scholarly journals Leisure reading in multilingual Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-339
Author(s):  
Baoqi Sun ◽  
Chin Ee Loh ◽  
Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Reading Frequency ◽  
Leisure Reading ◽  
Children's Reading ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Children’S Reading

What are bilingual children reading? Do children who enjoy reading books in one language also enjoy reading books in the other language? Drawing on survey data from 1,312 children (aged 9–11) in two government primary schools in Singapore, this study examined reading enjoyment, habits and preferences of two groups of bilingual children – English-Chinese and English-Malay bilingual children. Results showed that children generally enjoyed reading in English more than reading in Chinese/Malay, and that they read English books more often and for longer duration. Within each language, reading enjoyment was significantly associated with reading frequency and reading duration. Crosslinguistically, children’s reading duration and frequency in their two languages were closely related, despite their different reasons for reading English and Chinese/Malay books. Even though levels of reading enjoyment in the two languages were not significantly correlated, results suggested that English reading enjoyment may facilitate Chinese/Malay reading. Results highlight the important role of language policy, the focus of language curriculum and language-specific features in shaping bi-/multilingual children’s reading habits and preferences. Implications for classroom applications and the need to promote Chinese/Malay reading are discussed.

Reading identities across language contexts: The role of language of text and talk for multilingual learners

2020 ◽  
pp. 146879842098175
Author(s):  
Christopher J Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Family Literacy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Early Reading ◽  
Literacy Programme ◽  
Children's Reading ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Children’S Reading

Reading identities are the ways that a child constructs the self as a reader across contexts and time. This study examines the impact of language contexts on the reading identities of multilingual children. Participants were ten prekindergarten children participating in a Chinese-English family literacy programme with a parent or grandparent. Participants read Chinese and English language books across English, Chinese and multilingual contexts. Children’s reading identities were examined across language contexts to explore the interplay between language contexts and reading identities. Findings describe convergences and differences in reading identities across contexts for Chinese, English and multilingual language use and Chinese and English texts, and provide insights into the ways that different language contexts for reading affect multilingual children’s early reading identities. Multilingual contexts appear to provide key spaces for the development of reading identities, and English and Chinese contexts contribute to unique aspects of children’s reading identities.

The effects of home reading activities during preschool and Grade 4 on children’s reading performance in Chinese and English in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shek Kam Tse ◽  
Yu Zhu ◽  
Sau Yan Hui ◽  
Hung Wai Ng
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Home Reading ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Children's Reading ◽  
Reading Activities ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Children’S Reading

The English and Chinese reading proficiency of 1376 Grade 4 students in 24 Hong Kong primary schools were assessed using measures developed for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Students’ parents provided information about home reading activities (HRA) aimed at supporting their children’s reading prior to them entering school (“early home reading activities”, EHRA) and during Grade 4 (“home reading activities”). Results indicated that EHRA was a stronger predictor of reading performance in both Chinese and English than HRA. Moreover, ‘typical’ HRA such as reading books, telling stories and singing songs were found to be predictive of reading performance in both Chinese and English. In English, in addition, playing word games or character puzzles were also activities beneficial to reading performance. Together, these results provide evidence for the beneficial effects of traditional early childhood activities at home such as book reading, telling stories and singing songs for reading performance in later primary school in children’s first as well as second language.

scholarly journals EFL Prospective Teachers’ Competency in Phonological Awareness: Impact on Teaching English Reading

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Yousef Alshaboul
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Children's Reading ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Children’S Reading

Deficits in EFL teachers’ proficiency have surfaced recently as one of the possible factors contributing to children’s reading problems at their early encounters with literacy. Phonological awareness (PA) has dominated specialists’ interests well-timed with escalating reports containing more provoking evidence connecting children's reading disability with deficiencies in PA. This paper aims at investigating the impact of perceived proficiency, GPA, and gender of prospective teachers on shaping their future reading instruction detectable by prospective teachers' PA beliefs, awareness and knowledge. Towards this end, a four-section survey was administered to 158 pre-service EFL teachers. Results confirmed significant differences related to knowledge and beliefs at the expense of awareness. 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document