Phonological specificity relates to phonological awareness and reading ability in English–French bilingual children

The 1-year longitudinal study presented here examined the extent to which the ability to build phonologically specific lexical entries as a result of increasing vocabulary size predicts word reading via its impact on phonological awareness within and across languages in 62 emerging English (L1) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reading & writing 2020-02, Vol.33 (2), p.267-291
Main Authors: Krenca, Klaudia, Segers, Eliane, Chen, Xi, Shakory, Sharry, Steele, Jeffrey, Verhoeven, Ludo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bilingual Students
Bilingualism
Dynamic assessment
Education
Elementary school students
English
English language
Foreign Countries
Foreign language learning
French
French as a second language learning
Grade 1
Immersion Programs
Language and Literature
Linguistics
Literacy
Longitudinal studies
Neurology
Phonological Awareness
Phonology
Psycholinguistics
Reading
Reading Ability
Second Language Learning
Social Sciences
Transfer of Training
Vocabulary
Vocabulary development
Vocabulary learning
Vocabulary size
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Summary:The 1-year longitudinal study presented here examined the extent to which the ability to build phonologically specific lexical entries as a result of increasing vocabulary size predicts word reading via its impact on phonological awareness within and across languages in 62 emerging English (L1) and French (L2) Grade 1 children ( M  = 75.69 months, SD  = 3.18) enrolled in an early French immersion program in Canada. Lexical specificity was assessed with a computerized word learning game in which children were taught new English (e.g., ‘foal’ and ‘sole’) and French (e.g., bac ‘bin’ and bague ‘ring’) word pairs contrasted by minimal phonological differences. The results revealed that the specificity of English words at the beginning of Grade 1 predicted English word reading at the end of Grade 1 and that this relationship was mediated by English phonological awareness at the beginning of Grade 1. French lexical specificity at the beginning of Grade 1 did not predict French word reading at the end of Grade 1. Notably, English lexical specificity at the beginning of Grade 1 also predicted French word reading at the end of Grade 1 and this relationship was mediated by English phonological awareness at the beginning of Grade 1. It is concluded that exposure to word pairs involving minimal phonological contrasts fosters phonological awareness, which in turn facilitates word reading within the L1 that then transfers to the L2.
ISSN:0922-4777
1573-0905
DOI:10.1007/s11145-019-09959-2