Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Understanding literacy development of language minority students: an integrative approach

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This special issue of Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal contains nine papers by researchers who presented at the Language and Reading Comprehension for Immigrant Children (LARCIC) conference, which took place at OISE/University of Toronto in 2009. The first set of five papers focuses on the contribution of cognitive factors to reading comprehension in language minority children, and the second set of four papers focuses on the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on literacy development in these children. Three common themes emerge in the first set of papers. The first theme compares the cognitive processes that contribute to reading comprehension between language minority children and their peers who speak the societal language as the first language. In particular, the application of the Simple View of Reading model in language minority children is discussed. The second theme compares the reading performance of language minority children to their peers. The third theme explores the nature of reading constructs in language minority children. Two common themes underlie the second set of papers. The first theme addresses the mediating role of socio-cultural factors in vocabulary development in language minority children. The second theme explores the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on cross-language transfer of literacy skills. Taken together, the papers presented in this special issue point to the importance of considering both cognitive and socio-cultural factors in literacy research involving language minority children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Esther Geva was the conference chair and Xi Chen was the conference co-chair.

References

  • Biemiller, A., & Slomin, N. (2001). Estimating root word vocabulary growth in normative and advantaged populations: Evidence for a common sequence of vocabulary acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 498–520. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.3.498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgoyne, K., Whiteley, H. E., & Hutchinson, J. M. (2011). The development of comprehension and reading-related skills in children learning English as an additional language and their monolingual English-speaking peers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 344–354. doi:10.1348/000709910X504122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, S. H., Wade-Woolley, L., & Kirby, J. (2007). Crossover: The role of morphological awareness in French Immersion children’s reading. Developmental Psychology, 43, 732–746. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.3.732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Droop, M., & Verhoeven, L. (2003). Language proficiency and reading ability in first- and second-language learners. Reading Research Quarterly, 38, 78–103. doi:10.1598/RRQ.38.1.4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durgunoglu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 453–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geva, E. (2006). Second language oral proficiency and second language literacy. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth (pp. 123–139). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geva, E., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Schuster, B. (2000). Understanding differences in word recognition skills of ESL children. Annals of Dyslexia, 50, 123–154. doi:10.1007/s11881-000-0020-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, H., Paradis, J., & Crago, M. (2008). Lexical acquisition over time in minority first language children learning English as a second language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 1–25. doi:10.1017/S014271640808003X.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottardo, A., & Mueller, J. (2009). Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 330–344. doi:10.1037/a0014320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottardo, A., Yan, B., Siegel, L. S., & Wade-Woolley, L. (2001). Factors related to English reading performance in children with Chinese as a first language: More evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 530–542. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.3.530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 127–160. doi:10.1007/BF00401799.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesaux, N. K., & Geva, E. (2006). Synthesis: Development of literacy in language-minority students. In D. L. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in a second language: Report of the national literacy panel (pp. 53–74). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesaux, N., Rupp, A., & Siegel, L. (2007). Growth in reading skills of children from diverse linguistic backgrounds: Findings from a 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 821–834. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipka, O., & Siegel, L. (2003). The development of reading skills in children with English as a second language. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11, 105–131. doi:10.1080/10888430709336555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. (2005). Children’s reading comprehension difficulties. In S. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 248–265). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pasquarella, A., Chen, X., Lam, K., Luo, Y., & Ramirez, G. (2011). Cross-language transfer of morphological awareness in Chinese-English bilinguals. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 23–42. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01484.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, P. C., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. (2005). Native Spanish-speaking children reading in English: Toward a model of comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 246–256. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.97.2.246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, G., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Kiefer, H. (2010). Morphological awareness in Spanish-English bilingual children: Within and cross-language effects on word reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23, 337–358. doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9203-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sammons, P., Elliot, K., Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2004). The impact of pre-school on young children’s cognitive attainments at entry to reception. British Educational Research Journal, 30, 691–712. doi:10.1080/0141192042000234656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saracho, O. N. (1997). Using the home environment to support emergent literacy. Early Child Development and Care, 127, 201–216. doi:10.1080/0300443971270117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinatra, G. M., & Royer, J. M. (1993). Development of cognitive component processing skills that support skilled reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 509–519. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.85.3.509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanat, P., & Christensen, G. S. (2006). Where immigrant students succeed: A comparative review of performances and engagement in PISA 2003. Paris, France: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M., Cheng, C., & Chen, S.-W. (2006). Contribution of morphological awareness to Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 542–553. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.98.3.542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xi Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, X., Geva, E. & Schwartz, M. Understanding literacy development of language minority students: an integrative approach. Read Writ 25, 1797–1804 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9400-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9400-9

Keywords

Navigation