The phonological awareness relation to early reading in English for three groups of simultaneous bilingual children

In this study, we examine syllable, rime and phoneme level awareness for bilingual children with differences in structure of their known languages in order to investigate any potential cross-languag e effects of their ethnic language on English reading. For 612 Chinese and English, Malay and English, and Tamil and English speakers in kindergarten, different patterns emerged across the language groups with regard to the grain size of phonological awareness over a 2-year period. The patterns of p honological awareness levels in predicting early English reading skills also differed amongst these bilingual language groups. The role of vocabulary in the relation between phonological awareness and reading was not consistent, showing small moderating and mediating effects only in some instances.
Source: Reading and Writing - Category: Child Development Source Type: research