Becoming bilingual readers: Examining orthographic processing in learning to read English and French
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This dissertation is comprised of three studies examining the role of orthographic processing in word reading among children enrolled in Canadian French immersion programs. Print awareness, as well as lexical and sublexical aspects of orthographic processing were examined. Study 1 evaluated the within- and cross-language relations between print awareness and word reading among 92 emergent readers from senior kindergarten to Grade 1. Concurrently, there was a within-language relation between English print awareness and English word reading; there was also a cross-language relation between English print awareness and French word reading in senior kindergarten. Longitudinally, English print awareness in senior kindergarten predicted progress in French word reading in Grade 1, but not in English. These results suggest that print awareness measured in the dominant language can be used to predict word reading development in emergent bilingual readers attending French immersion. Study 2 investigated the development of early knowledge of print conventions and its within- and cross-language relations to early word reading skills with the same sample as Study 1 from senior kindergarten to Grade 1. Results revealed a systematic development of knowledge in several aspects of print from senior kindergarten to Grade 1 in both English and French. Hierarchical linear analyses revealed significant within-language relations between print convention knowledge in kindergarten and word reading in both English and French. Across languages, English print convention knowledge in senior kindergarten predicted progress in French word reading in Grade 1; French print convention knowledge in senior kindergarten was not correlated with progress in English word reading in Grade 1. Finally, Study 3 investigated the predictors of English and French word reading in 69 children from first through third grade. The role of phonological awareness, orthographic processing (both lexical and sublexical), and vocabulary knowledge in English and French on the achievement and growth of word reading in the two languages were evaluated with growth curve analyses. Results showed that Grade 1 measures of English phonological awareness and orthographic processing predicted Grade 3 English word reading achievement; English orthographic processing in Grade 1 also predicted growth in English word reading in Grade 3. French phonological awareness and orthographic processing in Grade 1 predicted French word reading achievement in Grade 3. Additionally, at-risk readers (n = 6) identified in Grade 1 generally fell behind their typically-developing peers across all measures, although evidence of improvement emerged over time. Taken together, these studies suggest that orthographic processing is a key predictor of word reading in emergent bilingual readers.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Sheila Cira Chung
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3148669251