The impact of linguistic diversity on students’ reading comprehension using different diversity measures and its’ differential effects depending on students’ migration background

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of linguistic diversity on students’ learning with a sample of 1603 5th grade students and 65 classes. Combining the theories of Piaget's concept of disequilibrium, language awareness and cognitive load , we investigated whether a class's linguistic diversity influences students’ reading comprehension and whether effects are different for students with and without migration background. Analyses were computed with three diversity measures, each calculated twice: based on the language(s) spoken with parents; and based on the language(s) spoken with friends. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that linguistic diversity increases students’ reading comprehension. Students with migration background had lower benefits than those without a migration background . The significance of results was independent of the diversity measure used.