Reading achievement among bilingual children in a postcolonial English context: the importance of cross-linguistic transfer and socio-economic status

Lieke Stoffelsma; Mabel Selasi Quashigah; Isaac N. Mwinlaaru

Reading achievement among bilingual children in a postcolonial English context: the importance of cross-linguistic transfer and socio-economic status

Stoffelsma, Lieke ^[1] ; Selasi Quashigah, Mabel ^[3] ; Mwinlaaru, Isaac N. ^[2]
1. [1] Radboud University Nijmegen
  
  Radboud University Nijmegen
  
  Países Bajos
2. [2] University of Cape Coast
  
  University of Cape Coast
  
  Ghana
3. [3] Ghana Education Service, Mfantseman Municipal Directorate, Saltpond, Central Region, Ghana
Mostrar afiliaciones +
Localización: International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, ISSN 1367-0050, Vol. 28, Nº. 10, 2025, págs. 1293-1312
Idioma: inglés
DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2025.2529553
Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
Resumen
- Based on evidence from Ghana, a typical multilingual country in West Africa, the present study investigated reading comprehension of bilingual Akan-English learners (grades 4-6) in their first (L1) and second (L2) language. The study was carried out along three lines of investigation: L1-L2 reading comprehension and the relation with L1-L2 reading fluency; L1-L2 reading comprehension and cross-linguistic transfer; and L1-L2 reading comprehension in relation to learners’ home environment and Socio-Economic Status (SES). A sample of 85 learners was tested individually on L1 and L2 reading comprehension and oral reading fluency. Their parents responded to a survey regarding literacy resources, educational background and available assets in the home environment. Results showed that learners read faster in English than in Akan, but comprehend better in Akan than in English. Hierarchical regression analysis of two conceptual models showed that Akan reading comprehension was predicted by Akan fluency and English comprehension, whereas English reading comprehension was predicted by SES and Akan comprehension, providing evidence for the idea that higher-level reading comprehension strategies are transferable between typologically distant languages. We conclude by discussing how these different predicting factors per language can be used to design multilingual reading programmes in this particular postcolonial English context.
Referencias bibliográficas
- Adongo, M. A. 2022. The Role of Home Environment in the Reading Proficiency Achievement of Primary two English Language Learners. Cape Coast.:...
- Alidou, H., A. Boly, B. Brock-Utne, Y. S. Diallo, K. Heugh, and H. E. Wolff. 2006. “Optimizing Learning and Education in Africa – the Language...
- Bartlett, L., A. J. Dowd, and C. Jonason. 2015. “Problematizing Early Grade Reading: Should the Post-2015 Agenda Treasure What Is Measured?”...
- Bradley, R. H., and D. L. Putnick. 2012. “Housing Quality and Access to Material and Learning Resources within the Home Environment in Developing...
- Carlisle, J. F. 2000. “Awareness of the Structure and Meaning of Morphologically Complex Words: Impact on Reading.” Reading and Writing 12...
- Chansa-Kabali, T., R. Serpell, and H. Lyytinen. 2014. “Contextual Analysis of Home Environment Factors Influencing the Acquisition of Early...
- Chung, S. C., X. Chen, and E. Geva. 2019. “Deconstructing and Reconstructing Cross-Language Transfer in Bilingual Reading Development: An...
- Cohen, J. 1988. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
- Cunningham, A. 2005. “Vocabulary Growth through Independent Reading and Reading Aloud to Children.” In Teaching and Learning Vocabulary, edited...
- Daneman, M., and E. M. Reingold. 2000. “Chapter 17 – Do Readers Use Phonological Codes to Activate Word Meanings? Evidence from Eye Movements.”...
- De Cat, C. 2021. “Socioeconomic Status as a Proxy for Input Quality in Bilingual Children?” Applied Psycholinguistics 42 (2): 301–324. https://doi.org/10.1017/S014271642000079X.
- Department of Basic Education. 2019. Grade 3 Wave 4 Learner Assessment: Second Early Grade Reading Study.
- Department of Basic Education. 2020. Grade 4 Wave 5 Learner Assessment, Second Early Grade Reading Study.
- Draper, K., and N. Spaull. 2015. “Examining Oral Reading Fluency among Grade 5 Rural ESL Learners in South Africa: An Analysis of NEEDU 2013.”...
- Dubeck, M. M., and A. Gove. 2015. “The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA): Its Theoretical Foundation, Purpose, and Limitations.” International...
- Evans, D. K., and M. A. Acosta. 2020. Education in Africa: What Are We learning (Center for Global Development Working Paper). World Bank.
- Friedlander, E. 2013. “Environmental Factors Associated with Early Reading Achievement in the Developing World: A Cross-National Study.” International...
- Fuchs, L. S., D. Fuchs, M. K. Hosp, and J. R. Jenkins. 2001. “Oral Reading Fluency as an Indicator of Reading Competence: A Theoretical, Empirical,...
- Gauvain, M., and R. L. Munroe. 2009. “Contributions of Societal Modernity to Cognitive Development: A Comparison of Four Cultures.” Child...
- Geva, E., and E. B. Ryan. 1993. “Linguistic and Cognitive Correlates of Academic Skills in First and Second Languages.” Language Learning...
- Ghana Statistical Service. 2015. Ghana Poverty Mapping Report.
- Grabe, W. 2009a. “Chapter 6: Reading in Different Languages.” In Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to Practice, edited by W....
- Grabe, W. 2009b. “Chapter 7: L1 and L2 Reading Relationships.” In Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to Practice, edited by...
- Graham, B. E., and A. J. van Ginkel. 2014. “Assessing Early Grade Reading: The Value and Limits of ‘Words per Minute’.” Language, Culture...
- Graham, B. E., and A. J. van Ginkel. 2014. “Assessing Early Grade Reading: The Value and Limits of ‘Words per Minute’.” Language, Culture...
- Hamilton, L. G., M. E. Hayiou-Thomas, C. Hulme, and M. J. Snowling. 2016. “The Home Literacy Environment as a Predictor of the Early Literacy...
- Kim, Y.-S. G., H. N. Boyle, S. S. Zuilkowski, and P. Nakamura. 2016. Landscape Report on Early Grade Literacy. Washington, D.C.: USAID.
- Koda, K.. 2007. “Reading and Language Learning: Crosslinguistic Constraints on Second Language Reading Development.” Language Learning 57...
- Koda, K. 2008. “Impacts of Prior Literacy Experience on Second Language Learning to Read.” In Learning to Read across Languages: Cross-Linguistic...
- Kong, A. 2006. “Connections between L1 and L2 Readings: Reading Strategies Used by Four Chinese Adult Readers.” The Reading Matrix 6 (2):...
- Kuhn, M., and S. Stahl. 2003. “Fluency: A Review of Developmental and Remedial Practices.” Journal of Educational Psychology 95 (1): 3–21....
- LaBerge, D., and S. J. Samuels. 1974. “Toward a Theory of Automatic Information Processing in Reading.” Cognitive Psychology 6 (2): 293–323....
- Land, S. 2015. Reading IsiZulu: Reading Processes in an Agglutinative Language with a Transparent Orthography. Pietermaritzburg: The University...
- Leherr, K. 2009. National Literacy Acceleration Program (NALAP) Baseline Assessment Ghana. Accra: USAID/Ghana.
- Li, T., C. McBride-Chang, A. Wong, and H. Shu. 2012. “Longitudinal Predictors of Spelling and Reading Comprehension in Chinese as an L1 and...
- Lyengar, S. (2007). To Read or Not To Read A Question of National Consequence. Research Report #47. In D. Ball (Ed.). Office of Research &...
- Ministry of Education. 2014. Ghana 2013 Early Grade Reading Assessment and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment: Reports of Findings. Accra:...
- Mullis, I. V. S., M. O. Martin, A. M. Kennedy, and P. Foy. 2007. “PIRLS 2006 International Report; IEA's progress in international reading...
- Nag, S., S. B. Vagh, K. M. Dulay, and M. J. Snowling. 2019. “Home Literacy, School Language, and Children Literacy Attainments: A Systematic...
- Nurse, D., and G. Philippson. 2014. “Chapter One Introduction.” In The Bantu Languages, edited by D. Nurse, and G. Philippson, 1–12. New York:...
- Paradis, J. 2023. “Sources of Individual Differences in the Dual Language Development of Heritage Bilinguals.” Journal of Child Language 50...
- Perfetti, C. A., S. Zhang, and I. Berent. 1992. “Chapter 13 Reading in English and Chinese: Evidence for a “Universal” Phonological Principle.”...
- Piper, B., L. Schroeder, and B. Trudell. 2016. “Oral Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Kenya: Reading Acquisition in a Multilingual Environment.”...
- Pretorius, E. J. 2017. Getting It right from the start: Some cautionary notes for early reading instruction in African languages. In UNESCO...
- Pretorius, E. J., and N. Spaull. 2016. “Exploring Relationships between Oral Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension amongst English Second...
- Qorro, M. A. S. 2009. “Parents’ and Policy Makers’ Insistence on Foreign Languages as Media of Education in Africa: Restricting Access to...
- Royer, J. M., and M. S. Carlo. 1991. “Transfer of Comprehension Skills from Native to Second Language.” Journal of Reading 34 (6): 450–455....
- RTI. (2012). Evaluation EdData II Task Order 7. NALAP Formative Evaluation Report, Ghana.
- Schaefer, M. N. 2023. Phonological Processing Skills and Their Longitudinal Relation to First and Additional Language Literacy in IsiXhosa...
- Schwanenflugel, P., and M. Kuhn. 2016. “Chapter 9 Reading Fluency.” In Handbook of Individual Differences in Reading: Text and Context, edited...
- Share, D. L. 2008. “On the Anglocentricities of Current Reading Research and Practice.” Psychological Bulletin 134 (4): 584–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.584.
- Sirin, S. 2005. “Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement: A Meta-analytic Review of Research.” Review of Educational Research 75 (3):...
- Snow, C. E., W. S. Barnes, J. Chandler, I. F. Goodman, and L. Hempill. 1991. Unfulfilled Expectations: Home and School Influences on Literacy....
- Stoffelsma, L., and W. Spooren. 2019. “The Relationship between English Reading Proficiency and Academic Achievement of First-Year Science...
- Tsai, Y.-R., E. Cheryl, and P. C. Talley. 2010. “L1 and L2 Strategy Use in Reading Comprehension of Chinese EFL Readers.” Reading Psychology...
- UN. 2018. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 United Nations]. New York: United Nations.
- UNESCO. 2015. Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4. https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/education-2030-incheon-framework-for-action-implementation-of-sdg4-2016-en_2.pdf(open...
- USAID. 2024. USAID Education Ghana. Accessed 07 March 2024. https://www.usaid.gov/ghana/education.
- van Rooy, B., and E. J. Pretorius. 2013. “Is Reading in an Agglutinating Language Different from an Analytic Language? An Analysis of IsiZulu...
- Wolff, H. E. 2006. “Background and History: Language Politics and Planning in Africa.” In Optimizing Learning and Education in Africa – the...
- World Bank. 2019. Ending Learning Poverty: What Will It Take? https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/395151571251399043/pdf/Ending-Learning-Poverty-What-Will-It-Take.pdf
- World Bank. 2021. Loud and Clear: Effective Language of Instruction Policies for Learning. Washington D.C.: The World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/publication/loud-and-clear-effective-language-of-instruction-policies-for-learning
- World Bank. 2024. World Bank Open Data. Free and open access to global development data. https://data.worldbank.org/(open in a new window)
- Zuilkowski, S. S., McCoy, D. C., Jonason, C., & Dowd, A. J. (2019). Relationships among Home Literacy Behaviors, Materials, Socioeconomic...