Abstract
This study investigated the influence of cognitive and linguistic skills on the reading comprehension performance of a group of learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds. The study also compared the reading comprehension performance of grade 4 children who entered kindergarten with little or no experience with English (ESL) to that of a group of native English speakers. Examiners administered various tasks of reading, language, and memory to the children in the study (n=480). The sample included three comprehension groups: (1) children with poor comprehension in the absence of word reading difficulties (Poor Comprehenders; PC), (2) children with poor word reading and poor comprehension (Poor word Recognition and comprehenders; PR), and (3) children with good word reading and comprehension abilities (Good Comprehenders; GC). Due to the small sample size of PR reader group, no comparative analyses were conducted. However, the results indicated that within the GC and PC groups there were no differences between the ESL and L1 children on measures of reading and phonological processing. Further, within the GC and PC groups, on measures of syntactic awareness and verbal working memory, the ESL speakers performed at significantly lower levels than the L1 speakers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. Aarts L. Verhoeven (1999) ArticleTitleLiteracy attainment in a second language submersion context Applied Psycholinguistics 20 377–393 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0142716499003033
S. Abu-Rabia (1998) ArticleTitleSocial and cognitive factors influencing the reading comprehension of Arab students learning Hebrew as a second language in Israel Journal of Research in Reading 21 IssueID3 201–212 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1467-9817.00057
M. J. Adams (1990) Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print MIT Press Cambridge, MA
A. Baddeley (1986) Working memory Oxford University Press New York
C. Baker (1998) Key issues in bilingualism and bilingual education Multilingual Matters Clevedon, England
S. Bentin A. Deutsch I. Y. Liberman (1990) ArticleTitleSyntactic competence and reading ability in children Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 48 147–172
E. B. Bernhardt (2000) Second language reading as a case study of reading scholarship in the twentieth century M. L. Kamil P. B. Mosenthal P. D. Pearson R. Barr (Eds) Handbook of reading research NumberInSeriesVol. 3 Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah, NJ 791–811
E. Bialystok (1997) ArticleTitleEffects of bilingualism and biliteracy on children’s emerging concepts of print Developmental Psychology 33 429–440 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0012-1649.33.3.429
E. Bialystok K. Hakuta (1999) Confounded age: Linguistic and cognitive factors in age differences for second language acquisition D. Birdsong (Eds) Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis Erlbaum Mahwah, NJ 161–181
E. Bialystok E. Ryan (1985) ArticleTitleToward a definition of metalinguistic skill Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 31 IssueID3 229–251
B. Byrne (1981) ArticleTitleDeficient syntactic control in poor readers: Is a weak phonetic memory code responsible? Applied Psycholinguistics 2 201–212
K. Cain J. Oakhill (1998) Comprehension skill and inference-making ability: issues and causality C. Hulme R. M. Joshi (Eds) Reading and Spelling: Development and Disorders Lawrence Erlbaum London
K. Cain J. Oakhill (2000) ArticleTitleInference making ability and its relation to comprehension failure in young children Reading and Writing An Interdisciplinary Journal 11 489–503
K. Cain J. Oakhill P. Bryant (2000) ArticleTitleInvestigating the causes of reading comprehension failure: The comprehension-age match design Reading and Writing An Interdisciplinary Journal 12 31–40 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1008058319399
R. Campbell E. Sais (1995) ArticleTitleAccelerated metalinguistic (phonological) awareness in bilingual children British Journal of Developmental Psychology 13 61–68
J. F. Carlisle M. Beeman L. H. Davis G. Spharim (1999) ArticleTitleRelationship of metalinguistic capabilities and reading achievement for children who are becoming bilingual Applied Psycholinguistics 20 459–478 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0142716499004014
H. W. Catts T. P. Hogan M. E. Fey (2003) ArticleTitleSubgrouping poor readers on the basis of individual differences in reading-related abilities Journal of Learning Disabilities 36 IssueID2 151–164
P. Chiappe L. S. Siegel (1999) ArticleTitlePhonological awareness and reading acquisition in English and Punjabi-speaking Canadian children Journal of Educational Psychology 91 20–28 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.20
P. Chiappe L. S. Siegel L. Wade-Woolley (2002) ArticleTitleLinguistic diversity and the development of reading skills Scientific Studies of Reading 6 369–400 Occurrence Handle10.1207/S1532799XSSR0604_04
A. D’Angiulli L. Siegel S. Maggi (2004) ArticleTitleLiteracy instruction, SES and word reading achievement in English language learners and children with English as a first language: A longitudinal study Learning Disabilities Research and Practice 19 IssueID4 202–213
H.A. Fontoura Particleda L. S. Siegel (1995) ArticleTitleReading, syntactic, and working memory skills of bilingual Portuguese–English Canadian children Reading and Writing An Interdisciplinary Journal 7 139–153 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01026951
M. Daneman P. Carpenter (1980) ArticleTitleIndividual differences in working memory and reading Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 19 450–466 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90312-6
M. Droop L. T. Verhoeven (1998) ArticleTitleBackground knowledge, linguistic complexity, and second-language reading comprehension Journal of Literacy Research 30 IssueID2 253–271
M. Droop L. Verhoeven (2003) ArticleTitleLanguage proficiency and reading ability in first- and second-language learners Reading Research Quarterly 38 IssueID1 78–103 Occurrence Handle10.1598/RRQ.38.1.4
A. Durgunoglu W. Nagy B. Hancin-Bhatt (1993) ArticleTitleCross-language transfer of phonological awareness Journal of Educational Psychology 85 453–465 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0022-0663.85.3.453
L.C. Ehri L.S. Wilce (1980) ArticleTitleDo beginners learn to read function words better in sentences or in lists? Reading Research Quarterly 15 451–476
D. J. Francis S. E. Shaywitz K.K. Stuebing B.A. Shaywitz J.M. Fletcher (1996) ArticleTitleDevelopmental lag versus deficit models of reading disability: A longitudinal, individual growth curves analysis Journal of Educational Psychology 88 IssueID1 3–17 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0022-0663.88.1.3
G. E. García (1991) ArticleTitleFactors influencing the English reading test performance of Spanish-speaking Hispanic children Reading Research Quarterly 26 IssueID4 371–392
G. E. García (2000) Bilingual children’s reading M. L. Kamil P. B. Mosenthal P. D. Pearson R. Barr (Eds) Handbook of reading research NumberInSeriesVol. 3 Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah, NJ 813–834
E. Geva Z. Yaghoub-Zadeh B. Schuster (2000) ArticleTitlePart IV: Reading and foreign language learning: Understanding individual differences in word recognition skills of ESL children Annals of Dyslexia 50 121–154
M. Gholamain E. Geva (1999) ArticleTitleOrthographic and cognitive factors in the concurrent development of basic reading skills in English and Persian Language Learning 49 183–217 Occurrence Handle10.1111/0023-8333.00087
A. Gottardo K. E. Stanovich L. S. Siegel (1996) ArticleTitleThe relationships between phonological sensitivity, syntactic processing, and verbal working memory in the reading performance of third-grade children Journal of Experimental Psychology 63 563–582
D. A. Hansen (1989) ArticleTitleLocating learning: Second language gains and language use in family, peer and classroom contexts NABE: The Journal for the National Association for Bilingual Education 13 IssueID2 161–180
J. M. Hutchinson H. E. Whiteley C. D. Smith L. Connors (2003) ArticleTitleThe developmental progression of comprehension-related skills in children learning EAL Journal of Research in Reading 26 IssueID1 19–32 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1467-9817.261003
E. Kame’enui D. Simmons (2001) ArticleTitleIntroduction to this special issue: The DNA of reading fluency Scientific Studies of Reading 5 IssueID3 203–210
B. Karlsen E. Gardner (1994) Stanford diagnostic reading test Harcourt Brace San Francisco
K. Koda (1993) ArticleTitleTransferred L1 strategies and L2 syntactic structure in L2 sentence comprehension Modern Language Journal 77 IssueID4 490–500
N. K. Lesaux L. S. Siegel (2003) ArticleTitleThe development of reading in children who speak English as a second language Developmental Psychology 39 IssueID6 1005–1019 Occurrence Handle10.1037/0012-1649.39.6.1005
L.M. Limbos E. Geva (2001) ArticleTitleAccuracy of teacher assessments of second-language students at risk for reading disability Journal of Learning Disabilities 34 136–151
R. E. McEvoy D. L. Johnson (1989) ArticleTitleComparison of an intelligence test and a screening battery as predictors of reading ability in low income, Mexican American children Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 11 IssueID3 274–282
V. Muter K. Diethelm (2001) ArticleTitleThe contribution of phonological skills and letter knowledge to early reading development in a multilingual population Language Learning 51 187–219 Occurrence Handle10.1111/1467-9922.00153
V. Muter C. Hulme M. Snowling (1997) The phonological abilities test Psychological Corporation London
C.A. Perfetti (1985) Reading ability Oxford University Press London
C.A. Perfetti (1988) Verbal efficiency in reading ability M. Daneman G. E. MacKinnon T. G. Walter (Eds) Reading research: Advances in theory and practice Academic Press New York 109–143
InstitutionalAuthorNameRAND Reading Study Group. (2002) Reading for understanding, toward an R & D Program in reading comprehension RAND Santa Monica, CA
J. Rosner D. Simon (1971) ArticleTitleThe auditory analysis test: An initial report Journal of Learning Disabilities 4 384–392
A. Seigneuric M. F. Ehrlich J. Oakhill N. Yuill (2000) ArticleTitleWorking memory resources and children’s reading comprehension Reading and Writing An Interdisciplinary Journal 13 81–103 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1008088230941
D. Shankweiler (1989) How problems of comprehension are related to difficulties decoding D. Shankweiler I. Y. Liberman (Eds) Phonology and reading disabilities: Solving the reading puzzle University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor 35–68
D. Share A. Jorm R. Maclean R. Matthews (1984) ArticleTitleSources of individual differences in reading acquisition Journal of Educational Psychology 76 1309–1324
L. S. Siegel (1993) The development of reading H. W. Reese (Eds) Advances in child development and behavior Academic Press San Diego 63–97
L. S. Siegel (1994) ArticleTitleWorking memory and reading: A life-span perspective International Journal of Behavioural Development 17 109–124
L. S. Siegel E. B. Ryan (1988) ArticleTitleDevelopment of grammatical-sensitivity, phonological and short-term memory skills in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children Developmental Psychology 24 28–37
L. S. Siegel E. B. Ryan (1989) ArticleTitleThe development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children Child Development 60 973–980
C. Snow M. Burns P. Griffin (Eds) (1998) Preventing reading difficulties in young children National Academy Press Washington, DC
Statistics Canada (1996). 1996 Population Census. http://www.statcan.ca/english/census96/list.htm#1996>
C. L. Stein H. S. Cairns E. B. Zurif (1984) ArticleTitleSentence comprehension limitations related to syntactic deficits in reading-disabled children Applied Psycholinguistics 5 305–322
R. L Thorndike E. P. Hagen J. M. Sattler (1986) Technical manual: Stanford binet intelligence scale: fourth edition Riverside Chicago
J. P. Trabasso J. P. Magliano (1996) ArticleTitleConscious understanding during text comprehension Discourse Processes 21 255–288
W. Tunmer W. Hoover (1992) Cognitive and linguistic factors in learning to read P. B. Gough L. C. Ehri R. Treiman (Eds) Reading acquisition Erlbaum Hillsdale, NJ 175–214
W. E. Tunmer A. R. Nesdale A. D. Wright (1987) ArticleTitleSyntactic awareness and reading acquisition British Journal of Developmental Psychology 5 25–34
W. E. Tunmer M. L. Herriman A. R. Nesdale (1988) ArticleTitleMetalinguistic abilities and beginning reading Reading Research Quarterly 23 134–158
T. A. Dijk Particlevan W. Kintsch (1983) Strategies of discourse comprehension Academic Press New York
L. Verhoeven (1990) ArticleTitleAcquisition of reading in a second language Reading Research Quarterly 25 90–114
L. T. Verhoeven (2000) ArticleTitleComponents in early second language reading and spelling Scientific Studies of Reading 4 IssueID4 313–330 Occurrence Handle10.1207/S1532799XSSR0404_4
L. Wade-Woolley L. S. Siegel (1997) ArticleTitleThe spelling performance of ESL and native speakers of English as a function of reading skill Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 9 IssueID5–6 387–406
G. S. Wilkinson (1993) The wide range achievement test – 3 Jastak Associates Wilmington, DE
D. M. Willows E. B. Ryan (1986) ArticleTitleThe development of grammatical sensitivity and its relation to early reading achievement Reading Research Quarterly 21 253–266
R. W. Woodcock (1987) Woodcock reading mastery tests – revised American Guidance Service Circle Pines, MN
N. Yuill J. Oakhill (1991) Children’s problems in text comprehension: An experimental investigation Cambridge University Press Cambridge
D. W. Zimmerman B. D. Zumbo (1993) Relative power of parametric and nonparametric statistical methods G. Keren C. Lewis (Eds) A handbook for data analysis in the behavioral sciences, Volume 1: Methodological issues Lawrence Erlbaum Hillsdale, NJ 481–517
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lesaux, N.K., Lipka, O. & Siegel, L.S. Investigating Cognitive and Linguistic Abilities that Influence the Reading Comprehension Skills of Children from Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds. Read Writ 19, 99–131 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-005-4713-6
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-005-4713-6