Cross-linguistic transfer of reading skills in bilingual children

The current study investigated bilingual English-Chinese children's knowledge of first (L1) and second language (L2) to determine the nature of transfer of literacy skills between languages. This comparison of two non-cognate languages with very different orthographies (alphabetic vs. morphosyllabic) makes a unique contribution to the literature on the transfer of literacy skills.; The study was conducted in an elementary school in Singapore where the children were learning English as a first language (L1) and Chinese as a second language (L2). Both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to obtain information about the school environment and the extent of the children's language and literacy skills in English and Chinese. The qualitative data showed that language, orthographic, motivational, and environmental factors affected literacy development in English and Chinese.; The quantitative analysis, using parallel measures, showed that despite differences in language (non-cognates) and orthography (alphabetic vs. non-alphabetic), there was evidence of transfer of literacy skills. Furthermore, this transfer was bi-directional: English skills predicted Chinese reading, and Chinese skills predicted English reading. This bi-directional effect has not been reported in previous research for non-alphabetic languages. The study also showed that both vocabulary and phonological awareness were important predictors of reading in L1 and L2. This is consistent with existing theories of reading in first and second language.; The findings suggest that there are common processes underlying reading even across dissimilar languages and orthographies. The study further emphasizes the importance of vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness in early L2 reading development.