Which measure of socioeconomic status best predicts bilingual lexical abilities and how? A focus on four-year-olds exposed to two majority languages

Mediation of self-concept and moderation of teacher support between SES and reading achievement: Evidence from China and the United States

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic status (SES) is important in students' reading development. The mechanism of how they are linked, however, is underexplored.

AIMS

This research aimed to explore whether reading self-concept mediates the link between SES and reading achievement and whether teacher support moderates the direct and indirect link between SES and reading achievement.

SAMPLES

Using PISA 2018 database, we selected 17,346 15-year-olds from 537 schools in B-S-J-Z (China) and the United States (U.S.).

METHODS

Multilevel linear models were calculated to explore the potential mediation of self-concept and the potential moderation of teacher support between SES and reading achievement.

RESULTS

Results reveal that reading self-concept mediated the link between SES and reading achievement at student level both in China and the United States, and teacher support moderated the link between SES and reading self-concept both at student level and school level only in China, but not in the United States.

CONCLUSION

Our research highlights the importance of self-concept and teacher support in improving students' reading achievement, especially for students of low SES, which has important theoretical significance and practical enlightenment for reading instruction.

The Predictive Role of Quantity and Quality Language-Exposure Measures for L1 and L2 Vocabulary Production among Immigrant Preschoolers in Italy

In this study, we investigated the lexical ability in L1 and L2 of 60 immigrant children who were 37 to 62 months old and exposed to minority languages (L1) and Italian (L2). Using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories, we measured children's vocabulary production in L1 and L2. From interviews, we collected data on quantitative language exposure (parental input, child output, length of exposure to L2 at preschool, and parental oral fluency) and qualitative home-language exposure (HLE) practices (active, play, and passive) in L1 and L2. We conducted stepwise regression analyses to explore which factors predicted children's vocabulary production in L1 and L2. The child's chronological age and parental education were not predictors of vocabulary production. L2 parental input, L1 child output, and L1 HLE-active practices explained 42% of the variance in children's L1 vocabulary production. L2 child output and L2 HLE-active practices explained 47% of the variance in children's L2 vocabulary production, whereas length of L2 exposure in preschool was a predictor only when we included quantitative language-exposure factors in the model. The effects of the quantity and quality of language exposure on lexical ability among preschool immigrant children are discussed.