuster, 2000)
These studies support the Cognitive-Retroactive Transfer Hypothesis (CRT) hypothesis which claims that such a transfer exists and that when an intervention program for the improvement of specific linguistic skills in L2 is applied in children with learning disabilities there is an improvement of the same skills in their L1, except for spelling skills (Abu-Rabia & Bluestein-Danon, 2012; Abu-Rabia, Shakkour, & Siegel, 2013)
In view of the above and because of the fact that very few research has been conducted on the cross linguistic skills transfer from L2 to L1, and none concerning the Greek language as an L1, the aim of the present study is to examine further the transfer of decoding and spelling skills from English as an L2 to Greek as an L1 after an intervention program in L2, in students with learning disabilities and discuss them in terms of the CRT hypothesis
Summary
It is generally accepted that students with reading difficulties and general learning disabilities face problems when they learn a foreign language (Abu-Rabia & Bluestein-Danon, 2012; Cummins, 1991; Geva, Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Schuster, 2000). Previous research has shown that there are relationship and interdependence between first and second/foreign language learning and that skills acquired in L1 play an important role in learning a second language (Sparks, 2012). Students with poor reading skills in L1 will have poor skills in L2, because metalinguistic skills (such as phonological awareness, spelling knowledge, syntactic awareness, etc.) are common in all languages (Geva, 1995, as reported in Abu-Rabia & Bluestein-Danon, 2012; Housen & Simoens, 2016). Various studies in international literature support the link between L1 and L2 (Abu-Rabia & Siegel, 2002; Geva, 2000; Kahn-Horwitz, Shimron, & Sparks, 2005; Sun-Alperin & Wang, 2011; Sparks, 2012; Zhang & Koda, 2008) and there are theories that support a linguistic skill transfer even between languages which differ in the degrees of transparency and have different characteristics (e.g. the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis and Threshold Hypothesis (Cummins, 1979, 1981), the Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis-LCDH (Sparks & Ganschow, 1995), the Central Processing Hypothesis (Geva & Siegel, 2000), the Script Dependent Hypothesis (Liberman, Shankweiler, Fischer, & Carter, 1974; Lindgren, DeRenzi, & Richman, 1985, in Abu-Rabia et al, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
