Kindergarten literacy assessment of English Only and English language learner students: An examination of the predictive validity of three phonemic awareness measures

The study assessed the ability of English phonemic awareness measures to predict kindergarten reading performance and determine factors that contributed to growth trajectories on those measures for English Only (EO) and English language learner (ELL) students. Using initial sound fluency (ISF), phoneme segmentation fluency (PSF), and a combined phoneme segmentation task (CPST), students' beginning of kindergarten scores were used to predict end-of-kindergarten Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) and reading (WRMT-R/NU). Regression analyses revealed that ISF and CPST early in kindergarten predicted variance in NWF and WRMT-R/NU. PSF did not predict reading performance over ISF or CPST. While gender was a significant factor in the growth curves across the measures, results revealed no significant difference for EO and ELL students.     

Uneven Profiles: Language Minority Learners' Word Reading, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension Skills

English reading comprehension skill development was examined in a group of 87 native Spanish-speakers developing English literacy skills, followed from fourth through fifth grade. Specifically, the effects of Spanish (L1) and English (L2) oral language and word reading skills on reading comprehension were investigated. The participants showed average word reading skills and below average comprehension skills, influenced by low oral language skills. Structural equation modeling confirmed that L2 oral language skills had a large, significant effect on L2 reading comprehension, whereas students' word-level reading skills, whether in L1 or L2, were not significantly related to English reading comprehension in three of four models fitted. The results converge with findings from studies with monolinguals demonstrating the influence of oral language on reading comprehension outcomes, and extend these findings by showing that, for language minority learners, L2 oral language exerts a stronger influence than word reading in models of L2 reading.     

Validity Issues in Assessing Linguistic Minorities

Throughout the world, tests are administered to some examinees who are not fully proficient in the language in which they are being tested. It has long been acknowledged that proficiency in the language in which a test is administered often affects examinees’ performance on a test. Depending on the context and intended uses for a particular assessment, linguistic proficiency may be relevant to the tested construct and subsequent interpretations, or may be a source of construct-irrelevant variance that undermines accurate interpretation of the test performance of linguistic minorities who are not proficient in the language of the assessment. In this article, we highlight key validity issues to be considered when testing linguistic minorities, regardless of whether language is central or construct-irrelevant. We discuss examples of the different types of studies test users and developers could conduct to evaluate the validity of scores of linguistic minorities. These issues span test development and validation activities. We conclude with a list of critical factors to consider in test development and evaluation whenever linguistic minorities are tested.     

Inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and EFL learners’ reflective thinking and the role of teaching experience and academic degree in reflection perception

The present study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perception of their own reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their students’ reflective thinking, and the impact of teaching experience and academic degree on their perception of reflective teaching. To this end, 304 private-language-institute English as a Foreign Language Teachers teachers participated in the study by completing English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory developed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, and Dadvand, Inhibitors to EFL Teachers’ Reflective Teaching Questionnaire and Inhibitors to EFL Learners’ Reflective Thinking Questionnaire, with the last two instruments being developed and validated by the researchers. The results indicated that (1) Iranian EFL teachers perceived their reflective teaching to lie at a medium level, (2) three types of inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching included ‘lack of knowledge’, ‘affective-emotional’ and ‘teaching situation’ inhibitors, and (3) three types of inhibitors to EFL learners’ reflective thinking also comprised ‘affective-emotional’, ‘cognitive’ and ‘learning situation’ inhibitors. The results of two-way ANOVA indicated both academic degree and teaching experience significantly differentiated Iranian EFL teachers with respect to their reflective teaching perception, but the interaction effect of them did not do so. The results are discussed in detail in the article.     

英语学习不良儿童语音意识假词拼读与单词认知能力的关系研究

本研究探讨了英语学习不良儿童语音技能一语音意识与词汇到达的发展水平及这两项语音技能与其单词认知能力间关系。结果发现,英语学习不良儿童在假词拼读能力发展上存在缺陷．而在语音意识能力的发展方面却表现正常。在对儿童的单词认知能力进行预测时,语音意识和假词拼读能力是较好的效标。     

Shyness–anxiousness and receptive language skills development in Spanish- and English-speaking preschoolers

The present study utilized a short-term longitudinal research design to model the relationship between shyness–anxiousness and receptive language skills. Hypotheses regarding the direction of the causal relationship, mediation, and moderation were evaluated. Subjects included 340 Head Start attendees from primarily English- and Spanish-speaking homes. Results suggest that a unidirectional relationship between shyness–anxiousness and receptive language skills emerges in preschool. Shyness–anxiousness impacted receptive language skills and this relationship was mediated by communication competence. Neither gender nor native language moderated the indirect relationship from shyness–anxiousness to receptive language through communication competence. These results are discussed with respect to elucidating the nature of the bidirectional relationship between shyness–anxiousness and language skills and identifying intervention targets to improve language outcomes for shy–anxious preschoolers.     

Growth in working memory and inhibition predicts literacy in English language learners: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study

The purpose of this study was to determine whether cross-sectional and growth effects in second language (L2) literacy are related to the executive component of working memory (WM) and whether inhibition may underlie the links between WM and reading in children whose first language (L1) is Spanish. Elementary school children (grades 1, 2 and 3) were administered a battery of cognitive [WM, short-term memory (STM), random generation, rapid naming, phonological processing], vocabulary and reading measures in both Spanish (L1) and English (L2) in Year 1 and again one year later. The regression analyses showed that L2 growth in WM significantly predicted growth in L2 reading skills even when inhibition was controlled. Further, the contributions of WM to reading growth in both L1 and L2 reading were independent of cross-language skills in phonological processing, STM, oral language and naming speed. Overall, the results suggest the mental activities that underlie WM and inhibition in predictions of L2 literacy reflect independent executive processes.     

How Children Experience the Assets that Support their Learning

The study, on which this article is based, explored the ways in which primary school children in an urban (city centre) setting experience the assets and resources that support their learning. The researchers used a qualitative phenomenological research design incorporating an interpretive and constructivist perspective. The study was conducted in a primary school in Tshwane, Gauteng province, South Africa. The participants were eight African female participants in Grades 5–7 who had overcome extrinsic barriers to learning. They participated in a focus group discussion during which the relevant and natural units of significant statements were listed (horizontalisation) and structured into central clusters of meanings. Textural themes (what) and structural themes (how) were identified. The study found that human resource assets were central to the process of connecting a variety of assets that supported learning. The study also found a significant compound effect of assets, for example increased connected assets had a noteworthy additional positive effect on learning support. The identified assets interrelatedly mobilised other assets (textural findings) on one of five levels (structural findings: physical assets, social assets, safety assets, esteem assets and self-actualisation) in various systems and contexts that contribute to learning support. This article elaborates on these findings.     

英语学习不良儿童语音能力与阅读理解的关系

探讨了英语学习不良儿童语音能力的发展状况,分析了这些儿童在英语学习中语音能力,句法意识及阅读理解能力间的关系。结果发现,除了在假词拼读能力上存在缺陷外,英语学习不良儿童在其他语音能力--英语语音意识、听觉言语工作记忆及视觉言语工作记忆上均不存在发展滞后现象;在对儿童的阅读理解能力进行预测时,假词拼读、语音意识、句法意识和听觉工作记忆是较好的预测效标。     

非熟练的韩国汉语学习者合成词加工中词优效应的特点

词优效应是语言学习中的一个普遍现象。关于英语母语者和汉语母语者的研究都发现了词优效应。本研究关注非熟练的韩国汉语学习者的中文词汇加工中的词优效应,共两个实验:实验1考察汉字的频率对非熟练的韩国汉语学习者中文词汇加工中词优效应的影响;实验2考察汉字和词之间的语义关系(词汇的结构)对非熟练的韩国汉语学习者中文词汇加工中词优效应的影响。实验1的结果发现,字频并未对非熟练的韩国汉语学习者中文词汇加工中的词优效应产生影响,非熟练的韩国汉语学习者在高频字和低频字的识别中都出现了词优效应,且词优效应的大小没有显著差异。这说明非熟练的韩国汉语学习者在高、低频字的识别中都依赖于自上而下的词汇水平的激活。实验2的结果发现,汉字和词之间的语义关系(词汇结构)影响词优效应,相对于并列结构的词汇加工,在偏正结构的词语加工中更容易出现词优效应。这个结果表明词汇的结构通过影响词水平和字水平之间的交互激活,进而影响中文词汇加工中的词优效应。