First-Grade Reading Instruction and Reading Growth: Asian Language Minorities and Native-English-Speaking Peers

Abstract

The present study explores whether the relation between aspects of first-grade reading instruction and reading growth through eighth grade differed for Asian language minority (LM) children and native-English-speaking (NE) children. The sample consisted of 6,715 NEs and 242 Asian LMs, followed from first to eighth grade. Findings were as follows: (a) The relation between first-grade sounds/letters instruction and reading growth slightly differed for Asian LMs and NEs. For example, Asian LMs who received more sounds/letters instructional emphasis decelerated less through middle grades, and by eighth grade, performed on par with NEs. (b) The relation between first-grade meaning instructional emphasis and reading growth did not differ for the two groups. (c) NEs experienced more deceleration through middle grades. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Understanding and Supporting Literacy Development Among English Learners: A Deep Dive Into the Role of Language Comprehension

“…With one exception (Kung, 2019)—likely related to the fact that students’ native oral language skills were not accounted for in the analyses—all findings underscore the need to support ELs’ language skills, both in the home language and in English. However, the majority of the studies in this collection, as is generally the case in the field, focused on students from Spanish-speaking homes.…”

“…Linking the early elementary- and middle-grade years, Kung (2019) also utilized the ECLS-K national data set. The potential moderating effect of first-grade instructional emphases (i.e., extent to which sounds and letter–sounds relations were emphasized, extent to which meaning construction was emphasized, and overall amount of reading instruction/activities) on reading growth (through Grade 8) was investigated for Asian language minority learners compared with their English-only peers.…”