Contribution of oral narrative textual competence and spelling skills to written narrative textual competence in bilingual language-minority children and monolingual peers

Abstract

This study investigates the developmental pattern and relationships between oral narrative textual skills, spelling, and written narrative textual skills in monolingual and bilingual language-minority (BLM) children, L1-Chinese and L2-Italian. The aims were to investigate in monolingual and BLM children: (1) the developmental patterns of oral and writing skills across primary school years; (2) the pattern of relationships (direct and mediated) between oral narrative textual competence, spelling skills, and written narrative textual competence with age and socio-economic status (SES) taken under control. In total, 141 primary school children from grades 2 to 5 in Central Italy (44% BLM, 56% monolinguals) aged between 7 and 11 years (M-age = 8.59, SD = 1.13; 41% girls, 59% boys) obtained scores for oral and written narrative textual competence, spelling accuracy in dictation, and written texts. One-way ANOVA and ANOVA with robust method (Welch test) analyses and Bonferroni’s correction showed that BLM children had poorer spelling skills in dictation and written narrative textual competence (i.e., text structure) than their monolingual peers. After preliminary correlation analysis, the results of hierarchical regression showed that the relationship between oral and written narrative textual competence is completely mediated by spelling accuracy in BLM children. These results suggest that adequate performance in written narrative textual competence depends on adequate spelling accuracy in writing stories. The Sobel test verified the power of this mediation. In monolinguals, the strongest predictor of written narrative textual competence is oral narrative textual competence. This relation is stronger in older children whose spelling skills are automatized. The identified pattern of relationships shows a complex network of oral and written processes. The scarce spelling skills characterizing BLM children may explain why spelling skills determine a low written narrative textual level. Scarce spelling skills absorb cognitive resources, hindering high-level cognitive processes that regulate narrative production. In monolinguals, the medium of writing does not impact narrative textual competence. Children’s oral narrative textual competence easily transfers into their written narrative productions. These findings have implications for the assessment and instruction of literacy skills in young BLM children and their monolingual peers.

Relationship between lexical, reading and spelling skills in bilingual language minority children and their monolingual peers

“…The results of BLMs’ poor performances that emerged in lexical, reading and spelling skills are partially in accordance with the literature. Specifically, our results aligned with previous studies investigating bilingual language-minority children with L1-Chinese and L2-Italian whose results demonstrated difficulties in literacy skills during different periods of development (for example, Bonifacci and Tobia, 2016 ; Vettori et al 2022a ). While there may be several explanations, we speculate that these results are attributed, at least partially, to the fact that BLM children grow up with less L1-Italian language input and opportunities to practice the L1-Italian language beyond school.…”

“…Some recent studies conducted in Italian primary schools have shown that bilingual language minority children underperform in emergent literacy skills such as notational awareness ( Incognito et al, 2021 ); spelling ( Bonifacci et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Vettori et al, 2022a , b ) and lexical skills compared to monolingual peers. The population of bilingual language minority children represent a very specific type of bilingualism and refer to those children who are exposed to the acquisition of the second language in an intensive and regular way only when they start formal instruction at school, while they continue to use their first language to communicate and interact at home ( Hoff et al, 2021 ).…”

“…As children become proficient in lexical skills, they can devote their cognitive resources to higher-order cognitive processes. Previous studies have shown that Italian–English bilinguals ( Roch et al, 2016 ) and Chinese–Italian bilingual language-minority children ( Vettori et al, 2022a ) have lower lexical skills in L2 than in L1 in comparison to their monolingual peers in primary school, and this disadvantage has a negative repercussion on their text writing outputs. Regarding the impact of the linguistic condition on literacy, to date, there is an open debate about whether, and to what extent, limited input of L2-societal language at home affects reading-writing development in bilingual language-minority children.…”