Cross-linguistic Relationships Research Articles

Predicting literacy development and risk in Spanish-English bilingual first graders

Purpose: There are well-established links between oral language and reading development in monolingual English-speaking children that are associated with literacy outcomes. Oral language, defined relative to lexical quality, provides key support for developing early reading skills. For bilingual children, the connection between oral language and reading development and risk for identification of having language or reading difficulties is assumed but has been less systematically studied. Our goal was to document the relationship between knowledge of semantics and morphosyntax and children's performance on letter and word identification in first grade in each of their languages so as to evaluate the risk for poor reading outcomes in the Spanish and English of bilingual first graders. Method: We examined data from 111 Spanish-English bilingual first graders on measures of Spanish and English semantics and morphosyntax in relation to letter-word identification, which indexes early reading development. We evaluated the within- and across-language relationships between skills and also whether the same children who performed in the at-risk range on the oral language tasks showed risk for future reading difficulties based on their letter-word performance. Results: Oral language skills and early reading skills were strongly related within languages, and cross-language relationships were also evident, though not for all domains. There were significant associations between risk for developmental language disorder (DLD) based on semantics performance and reading risk. Conclusions: We observe cross-linguistic relationships between letter-word identification and morphosyntactic and semantic skills in young Spanish-English bilinguals with and without risk for language and reading development. These findings indicate that connections between oral language and reading hold across differing levels of language and reading risk.

The impact of cognate strategy training on guessing accuracy for unknown visually-presented words: The case of Japanese learners of English

When inferring the meaning of unknown words in a second language, learners make use of a variety of cues including the cross-linguistic formal similarities of loanwords and cognates. However, because learners do not always recognize these cross-linguistic relationships, cognate strategy training has been recommended. The present study investigated the impact of cognate strategy training on Japanese speakers’ accuracy when guessing the meaning of unknown English words. The findings revealed that participants were significantly more accurate in responding to cognates after training than prior to it, while responses to noncognates were similar in both rounds. Moreover, participants were more accurate in identifying cognates with common grapheme–phoneme correspondences in English (e.g. fleece) after training than those that had less-common correspondences (e.g. gauge). Considering error rates, the benefit-cost ratio of applying the strategy was four correct guesses to one incorrect guess. Together with insights from a small-scale qualitative follow-up study, the results reveal that both phonological decoding of English words and conversion into katakana script in Japanese contribute to difficulties in noticing cognate relationships. The primary implication of the study is that cognate strategy training may contribute positively to language teaching pedagogy in Japan and other contexts.

The role of language comprehension skills and instructional practices in cross-language influence of Spanish-speaking dual language learners’ calculation skills

The purpose of this empirical study was 2-fold: (a) to investigate the relationships between Spanish-speaking dual language learners’ (DLLs, N = 223) Spanish language comprehension skills, Spanish calculation performance, English language comprehension skills, and English calculation performance; and (b) to explore the relationship between teachers’ (N = 20) instructional activities and DLLs’ calculation performance. Three important findings emerged. First, significant relationships occurred: (a) between DLLs’ Spanish vocabulary knowledge and Spanish reading comprehension (β = 0.59, p < 0.05, R2 = 0.37); and (b) between DLLs’ Spanish reading comprehension and Spanish calculation performance (β = 0.17, p < 0.05, R2 = 0.12). Second, a significant cross-linguistic relationship in Spanish and English calculation performance emerged (β = 0.41, p < 0.05, R2 = 0.29). Finally, teachers’ explicit teaching and guided practice significantly predicted DLLs’ Spanish calculation performance, but only teachers’ explicit teaching significantly moderated the impact of DLLs’ Spanish calculation performance on their English calculation performance. These findings support the notion that: (a) DLLs’ Spanish language comprehension skills predict their Spanish calculation performance, which subsequently impacts their English calculation performance; and (b) teachers’ explicit teaching and guided practice directly enhance DLLs’ Spanish calculation performance, which in turn later influences their English calculation performance.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE-LINGUISTIC TASK DIFFICULTY AND L1-L2 INTERACTION FOR ACADEMIC LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN TURKISH–DUTCH EMERGENT BILINGUALS

AbstractThis study investigated the relationship between the level of cognitive-linguistic difficulty of task input and the size of the cross-linguistic relationship for academic listening comprehension in emergent bilinguals. It was theoretically motivated by task-dependent cross-linguistic interaction frameworks. We hypothesized that task item sets that involve a higher level of cognitive-linguistic difficulty, drawing on a number of sources of item difficulty, would show a smaller strength of interaction than sets involving a lower level. Using a task-based assessment instrument, listening comprehension was measured in 75 Turkish–Dutch bilingual children at first-grade entry (Mage = 6;7). Partial L1-L2 correlations indicated that cognitively more demanding item sets tended to coincide with smaller L1-L2 correlations. This finding was, in part, consistent for cognitive difficulty, yet inconclusive for linguistic difficulty. An explanation is discussed that, in line with information-processing theory, highlights a trade-off between cognitive-linguistic task demands and cross-linguistic influence.

The Cross-linguistic Relationship between English Nouns and Japanese Translations

The Cross-linguistic Relationship between English Nouns and Japanese Translations

Cross-Linguistic Morphological Awareness in Chinese Heritage Language Reading Acquisition.

The study aimed to explore cross-linguistic contributions of morphological awareness to Chinese reading acquisition among Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners who had grown up speaking Chinese at home, received English medium education throughout schooling, and were studying Chinese at the time of the study. The sample thus represents a growing number of heritage-language (HL) speakers in US schools whose literacy development is not yet well documented. Little is known, to date, as to how HL literacy development benefits from the linguistic and metalinguistic resources gained through early oral language exposure. In the study, college-level CHL students (N = 195) completed a series of reading measures in their dominant language (English) and heritage language (Chinese). Path analysis was employed to test the cross-linguistic relationships in morphological awareness and lexical inference ability. The findings showed that dominant-language morphological awareness was significantly related to lexical inference skills in two languages. More critically, the current study tested the direct and indirect contributions of dominant-language morphological awareness to HL lexical inference. The results showed that dominant-language morphological awareness contributed only indirectly to HL lexical inference through HL morphological awareness and dominant-language lexical inference. Based on the findings, four tentative conclusions can be drawn: morphological awareness and lexical inference skills transfer across languages; cross-linguistic interaction only occurs between corresponding subskills; transferred subskills are modified to accommodate the target language properties; and the benefits of transferred subskills are realized only through their corresponding subskills in the target language. Practical implications of the findings are also discussed regarding HL instruction and learning.

At the interface between Contrastive Analysis and Learner Corpus Research: A parallel contrastive approach

This paper presents a model for combining contrastive analysis and interlanguage analysis. It can be seen as an extension of Granger’s (1996) Integrated Contrastive Model, but it explicitly requires a bidirectional parallel corpus for the contrastive analysis and matching learner corpora for the (multiple) interlaguage analysis. Thus, the model operates at the interface between Contrastive Analysis and Learner Corpus Research. Within the model, the contrastive, cross-linguistic, analysis produces hypotheses for learner behaviour in the languages involved. Hence the learner corpus study of L2 data includes a cross-linguistic interlanguage analysis, based on comparable data produced by (at least) two learner groups (with different L1s and different L2s). As an illustration of the model, the English noun people and its typical Norwegian translation correspondences (folk and menneske) are studied, with particular attention to postmodification patterns. The proposed Parallel Contrastive Model is shown to have the potential to throw new light on the cross-linguistic relationship between languages and interlanguages in a common framework.

Bringing home the bacon! A contrastive study of the cognates bring/bringe in English and Norwegian

This paper highlights the value of a bidirectional translation corpus in contrastive studies in an investigation of the cross-linguistic relationship between two cognates in English and Norwegian: bring and bringe. Although monolingual and bilingual dictionaries prove to be excellent sources of information in respect of this relationship, the present study contributes further to our knowledge regarding the cognates’ conditions of use. Drawing on material from the fiction part of the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus (ENPC), the study reveals that English bring is far more frequent than its Norwegian counterpart. By exploring the close to 500 occurrences of the two words in original and translated texts, it becomes clear that the two verbs have a relatively low Mutual Correspondence. That is, overall, they only correspond to each other in translation in roughly 20% of the cases. This low correspondence rate is surprising, given the fact that we are looking at verbs stemming from the same origin in two closely related languages. The corpus correspondences suggest that there may be at least two main reasons for this. First, Norwegian bringe may be considered more formal than English bring and there is thus a preference for using less formal verbs in Norwegian to express the meaning of bring, notably the multi-word verbs ha med (REFL) ‘have with (REFL)’, ta med (REFL) ‘take with (REFL)’ and komme med ‘come with’. Second, English bring is more versatile than Norwegian bringe, particularly in the sense that it more readily forms part of phrasal verbs and fixed phrases. It is also the case that English bring has come to be used with a wider range of meanings than Norwegian bringe, as attested in the dictionaries consulted. These ‘extra’ meanings include ‘initiate legal action against someone’ and ‘force oneself to do something (unpleasant)’; however, neither of these meanings is particularly salient in the current data. The findings underline the role a parallel corpus such as the ENPC can play in shedding light on contrastive nuances that contribute to a broader understanding of cross-linguistic relationships.

The role of first-language listening comprehension in second-language reading comprehension.

Although the simple view of reading and other theories suggest that listening comprehension is an important determinant of reading comprehension, previous research on linguistic transfer has mainly focused on the role of first language (L1) decoding skills in second language (L2) reading. The present study tested the assumption that listening comprehension in L1 is a significant predictor of language minority students’ reading comprehension in L2. In addition, we explored whether the cross-linguistic relationship is particularly pronounced at higher levels of L1 proficiency. The sample included 502 9th grade students with Russian as L1 and 662 9th grade students with Turkish as L1 from a nationwide study conducted in Germany. The L1s of these students differ in their similarity to their L2, German: Russian is considerably more similar to German than is Turkish. In both language groups, L1 listening comprehension significantly predicted L2 reading comprehension in linear regression models; this was also true after important control variables were taken into account. Polynomial regression models indicated that the relationship between L1 proficiency and L2 proficiency was linear in the Russian sample, yet stronger at higher levels of L1 proficiency in the Turkish sample. Thus, the prediction that transfer should be more pronounced at higher levels of L1 proficiency was also partly supported. Our study extends the range of L1 skills previously known to transfer to L2 reading. We found the predicted relationship between L1 listening comprehension and L2 reading comprehension in 2 language groups with varying degrees of language similarity, suggesting that the effect is language-independent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Predicting writing development in dual language instructional contexts: exploring cross-linguistic relationships.

This study examined whether decoding and linguistic comprehension abilities, broadly defined by the Simple View of Reading, in grade 1 each uniquely predicted the grade 6 writing performance of English-speaking children (n = 76) who were educated bilingually in both English their first language and French, a second language. Prediction was made from (1) English to English; (2) French to French; and (3) English to French. Results showed that both decoding and linguistic comprehension scores predicted writing accuracy but rarely predicted persuasive writing. Within the linguistic comprehension cluster of tests, Formulating Sentences was a strong consistent within- and between-language predictor of writing accuracy. In practical terms, the present results indicate that early screening for later writing ability using measures of sentence formulation early in students' schooling, in their L1 or L2, can provide greatest predictive power and allow teachers to differentiate instruction in the primary grades. Theoretically, the present results argue that there are correlations between reading-related abilities and writing abilities not only within the same language but also across languages, adding to the growing body of evidence for facilitative cross-linguistic relationships between bilinguals' developing languages.

The complex relationship between bilingual home language input and kindergarten children’s Spanish and English oral proficiencies.

This study examined how emergent bilingual children’s English and Spanish proficiencies moderated the relationships between Spanish and English input at home (bilingual home language input [BHLI]) and children’s oral language skills in each language. The sample comprised over 1,400 Spanish-dominant kindergartners in California and Texas. BHLI was estimated by parental report of what language adults (mother, father, and other adults) and peers (older and younger siblings and friends) usually speak to the child at home and the language in which the child watches TV programs. Spanish and English oral proficiencies were measured by the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery-Revised. Although a “time-on-task” model suggests straightforward linear associations between language use at home and oral skills within the same language, we found far more complex cross-linguistic relationships even when controlling for school-level random effects and individual-level confounds: (a) children’s proficiency in a language (English or Spanish) moderates the relationship between BHLI and proficiency in the other language and (b) BHLI moderates the relationship between children’s Spanish and English oral proficiencies. The results suggest that among this population of children, bilingual home language environments that maintain high levels of Spanish use are associated with additive bilingualism whereas bilingual home language environments with high levels of English use are associated with subtractive bilingualism. However, the cross-sectional and correlational design of the present study requires caution in drawing simple conclusions about the relationship between BHLI and children’s oral language skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Biliteracy acquisition in Kannada and English: A developmental study

This study investigated the contribution of decoding and language comprehension sub-skills to Kannada and English biliteracy development over three years in multilingual students in urban low-income communities in one large city in India. Syllabic awareness, phonemic awareness and decoding skills were measured in Grades 3–5 (Time 1), and participants were followed to Grades 6–8 (Time 2), when their oral language comprehension and reading comprehension skills were tested. Hierarchical regression results revealed that: (1) both syllabic and phonemic awareness predicted Kannada decoding scores; however, only phonemic awareness predicted English decoding scores; (2) decoding ability from Time 1 and language comprehension skills from Time 2 made unique contributions to reading comprehension skills at Time 2 in both languages; (3) there were significant cross-linguistic relationships between corresponding reading sub-skills at both times; and (4) there was an independent contribution of Kannada decoding to Engl...

Awareness of derivation and compounding in Chinese–English biliteracy acquisition

This study examines the intra- and inter-lingual relationships between first and second language morphological awareness and reading comprehension among grade 6 Chinese learners of English as a foreign language in China. Morphological awareness measures covered compounding as well as derivation. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that within both Chinese and English, compound and derivational awareness independently and significantly predicted reading comprehension. Cross-linguistically, Chinese compound awareness explained a unique proportion of variance in English reading comprehension, over and above English vocabulary knowledge, English compound awareness, and other related variables. Such a cross-linguistic effect, however, was not found of English compound awareness on Chinese reading comprehension. Derivational awareness in one language did not show a significant cross-linguistic relationship with reading comprehension in the other language, when other variables were considered. These results are discussed in light of the importance of morphological awareness to reading comprehension, cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness and a possible linguistic distance effect on such transfer, and the context of Chinese–English biliteracy acquisition.

K. Koda and A. M. Zehler (Eds.): Learning to read across languages: cross-linguistic relationships in first- and second-language literacy development

K. Koda and A. M. Zehler (Eds.): Learning to read across languages: cross-linguistic relationships in first- and second-language literacy development

Phonological awareness in Hebrew (L1) and English (L2) in normal and disabled readers

The present study examined cross-linguistic relationships between phonological awareness in L1 (Hebrew) and L2 (English) among normal (N = 30) and reading disabled (N = 30) Hebrew native speaking college students. Further, it tested the effect of two factors: the lexical status of the stimulus word (real word vs. pseudoword) and the linguistic affiliation of the target phoneme (whether it is within L1 or L2) on phonological awareness. Three parallel experimental phonological awareness tasks were developed in both languages: phoneme isolation, full segmentation, and phoneme deletion. As expected, the results revealed lower levels of phonological awareness in the L2 than in the L1, and in the reading disabled than in the normal reader group. The lexical status of the target word was a reliable factor predicting individual differences in phonological awareness in L2. It was also found that the linguistic affiliation of the target phoneme was a reliable factor in predicting L2 phonological awareness performance in both reader groups. The results are discussed within the framework of phonological representation and language-specific linguistic constraints on phonological awareness.

Learning to Read Across Languages: Cross‐Linguistic Relationships in First‐ and Second‐Language Literacy Development edited by KODA, KEIKO, &amp; ANNETTE M. ZEHLER

The article reviews the book Learning to Read Across Languages: Cross-Linguistic Relationships in First- and Second-Language Literacy Development, edited by Keiko Koda and Annette M. Zehler.

ANGLES ON THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD: WRITING AND VOCABULARY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (Vol. 4)

ANGLES ON THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD: WRITING AND VOCABULARY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (Vol. 4). Dorte Albrechtsen, Kirsten Haastrup, and Birgit Henriksen (Eds.). Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2004. Pp. 151. $23.00 paper.Comprised of eight research-based chapters and one book review, this volume brings together a compelling and unique array of research studies on two topics of ongoing interest to second language (L2) professionals. The volume opens with three L2 writing studies, the first two of which draw from the same investigation of university and preuniversity English as a second language (ESL) writers. The first chapter, “Activity Systems for ESL Writing Improvement: Case Studies of Three Chinese and Three Japanese Adult Learners Of English,” is co-authored by Yang, Baba, and Cumming. Using an activity theory framework, the researchers explore writers' perceptions of their learning intentions, crosslinguistic relationships, vocabulary, grammar, and the role of instruction in promoting their L2 composing skills. As the participants progressed in their ESL writing development, their activity systems evolved as a function of the interaction between external factors and internal predispositions. In the second chapter, “Scaling Changes in Learners' Goals for Writing Improvement over an ESL Course,” Cumming, Eouanzoui, Gentil, and Yang report on an analysis of interviews conducted with 45 preuniversity ESL writers. Their method featured dual scaling, which showed that participants' short- and long-term goals as students and writers remained stable over time, although the actions taken by students to improve their writing reflected individual learning styles.

The Crosslinguistic Role of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency on Reading Growth in Spanish and English

The Office of Civil Rights (2001) and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(Antunez, 2003) mandate that language proficiency and academic achievement be measured in order to provide equal educational opportunities to English language learners and have an accountability system for their language and academic growth. The Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) construct is often cited in the literature as a milestone to second-language (L2) development and as having a significant relationship with academic achievement in the L2. Studies have typically explored the relationship between the primary language (L1) and the L2 separately with academic achievement. Language proficiency has often been viewed as a unitary construct without considering the interrelationship between L1 and L2 (Cummins, 2001). This study investigated the crosslinguistic relationship between the CALP in L1 and L2, as measured by the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey (WMLS) and reading growth, as measured by Curriculum Based Measurement Oral Reading Probes, with 77 second- and thirdgrade students in transitional bilingual classes. A significant, but weak relationship was found between Spanish CALP Broad Standard Score and English CALP Broad Standard Score with reading growth in Spanish and in English, respectively. The crosslinguistic relationship, as measured by the WMLS, and its relationship to reading growth is further discussed.

Instructional Conditions for Trilingual Development

This paper outlines a framework for academic language learning that highlights the importance of focusing instructionally on meaning, language, and use. Academic language learning refers to the learning of the language registers in L1, L2 or L3 required to function successfully in school contexts where these languages are being used for instruction of academic content. As such, knowledge of academic language is intertwined with both the concepts taught in school and the cognitive processes required to carry out academic tasks. The research reviewed in the paper suggests that in order to develop students' academic language proficiency in bilingual or trilingual contexts, instruction must focus extensively on the processing of comprehensible input (meaning). This will entail encouraging students to read extensively in the target language in an increasing range of genres. Additionally, however, there is an important place for focusing on language itself in order to demystify how language works, explore cross-linguistic relationships, and develop students' awareness of the intersections of language and power in human discourse. Finally, actual use of the target language in oral and written modes consolidates the internalisation of the code and enables students to express their identities and intelligence in powerful ways through the language.