Weak and strong novice readers of English as a foreign language: effects of first language and socioeconomic status

Contributions of common genetic variants to specific languages and to when a language is learned

Research over the past two decades has identified a group of common genetic variants explaining a portion of variance in native language ability. The present study investigates whether the same group of genetic variants are associated with different languages and languages learned at different times in life. We recruited 940 young adults who spoke from childhood Chinese and English as their first (native) (L1) and second (L2) language, respectively, who were learners of a new, third (L3) language. For the variants examined, we found a general decrease of contribution of genes to language functions from native to foreign (L2 and L3) languages, with variance in foreign languages explained largely by non-genetic factors such as musical training and motivation. Furthermore, genetic variants that were found to contribute to traits specific to Chinese and English respectively exerted the strongest effects on L1 and L2. These results seem to speak against the hypothesis of a language- and time-universal genetic core of linguistic functions. Instead, they provide preliminary evidence that genetic contribution to language may depend at least partly on the intricate language-specific features. Future research including a larger sample size, more languages and more genetic variants is required to further explore these hypotheses.

Language and nonlanguage factors in foreign language learning: evidence for the learning condition hypothesis

The question of why native and foreign languages are learned with a large performance gap has prompted language researchers to hypothesize that they are subserved by fundamentally different mechanisms. However, this hypothesis may not have taken into account that these languages can be learned under different conditions (e.g., naturalistic vs. classroom settings). With a large sample of 636 third language (L3) learners who learned Chinese and English as their first (L1) and second (L2) languages, the present study examined the association of learning success across L1-L3. We argue that learning conditions may reveal how these languages are associated in terms of learning success. Because these languages were learned under a continuum of naturalistic to classroom conditions from L1 to L3, this sample afforded us a unique opportunity to evaluate the hypothesis that similar learning conditions between languages could be an important driving force determining language learning success. After controlling for nonlanguage factors such as musical background and motivational factors and using a convergence of analytics including the general linear models, the structural equation models, and machine learning, we found that the closer two languages were on the continuum of learning conditions, the stronger their association of learning success. Specifically, we found a significant association between L1 and L2 and between L2 and L3, but not between L1 and L3. Our results suggest that learning conditions may have important implications for the learning success of L1-L3.

English foreign language teachers' linguistic knowledge, beliefs, and reported practices regarding reading and spelling instruction

The study investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' knowledge of the linguistic foundations of the English language, teachers' reported classroom practices regarding time allocation to different language teaching and learning activities, and the relationship between these two parameters. An additional goal was to investigate teachers' beliefs regarding various aspects of literacy acquisition. Results indicated low scores for language constructs, especially those related to phonology and orthography. EFL teachers reported dedicating the largest amount of classroom time to vocabulary-related activities whereas the smallest amounts of time were allotted to teaching phonemic awareness and word reading. Teachers with higher scores on phonological, syllabic, and orthographic knowledge allocated more time to teaching and practicing phonemic awareness, grapheme-phoneme correspondence, and reading skills. Educational implications include the importance of research based, focused teacher professional training both in content knowledge of basic language constructs and in pedagogical knowledge of EFL literacy acquisition.

Reading in English as a Foreign Language by Spanish Children With Dyslexia

It has been reported that children with dyslexia have difficulties with learning a second language. The English alphabetic code is opaque, and it has been stated that deep orthographies cause important problems in children with dyslexia. Considering the strong differences between the Spanish and English orthographic systems, we predicted English reading problems in Spanish-speaking children with dyslexia. The current study focused on English as a foreign language in a group of 22 Spanish children with dyslexia (8-12 year olds), compared to a control group matched for age, gender, grade, and socioeconomic status. The objective was to identify the main difficulties that Spanish-speaking children with dyslexia demonstrate during English reading, to develop specific teaching programs. Participants were given four tasks related to reading: discrimination of phonemes, visual lexical decision, reading aloud, and oral vs. written semantic classification. The results suggest that children with dyslexia demonstrate problems in using English grapheme-phoneme rules, forcing them to employ a lexical strategy to read English words. However, they also showed difficulties in developing orthographic representations of words. Finally, they also exhibited problems with oral language, demonstrating difficulties accessing semantic information from an auditory presentation.

Foreign language reading and spelling in gifted students with dyslexia in secondary education

A few studies suggest that gifted children with dyslexia have better literacy skills than averagely intelligent children with dyslexia. This finding aligns with the hypothesis that giftedness-related factors provide compensation for poor reading. The present study investigated whether, as in the native language (NL), the level of foreign language (FL) literacy of gifted students with dyslexia is higher than the literacy level of averagely intelligent students with dyslexia and whether this difference can be accounted for by the difference in their NL literacy level. The sample consisted of 148 Dutch native speaking secondary school students divided in four groups: dyslexia, gifted/dyslexia, typically developing (TD), and gifted. All students were assessed on word reading and orthographic knowledge in Dutch and English when they were in 7th or 8th grade. A subsample (n = 71) was (re)assessed on Dutch, English, French, and German literacy one year later. Results showed that Dutch gifted students with dyslexia have higher NL literacy levels than averagely intelligent students with dyslexia. As in the NL, a stepwise pattern of group differences was found for English word reading and spelling, i.e., dyslexia < gifted/dyslexia < TD < gifted. However, it was not found for French and German literacy performance. These results point towards compensation: the higher English literacy levels of gifted/dyslexic students compared to their averagely intelligent dyslexic peers result from mechanisms that are unique to English as a FL. Differences in results between FLs are discussed in terms of variation in orthographic transparency and exposure.

Providing English foreign language teachers with content knowledge to facilitate decoding and spelling acquisition: a longitudinal perspective

This quasi-experimental study adds to the small existing literature on orthographic-related teacher knowledge in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The study examined the impact of a course on English orthography on predominantly non-native-speaking EFL preservice and inservice teachers' orthographic content knowledge, and the extent to which these teachers retained orthographic-related content knowledge four months after participating in a semester course on the topic. In addition, the study examined the relationship between participants' acquired orthographic-related content knowledge and EFL spelling. Both groups of teachers that studied in the course improved on overall orthographic-related content knowledge, both immediately following the course and longitudinally. Preservice and inservice participants showed similar levels of orthographic knowledge prior to course participation and both showed significant improvements compared to controls following course participation. Participants also retained knowledge four months after course completion. Overall, the inservice teachers scored higher on orthographic-related knowledge, possibly as a result of the immediate application of their newly acquired knowledge. An unexpected finding was a lack of interaction between acquired orthographic-related content knowledge and pseudo word spelling scores. Possible methodological limitations, such as number of participants as well as the length and scope of the course, may explain this outcome. This paper also discusses practical implications of this study for EFL decoding and spelling instruction.

Prädiktoren des Hörverstehens bei Jugendlichen deutscher und Jugendlichen nichtdeutscher Herkunftssprache 3Dieser Beitrag wurde unter der geschäftsführenden Herausgeberschaft von Jens Möller angenommen

Zusammenfassung:Trotz der zentralen Bedeutung des Hörverstehens für weitere sprachliche Leistungen existieren bislang nur wenige Untersuchungen, die Hörverstehensleistungen und deren Prädiktoren bei Schülerinnen und Schülern unterschiedlicher Herkunftssprache vergleichend analysieren. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht deutschsprachiges Hörverstehen und dessen Determinanten bei Jugendlichen deutscher (L1) und Jugendlichen nichtdeutscher (L2) Herkunftssprache. Im Rahmen der Erhebung bearbeiteten 424 Neuntklässler Aufgaben zum deutschsprachigen Hörverstehen sowie zur phonologischen Bewusstheit, zum Arbeitsgedächtnis, zu morphosyntaktischen Fähigkeiten und zum Wortschatz. Ausgehend von theoretischen Annahmen und empirischen Befunden wird angenommen, dass L2-Jugendliche schwächere Hörverstehensleistungen aufweisen sowie über einen geringeren Wortschatz verfügen als L1-Jugendliche. Weiterhin wird ein im Vergleich zu L1-Jugendlichen stärkerer Einfluss des Wortschatzes, der phonologischen Bewusstheit und des Arbeitsgedächtnisses auf die Hörverstehensleistung bei L2-Jugendlichen angenommen. Die strukturanalytische Modellierung dieser Determinanten des Hörverstehens zeigt, dass L2-Jugendliche geringere Wortschatzkenntnisse aufweisen als L1-Jugendliche. Schwächen im Bereich des Hörverstehens finden sich nur für Jugendliche, die Türkisch als Erstsprache gelernt haben. Bei allen Jugendlichen wird die Hörverstehensleistung durch die morphosyntaktischen Kompetenzen sowie den Wortschatz determiniert; bei Jugendlichen mit Türkisch als Erstsprache findet sich zusätzlich ein Effekt der phonologischen Bewusstheit auf die Hörverstehensleistung. Die Implikationen der Befunde für theoretische Annahmen zu Hörverstehensleistungen in einer Zweitsprache werden diskutiert.