Reading comprehension of monolingual and bilingual children in primary school: the role of linguistic abilities and phonological processing skills

Author(s):  
Shally Novita ◽  
Kathrin Lockl ◽  
Timo Gnambs
2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. CREMER ◽  
R. SCHOONEN

ABSTRACTThe influences of word decoding, availability, and accessibility of semantic word knowledge on reading comprehension were investigated for monolingual (n = 65) and bilingual children (n = 70). Despite equal decoding abilities, monolingual children outperformed bilingual children with regard to reading comprehension and availability of semantic word knowledge. Individual differences in reading comprehension were accounted for by differences in availability of semantic word knowledge and to a lesser extent by speed of access to this semantic knowledge. Speed of access accounted for variance in reading comprehension beyond the variance accounted for by decoding and availability of semantic knowledge. A path model suggests that reading comprehension differences between monolinguals and bilinguals are mediated by availability of semantic knowledge. Analyses showed no significant interaction between predictor variables and language background. A multigroup analysis distinguishing proficient and less proficient comprehenders showed a small difference between the two proficiency groups, suggesting that the lexical–semantic variables are more predictive of reading proficiency in the proficient group than in the less proficient group.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jing Yan ◽  
Stephen Matthews

Abstract The role of cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children’s development remains a matter of debate. Some researchers have proposed that simultaneous bilingual learners develop the linguistic systems of two languages in the same way as matched monolingual children do. Other researchers have argued that bilingual children show different developmental pathways. This study investigates cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of relative clauses by English-Mandarin bilingual children in Singapore. The elicitation task included narration and interview tasks. Thirty-six primary school students aged 6 to 11 years completed the task in both English and Mandarin. The results reveal that the number of relative clauses increased with age in both languages. Participants had a preference for subject relatives over object relatives. The most frequent error type in Mandarin involves postnominal relative clauses, which have not been reported in monolingual children in the literature and thus can be treated as evidence of transfer from English. The findings of this study provide evidence for cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children’s speech.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn A. Nippold ◽  
Catherine Moran ◽  
Ilsa E. Schwarz

The present study was designed to examine how preadolescents gain an understanding of idioms. In particular, it examined the role of idiom familiarity in conjunction with students’ language-based academic abilities. The participants were 50 children (mean age 12 years 4 months) who attended a primary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. All students spoke standard New Zealand English and were considered by the school to be progressing normally. The results indicated that idiom understanding was closely associated with students’ familiarity with idioms and with their skills in reading and listening comprehension. Moreover, students who were good comprehenders of idioms outperformed their classmates who were poor comprehenders on all associated measures: idiom familiarity, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension. Guidelines for instruction in idiom understanding are offered for speech-language pathologists who work collaboratively with teachers in the regular classroom during language arts activities. The guidelines reflect the position that multiple factors, working in synergy, promote the understanding of idioms in youth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3700-3713
Author(s):  
Saleh Shaalan

Purpose This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories. Method A new GA-NWR test was conducted with three groups of Gulf Arabic–speaking children: school-age children with DLD, language-matched controls (LCs), and age-matched controls (ACs). The test consisted of two- and three-syllable words that either had no clusters, medial clusters, final clusters, or medial + final clusters. Results The GA-NWR distinguished between the performance of children with DLD and the LC and AC groups. Results showed significant syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity effects. Differences between the DLD and typically developing groups were seen in two- and three-syllable nonwords; however, when compared on nonwords with no clusters, children with DLD were not significantly different from the LC group. Conclusions The GA-NWR test differentiated between children with DLD and their ACs and LCs. Findings, therefore, support its clinical utility in this variety of Arabic. Results showed that phonological processing factors, such as phonological complexity, may have stronger effects when compared to syllable length effects. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12996812


Author(s):  
Ayaz Muhammad Khan ◽  
Amber Jamshaid ◽  
Tayyibah Roohi ◽  
Amna Ramzan

Sustainable Development (SD) is a rich, challenging and thought-provoking construct in social sciences. The main purpose of this paper was to identify and explore the role played by primary school teachers in building up the idea of sustainable development (SD) among students. This paper was intended to identify that how a teacher can successfully execute the concept of SD by influencing students’ minds at the primary level. Quantitative survey technique were utilized for data collection. All the primary school teachers of Lahore division comprised the population of the study. Through multistage sampling technique, 352 primary school teachers were selected as participants of the study. A self-developed SD questionnaire incorporating four major factors (teachers’ awareness, pedagogy, curricular and co-curricular activities) with Cronbach’s alpha value = .93 was used to measure the role of teachers in building the sustainability concept among students at primary level. The results indicated a significant mean score difference among SD scores of teachers, sector wise (private and public). Furthermore, the results also reconnoitered the significant difference (p=.04) between the mean scores of female and male teachers in building up the SD concept in students’ minds.


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