What’s in a word? Cross‐linguistic influences on Spanish–English and Chinese–English bilingual children’s word reading development

Abstract

This study investigates the cross‐linguistic transfer of literacy skills in Spanish–English, Chinese–English bilingual, and English monolingual children (N = 283, 5–10 years). Research question 1 examines English literacy and asks how phonological and morpho‐semantic skills contribute to word reading as a function of children's language background. Structural equation modeling revealed contrasting bilingual effects: compared to English monolinguals, Spanish–English bilinguals relied more on phonological awareness in word reading, whereas Chinese–English bilinguals relied more on lexical knowledge. Research question 2 examines relations between bilinguals’ heritage language proficiency and English literacy. Results revealed direct and indirect effects of heritage language meta‐linguistic skills on English word reading. The study yields implications for reading theories and instructional practices in optimizing literacy in linguistically diverse children.

Morphological and phonological processing in English monolingual, Chinese-English bilingual, and Spanish-English bilingual children: An fNIRS neuroimaging dataset

“…(2011) [3] ; Sun et al. (2021) [4] Morphological awareness Self-developed Early Lexical Morphology Measure (ELMM) Adapted from Goodwin et al. (2012) [6] Self-developed Early Lexical Morphology Measure -Spanish (ELMM-S) Modeled after the English task Self-developed Morphological Construction Test Song et al.…”

“…(2015) [7] ; Sun et al. (2021) [4] Vocabulary Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-5 (PPVT) Dunn (2015) [8] Test de Vocabulario en Imágenes Peabody (TVIP) Dunn et al. (1986) [10] Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised Lu & Liu (1998) [9] Nonword reading Woodcock Johnson-4 Word Attack Subset (WJ-WA) / / / / Single-word reading Woodcock Johnson-4 Letter-word Identification Subset (WJ-LWID) Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Identificacion de letras y palabras Self-developed Character Recognition and Reading Task Sun et al.…”

“…(1986) [10] Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised Lu & Liu (1998) [9] Nonword reading Woodcock Johnson-4 Word Attack Subset (WJ-WA) / / / / Single-word reading Woodcock Johnson-4 Letter-word Identification Subset (WJ-LWID) Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Identificacion de letras y palabras Self-developed Character Recognition and Reading Task Sun et al. (2021) [4] Passage comprehension Woodcock Johnson-4 Passage Comprehension Subset (WJ-PC) Schrank et al., 2018 [11] Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Comprehension de textos Muñoz-Sandoval et al. (2005) [12] / / Sentence reading fluency Woodcock Johnson-4 Sentence Reading Fluency Subset (WJ-SRF) Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Fluidez en la lectura Self-developed Sentence Reading Fluency Task / …”

Neuro-Cognitive Differences in Semantic Processing Between Native Speakers and Proficient Learners of Mandarin Chinese

“…In addition, the Chinese version of Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was used to evaluate L2 participants’ receptive vocabulary ( Sun et al, 2021 ). There are 125 items in the test.…”

Contributions of bilingual home environment and language proficiency on children’s Spanish–English reading outcomes

“…(e.g., Claussenius‐Kalman et al, 2021). For instance, more balanced Spanish–English bilinguals may develop greater automaticity for the processing of shared lexical elements and greater sensitivity to those word structures that are unique to each of their languages (Sun et al, 2022). Bilingual readers are far from monolithic, and studies of bilingual literacy acquisition must consider the contributions of each language separately, the relative differences in proficiency, and how the two languages interact.…”