Language Learning · 2007 · 331 citations · 64 references
EducationEarly Childhood EducationLiteracy EducationBilingual EducationEarly LiteracyLanguage EducationBilingual DevelopmentBiliteracy DevelopmentChild Language AcquisitionEarly Literacy SkillsLanguage ExposureReading AcquisitionBilingual Cognitive DevelopmentBilingual Language CompetenceBilingual Literacy EducationBilingual Metalinguistic AwarenessBilingual Oral Language DevelopmentBilingualism In Early ChildhoodBiliteracy AcquisitionCross-linguistic Reading Transfer
Research on bilingual literacy acquisition struggles to isolate bilingualism’s unique contribution. The study identifies three research areas on bilingual literacy, explains their contributions, and links each to a monolingual literacy skill. The authors review literature comparing bilingual and monolingual children’s literacy skill development. Bilingualism’s impact on literacy skills varies, sometimes advantageous and sometimes disadvantageous, and is complex and non‑unitary.
Much research that contributes to understanding how bilingual children become literate cannot isolate the contribution of bilingualism itself to the discussion of literacy acquisition for these children. This paper identifies three areas of research relevant to examining literacy acquisition in bilinguals, explains the contribution of each, and associates each with a skill required by monolingual children in becoming literate. A review of the literature explores differences between bilingual and monolingual children in the development of literacy acquisition skills. The relation between bilingualism and the development of each of the three skills is different, sometimes indicating an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage for bilingual children. Bilingualism clearly affects children’s development of literacy, but its effect is neither simple nor unitary.
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Richard K. Wagner, Joseph K. Torgesen, Carol A. Rashotte · Developmental Psychology · 1994 · 1.4K citations