Accessibility statement

The growth of early word reading and spelling in monolingual children and children learning English as an additional language

Wednesday 1 May 2019, 1.00PM to 2.00 pm

Speaker(s): Claudine Bowyer-Crane, Psychology in Education Research Centre

Aim: Children who are learning to read in English as an additional language (EAL) have weak English oral language skills and while their skills improve over time, they do not reach the same level as monolingual peers. In contrast, EAL learners have relatively strong word reading and phonological skills. What is less well established is the developmental trajectory of these early reading skills over the first few years of schooling, and similarly, the development of spelling ability in this population.

Methods: We present a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a larger project evaluating oral language intervention for children learning EAL that included 80 monolingual English speakers and 80 children learning EAL with 18 different home languages. All children attended UK primary schools and the data presented here was collected when children were aged approximately 4 years, and at 3 subsequent test points over an 18-month period. Performance was compared across groups on measures of word reading and spelling, and growth curve

modelling examined the developmental trajectory of these skills in the two groups.

Results: Group differences revealed the EAL group had stronger word reading skills than the monolinguals at all time points, and stronger spelling skills at times 2, 3 and 4. Growth curve models revealed a steeper slope indicating greater growth in word reading for the EAL children, but no difference in the growth of spelling skills across the two groups.

Conclusions: Children learning EAL are at risk of later reading comprehension difficulties. However, they show particular strengths in word reading and spelling, and a greater rate of growth in word reading ability compared to monolingual peers. These findings are discussed with reference to current models of reading and spelling development.

Location: H/G21, Heslington Hall