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This study investigated the influence of first language (L1) phonology on second language (L2) early reading skills in Sylheti‐English bilinguals (N = 58; 48% girls; British Bangladeshi) and their monolingual‐English peers (N = 43; 45% girls; 96% White British, 4% multiethnic British) in a diaspora context. Language‐specific phonological awareness and nonword repetition were tested at two time points (6;2–7;8 years‐old). At Time 1, the bilinguals had lower productive accuracy for phonological sequences that violated their L1 phonology (d =.56;.84), and these skills accounted for a significant amount of variance in their reading accuracy. At Time 2, the language‐specific effects were no longer present. These findings highlight the importance of considering language structure in multilingual early literacy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of bilingual speech research has focused on simultaneous bilinguals. Yet, in immigrant communities, children are often initially exposed to their family language (L1), before becoming gradually immersed in the host country's language (L2). This is typically referred to as sequential bilingualism. Using a longitudinal design, this study explored the perception and production of the English voicing contrast in 55 children (40 Sylheti-English sequential bilinguals and 15 English monolinguals). Children were tested twice: when they were in nursery (52-month-olds) and 1 year later. Sequential bilinguals' perception and production of English plosives were initially driven by their experience with their L1, but after starting school, changed to match that of their monolingual peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]