Abstract
This study examined the within- and cross-language relationships between intrinsic language learning motivation, home literacy environment (shared book reading, parental literacy involvement, and parent perceived child literacy interest), and receptive vocabulary in 185 bilingual preschoolers and 233 primary school children in Singapore. Age differences were also examined. Unlike the motivation decline commonly observed in middle childhood, the primary school children demonstrated higher levels of intrinsic motivation than the preschoolers in both English and the second language (L2). Results showed a motivation gap between English and children’s L2 in primary school children but not in preschoolers. The hierarchical regression results revealed that intrinsic motivation and the three facets of home literacy environment (HLE) were differentially involved in receptive vocabulary across languages and age groups. Within-language relations showed that intrinsic motivation only predicted receptive vocabulary in English among primary school children, but not among preschoolers. Among primary school children, parent perceived child literacy interest in L2 was the only significant predictor of L2 receptive vocabulary; among preschoolers, shared book reading was the only significant predictor. Cross-language relations revealed that parental literacy involvement in English negatively predicted L2 receptive vocabulary in primary school children, and there were no L2 effects on English receptive vocabulary.
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Education Research Funding Programme (grant no. CRCD 02/19 OBA), National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute of Education. The authors would like to thank the participating children, parents, and schools for their contribution.
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Funding was provided by the Education Research Funding Programme (grant no. CRCD 02/19 OBA)National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Intrinsic motivation items.
1. When I play games in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
2. When I hear a song in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
3. When my teacher speaks to me in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
4. When my mum or my dad read to me in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
5. When I do worksheets in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
6. When I talk to my friends in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
7. When I watch TV in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
8. When I learn a new word in English/Tamil/ Malay/ Mandarin, I feel …… |
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Sun, B., O’Brien, B.A., Arshad, N.A.B. et al. The contribution of intrinsic motivation and home literacy environment to Singaporean bilingual children’s receptive vocabulary. Read Writ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10409-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10409-9