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Cognate awareness is the ability to recognize the cognate relationship between words in two etymologically related languages. The current study examined the development of cognate awareness and its contribution to French (second language) reading comprehension among Canadian French immersion children. Eighty-one students were tested at the end of Grade 1 and again at the end of Grade 2. Children were administered a cognate awareness task in French, in which they were asked to decide whether a French word had a cognate in English. Overall, performance on the cognate awareness task was significantly above chance at both time points, and it improved overtime. Thus, for the majority of the participants, cognate awareness was evident as early as first grade. Regressions revealed that cognate awareness measured in Grades 1 and 2 made a significant contribution to Grade 2 French reading comprehension, beyond multiple controls. The results of the study suggest that cognate awareness is a unique aspect of second-language reading comprehension in young bilingual children.

The main focus of this study was to refine our understanding of the link between English proficiency and mainstream acculturation in adolescent Chinese immigrants. The sample consisted of 112 adolescents in grades 7-12 living in urban areas in southern Ontario, Canada. English proficiency was assessed individually using standardised tests of vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and reading fluency. Mainstream acculturation was measured by the Vancouver Index of Acculturation. The results of structural equation modelling support a reciprocal relationship between English proficiency and mainstream acculturation after controlling for age, length of residence in Canada, and nonverbal reasoning. The results suggest that learning English may be one important variable affecting motivation for cultural immersion in immigrant youth.

This study examined cross-language transfer of word reading accuracy and word reading fluency in Spanish-English and Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants included 51 Spanish-English and 64 Chinese-English bilinguals. Both groups of children completed parallel measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, word reading accuracy, and word reading fluency in their first language (L1) and in English, their second language (L2) in Grade 1. Word reading accuracy and word reading fluency were assessed in L1 and L2 again in Grade 2. Cross-language transfer of word reading accuracy was found only in the Spanish-English bilinguals. In contrast, cross-language transfer of word reading fluency was found in both the Spanish-English bilinguals and the Chinese-English bilinguals. Our results suggest transfer of word reading accuracy is based on the structural similarities between the L1 and L2 scripts. By contrast, word reading fluency operates largely as a script-universal process. Implications for reading theory and for assessment and instruction of bilingual children are discussed.

This study examined the within-language and cross-language relationships between orthographic processing and word reading in French and English across Grades 1 and 2. Seventy-three children in French Immersion completed measures of orthographic processing and word reading in French and English in Grade 1 and Grade 2, as well as a series of control measures. Regressions controlled for non-verbal reasoning, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and the appropriate autoregressor of orthographic processing or word reading. Orthographic processing in Grade 1 did not predict word reading in Grade 2, in either language. Instead, within both languages, word reading in Grade 1 predicted orthographic processing in Grade 2. Cross-linguistically, French word reading was a unique predictor of growth in English orthographic processing. Theoretical and practical implications of the relationships between orthographic processing and word reading in bilinguals are discussed.

The main purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between the literature on cognitive variables related to English literacy learning skills, as suggested by the simple view of reading, and the literature on sociocultural variables, specifically acculturation. The sample consisted of 94 Chinese immigrant adolescents from grades 7-12 in Waterloo Region in and the metropolitan Toronto area of Ontario, Canada. Acculturation was measured by a questionnaire. Literacy skills, including vocabulary, reading fluency, and reading comprehension, were assessed individually using standardized tests. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that degrees of acculturation to Canadian culture positively predicted English literacy skills after controlling for length of residence in Canada. Interestingly, acculturation explained unique variance in reading beyond variables in the simple view of reading, suggesting the independent contribution of sociocultural factors to second-language reading in adolescent English learners.

Cross-language effects of Spanish derivational awareness on English vocabulary and reading comprehension were studied in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (N = 90) in grades four and seven. The role of cognate vocabulary in cross-language transfer of derivational awareness was also examined. Multivariate path analyses controlling for age, length of time in Canada, nonverbal reasoning, English phonological awareness, and English word reading revealed that Spanish derivational awareness was related to English cognate vocabulary, but not to English noncognate vocabulary. In addition, there was an indirect contribution of Spanish derivational awareness to English reading comprehension via English cognate vocabulary and English morphological awareness. Findings suggest that knowledge of cognates facilitates the transfer of Spanish derivational awareness to English vocabulary and reading comprehension. These findings have theoretical, pedagogical, and clinical implications.

This study examined factors related to reading comprehension in adolescents who spoke English as a first language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Measures of decoding, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension were administered to 31 L1 and 44 L2 speakers. English L2 adolescents scored significantly lower than their L1 peers on all measures. Factor analyses produced different configurations of variables for each group. For L1 learners, measures of decoding and vocabulary were separate factors but were one factor for English L2 learners. For the L1 learners, it was only the measure of vocabulary that was a significant predictor of reading comprehension. For L2 learners, decoding, vocabulary, and the interaction of decoding and vocabulary were all significant predictors of reading comprehension. Relations among these variables in adolescents who are beginning to learn English as an L2 are explored. (Contains 6 tables.)

Purpose: Our 1-year longitudinal study tracked the development of cognate awareness among second (L2) and third language (L3) learners of French in French immersion in Grades 1 and 2 to explore the impact of orthographic overlap and cognate status (true vs. false) on children's ability to recognize cognate relationships. We also assessed the impact of French L2/L3 status on performance. Method: We compared performance on three conditions (true cognates with same and similar spellings, false cognates with same spellings) within and across grades. We used a direct measure of cognate awareness that required children (n = 81) to distinguish true from false cognates presented orally and in print. Results: Overall, Grade 1 children failed to recognize cognate relationships between true cognates with similar spellings, but successfully recognized true cognates with same spellings. Performance on all conditions increased significantly between Grades 1 and 2. The greatest improvement was seen on true cognates with similar spellings. Performance on false cognates was inferior to performance on true cognates with same spellings in Grade 1, and inferior to performance on both same and similar spelled true cognates in Grade 2. No differences were found due to L2/L3 status. Conclusions: Among sequential learners of L2/L3 French in the early stages of additional language learning, cognate awareness is impacted by the degree of orthographic overlap, as well as by cognate status. Children's ability to recognize cross-language orthographic and semantic relationships improves substantially across the early elementary grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the cross-language effects of the derivational awareness of Spanish-speaking learners on English vocabulary and reading comprehension. It discusses the significant role of cognate vocabulary in derivational awareness' cross-language transfer. Findings of the study show the indirect contribution of awareness to English language reading comprehension through English morphological awareness and cognate vocabulary.