The development of language and reading skills in the second and third languages of multilingual children in French Immersion

Bérubé, Daniel; Marinova‐Todd, Stefka H.

doi:10.1080/14790718.2011.631708

Cited by 57 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Thus, our findings corroborate those of previous studies conducted with EL and EL1 students in mainstream English programs (e.g., Lesaux & Siegel, 2003 ). Moreover, the findings corroborate those of Bérubé and Marinova-Todd ( 2012 ), who found no differences in the grade 4 word reading outcomes of ELs in French immersion relative to their EL1 peers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…To our knowledge, only one study has examined the word reading skills of ELs relative to EL1s in French immersion. Bérubé and Marinova‐Todd () found that on average, EL French immersion students tested in grade 4 performed at the level of their English peers in English word and pseudoword reading. However, it is important to note that a relatively high attrition rate of 20% has been found in French immersion programs between grades 1 and 5 (Willms, ) and that reading difficulties are cited as the primary reason for withdrawal (D. Hart, Lapkin, & Swain, ; Mannavarayan, ).…”

Section: Word Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades

et al. 2014

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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.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Word Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades

et al. 2014

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“…Researchers have demonstrated that the widespread belief that allophone students will find the simultaneous acquisition of French and English overwhelmingly difficult is unfounded. Bérubé and Marinova-Todd (2012) compared three student demographics in French language programs-English monolingual learners, multilingual learners with an alphabetic first language, and multilingual learners with a logographic first language-and concluded that the Anglophones had no advantages over the multilingual students with alphabetic first languages. Additionally, Carr (2007) found that allophone students studying French and English simultaneously developed significantly higher English language abilities than those who were only studying English.…”

Section: Allophone Language Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Suitability of French Immersion for Allophone Students in Saskatchewan: Exploring Diverse Perspectives on Language Learning and Inclusion

Davis

Ballinger²,

Sarkar³

2019

Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics

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French immersion programs in Saskatchewan have traditionally served to further the goals of additive bilingualism between Canada’s two official languages, French and English. Whereas these programs have historically consisted of predominantly Anglophone populations, recent trends in immigration have contributed to the increasingly diverse linguistic backgrounds of students throughout the province. The motivation, family support, and high academic achievement of allophone students learning French as an additional language have been documented extensively in Canada (Dagenais & Jacquet, 2000; Mady, 2013, 2014, 2015). Nevertheless, allophone students often do not benefit from the same access to second language education programs as their Anglophone and Francophone peers; indeed, such learners are sometimes excluded from French immersion programs on the basis of their lack of English language proficiency (Roy, 2015). Through Likert-scale surveys and semi-structured interviews, this mixed-methods research explored the perceived suitability of French immersion for allophone students by examining the perspectives of parents and educators in several schools in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This study will share the triangulated findings of the research, discuss the suitability of French immersion programs for allophone students, and provide recommendations for the future of such programs in Saskatchewan.

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“…Results showed that immigrant bilingual students scored relatively higher on all tests of proficiency. Similarly, Bérubé and Marinova–Todd () examined the extent to which the development of L2 and L3 literacy skills varied primarily as a function of orthographic similarities with the L1 among 90 fourth graders enrolled in an early immersion program. The results indicated that students who were literate in an alphabetic L1 demonstrated advantages in L2 and L3 reading comprehension, thus supporting evidence from two earlier studies conducted in Canada that had indicated that the development of literacy in L1 had a positive influence on additional language learning (Bild & Swain, ; Swain et al., ).…”

Section: Transfer Of Dimensions Of Ap In Trilingual Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Transfer of Academic Proficiency Among Trilingual Immigrant Students: A Holistic Tri‐Directional Approach

Haim

2015

The Modern Language Journal

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The study addresses the degree of transfer of literacy dimensions of academic proficiency (AP), that is, reading comprehension and writing, across three languages—Russian (L1), Hebrew (L2), and English (L3)—and investigates whether a common conceptual source underlies the linguistic and cognitive operations of the trilingual learner (Grosjean, 1985). The sample included 274 Russian‐speaking 11th graders studying Hebrew (L2) and English (L3). The instruments for assessing AP were (a) an L1 writing task and ‘can do’ questionnaire and (b) AP tests in L2 and L3. Questionnaires were administered to gather information about the participants’ background variables. The results indicate interdependence of AP across the 3 languages. AP in L1 contributed significantly to the prediction of AP performance in L2 and L3 independent of interaction with arrival age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Reading comprehension and writing in Hebrew (L2) significantly predicted performance on the parallel measures in English (L3). L3 writing proved to be a better predictor of AP in L2 compared to L3 reading comprehension and predicted not only L2 writing but also L2 reading. The results indicate that the Interdependence Hypothesis transpires in the context of 3 languages and can be interpreted to comply with holistic views of bi/trilingualism (Cummins, 2008; Jessner, 2008c).

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The development of language and reading skills in the second and third languages of multilingual children in French Immersion

Cited by 57 publications

References 37 publications

Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades

Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades

The Suitability of French Immersion for Allophone Students in Saskatchewan: Exploring Diverse Perspectives on Language Learning and Inclusion

Investigating Transfer of Academic Proficiency Among Trilingual Immigrant Students: A Holistic Tri‐Directional Approach

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