The development of orthographic processing skills in children in early French immersion programs

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Commissaire ◽  
Adrian Pasquarella ◽  
Becky Xi Chen ◽  
S. Hélène Deacon
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Underlying Factor ◽  
Correct Spelling ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Language Variables

Children learning to read in two languages are faced with orthographic features from both languages, either unique to a language or similar across languages. In the present study, we examined how children develop orthographic processing skills over time (from grade 1 to grade 2) with a sample of Canadian children attending a French immersion program and we investigated the underlying factor structure of orthographic skills across English and French. Two orthographic processing tasks were administered in both languages: lexical orthographic processing (e.g. choose the correct spelling from people–peeple) and sub-lexical orthographic processing (e.g. which is the more word-like vaid–vayd?), which included both language-specific and language-shared orthographic regularities. Children’s performances in sub-lexical tasks increased with grade but were comparable across languages. Further, evidence for a one factor model including all measures suggested that there is a common underlying orthographic processing skill that cuts across measurement and language variables. Keywords: orthographic processing; reading; French immersion; bilinguals; second language learners

Phonological development in two-way bilingual immersion

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy Renee Menke
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Foreign Language Immersion

In spite of the well-documented advantage of an early age of acquisition, findings from one-way (foreign language) immersion programs suggest that this instructional context is insufficient for acquisition of nativelike articulations by child foreign language learners. It has been suggested that the lack of exposure to native speaking peers may contribute to reported non-native pronunciation. This study expands upon the previous research with child second language learners of Spanish, exploring how children, who learn academic content in Spanish, alongside native Spanish-speaking peers produce the Spanish vowels. Few differences are observed between the learner and peer native speaker groups, suggesting that the direct contact with native speakers of Spanish afforded by two-way bilingual immersion promotes phonological acquisition.

A longitudinal ERP study of language effects in beginning second language learners

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Laura N. Soskey ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Effects

Promoting students’ critical thinking through reading strategy instruction in a reading class

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-151
Author(s):  
K.R. Vinitha Rani
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Reading Strategy Instruction ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Bilingual School

This study examined the application of Reading Strategy Instruction (RSI) in a reading class to promote the critical thinking skills of the second language learners. It aims to find out (1) the critical thinking elements in the questions formulated by the participants before the application of RSI, and (2) the critical thinking elements found in the (a) three selected questions, (b) answers, and (c) reflections written by the participants after the application of RSI. This study included sixteen grade 11 participants of a bilingual school in Jakarta, aged between 16 to 18 years old. The participants underwent two stages (1) before the application of RSI, and (2) after the application of RSI. The RSI applied in this study was a modification of Rothstein & Santana’s (2014) “Question Formulation Technique” and Alder’s (2001) comprehension strategies in answering questions. The collected data were analysed by using the modified critical thinking indicators proposed by Mason (1991) and Henri (1992). The results of the study revealed that applying RSI in the reading class was beneficial in promoting the participants’ critical thinking skills. RSI helped the participants to (i) think differently, (ii) use prior background knowledge, (iii) question the facts given in the text, (iv) identify the issues given in the text, (v) give valid solutions to the problem, (vi) connect themselves with the text and the world, and (vii) justify their arguments using valid examples.

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