In this article, we report two studies that compared the development of English and French language and literacy skills in French immersion students identified as native English speakers (EL1s) and English learners (ELs). In study 1, 81 EL1s and 147 ELs were tested in the fall and spring terms of grade 1. The EL1s and ELs had similar outcomes and comparable gains in English phonological awareness and word reading. Comparable performance was observed on all the French measures (phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension). Only in English receptive vocabulary did the EL1s outperform the ELs. In study 2, a subset of the students in study 1 was followed into grades 2 and 3 (36 EL1s and 33 ELs). Overall, the EL1s and ELs demonstrated similar performance and gains in English phonological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension in grades 2 and 3. The EL1s outperformed their EL peers in English expressive and receptive vocabulary across all grades, despite more rapid growth among the ELs. At the same time, outcomes on all of the French measures were comparable between the two groups. The findings of remarkably comparable performance by the EL1s and ELs suggest that overall, French immersion does not impede English language and literacy skill development in ELs, making it a viable option for these students.

No abstract

This study examined the sources of reading comprehension difficulties in English language learners (ELLs). The characteristics of ELL poor comprehenders were compared to their English as a first language (EL1) peers. Participants included 124 ELLs who spoke Chinese as an L1 and 79 EL1 students. Using a regression technique based on age, non-verbal reasoning, word reading accuracy, and word reading fluency, three types of comprehenders (poor, average, and good) were identified within each language group. The groups were then compared on measures of oral language skills (vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth, and listening comprehension), metalinguistic skills (morphological awareness and syntactic awareness), working memory, and higher-level processing skills (inference, conjunction use, and comprehension monitoring). ELL poor comprehenders had significantly lower scores than ELL average and good comprehenders on vocabulary breadth, listening comprehension, and morphological awareness, whereas there were no significant differences between the average and good comprehender groups on these skills. Additionally, both ELL poor and average comprehenders had lower scores than ELL good comprehenders on all three higher-level skills. Finally, results showed that ELL poor comprehenders scored lower than EL1 poor comprehenders on vocabulary breadth, listening comprehension, and morphological awareness, but the two groups did not differ on higher-level skills. Theoretical and educational implications for the identification and instruction of ELL poor comprehenders are discussed.

This study explored components of language comprehension (vocabulary, grammar, and higher-level language) skills for poor comprehenders in French immersion. We identified three groups of bilingual comprehenders (poor, average, and good) based on English reading performance and compared their language comprehension skills in English L1 and French L2. We also identified and compared English skills for three groups of monolingual comprehenders from English-stream programmes. Among both bilingual and monolingual learners, poor comprehenders performed significantly lower than good comprehenders on English vocabulary, morphological awareness, and inference. Bilingual poor comprehenders also differed from average comprehenders on English morphological awareness and inference. Similar results were found in French for the bilingual learners. Lower scores on French vocabulary and morphological awareness distinguished between bilingual poor and good comprehenders. Additionally, weaknesses in French semantics and inference distinguished between bilingual poor and good comprehenders and bilingual poor and average comprehenders. These results suggest that poor comprehenders share remarkably similar language characteristics in L1 and L2. HighlightsWhat is already known about this topic? Language and reading comprehensionAccording to the simple view of reading model, reading comprehension involves two primary processes: decoding, the ability to decipher or recognise printed words, and 154 D'ANGELO and CHEN