Abstract
The study investigates the effect of immigrant bilingualism on learning English as a foreign language, controlling for confounding background variables and examining the effect of proficiency in the instructional language at school. Using a sample of 2835 German 6th-graders (Arabic-German: n = 105, Chinese-German: n = 110, Polish-German: n = 57, Turkish-German: n = 383, heterogeneous bilingual: n = 284, and monolingual German group: n = 1896), we examined if speaking another language at home in addition to the instructional language at school presents an advantageous condition for learning English as a foreign language. Controlling for cognitive abilities, age, gender, socio-economic status, parental education, and indicators of cultural capital, the analysis revealed a general positive trend between bilingualism and English foreign language achievement. This positive trend differs significantly between bilingual groups with different home languages. The strongest predictor for foreign language learning revealed to be proficiency in the instructional language.
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.
