Acceso usuarios
Lieke Stoffelsma
, Mabel Selasi Quashigah, Isaac N. Mwinlaaru
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.
