Abstract
This chapter describes a study investigating cross-language transfer of morpho-syntactic awareness in children with experience of two languages. The hypotheses were (i) that morpho-syntactic awareness gained in one language and orthography can be used for the other, even where the languages are dissimilar and use different scripts, and (ii) that the type of knowledge children transfer across their oral and written languages depends partly on the social practices of those languages. 116 children (6–10 years) with English as a first language (L1) and learning Hebrew as a second language (L2) in two Jewish schools in the UK were given vocabulary and oral and written morpho-syntactic awareness tasks in both languages. The children learn classical written Hebrew for religious purposes and modern spoken Hebrew for communication; however, exposure to the spoken form is emphasised in one school and minimal in the other. Multiple regression analyses revealed cross-language relationships between oral morpho-syntactic tasks, suggesting transfer of knowledge between L1 and L2. L2 morphological knowledge (e.g. of the written three-consonant Hebrew root) was related to L1 morphological spelling (e.g. consistency in spelling semantically related word stems), providing evidence that knowledge of morphological principles (e.g. that words from the same root are spelled similarly) gained in one language can be used for spelling in another. A different pattern of relationships across some L1 and L2 tasks was observed in the two schools. These results are discussed in relation to the different literacy and language practices involved in learning an ancient language for biblical study and prayer, and a modern spoken language for communication. The study highlights the importance of taking language and literacy practices into account when drawing conclusions about cross-language transfer in bilingual learning contexts.
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Bindman, M. (2004). Grammatical Awareness Across Languages and the Role of Social Context: Evidence from English and Hebrew. In: Nunes, T., Bryant, P. (eds) Handbook of Children’s Literacy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1731-1_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1731-1_36
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