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The Interdependence Continuum: A Perspective on the Nature of Spanish-English Bilingual Reading Comprehension
Briana GualtieriTessa Biskup
Introduction
● Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis: ○ Well developed L1 skills will transfer to a learner’s L2 which improves
educational outcomes for ELL (Cummins 1979, 1991; Dressler & Kamil, 2006; Genessee & Geva, 2016)
○ Cross-Linguistic Transfer■ Vocabulary-concept knowledge ■ Metalinguistic insight■ Decontextualized language
Purpose
● Researching holistic models of bilingual reading comprehension that combine the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis and Cross-Linguistic Transfer
■ And incorporate language and literacy variables in the L1 and L2 to model bilingual reading comprehension
Cummins Interdependence HypothesisStudy of Linguistic Interdependence
If an L1 student has:
1) Vocabulary Concept Knowledgea) Use language to represent an
understanding of various concepts
2) Metalinguistic Insighta) Grasp the notion that print has
meaning and that writing differs from speech
3) Decontextualized languagea) Able to use and understand
language to represent abstract concepts, thoughts, and ideas
Predicting Spanish and English Reading Comprehension
● Spanish and English are orthographically and typologically comparable○ Increased likelihood for
cross-linguistic transfer
Discussion Question
Do you believe that having strong vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in your L1 aids your acquisition of those skills in your L2?
In other words, what do you think of the aforementioned hypothesis?
Studies thus farInterlinguistic Studies tend to focus on Problem Spaces (the degree of learning challenge)
● Small Problem Space○ Alphabetic and word-level knowledge
■ Spanish and English are geologically comparable and cross-linguistic transfers are evident● Large Problem Space
○ Oral language/vocabulary knowledge■ Negative correlation between L1 and L2 because of large variability in vocabulary
○ Reading comprehension■ As L2 language improves, the reader is more easily able to employ cross linguistic strategies
developed in the L1
Methods
● Participants○ 91 Spanish-English bilingual fourth-grade students○ 3 Large elementary schools
■ Boston, MA■ Chicago, IL■ El Paso, TX
○ Cross-sectional research study ○ Native Spanish Speakers
■ Displayed a biliterate profile (could read and write in Spanish) due to Éxito Para Todos curriculum
Spanish and English Alphabetic Knowledge
● Computer administered pseudoword recognition ○ altering one letter in each real word
● Say the word into a microphone using the orthographic conventions of either English or Spanish
● Spanish-dominant students had higher alphabetic knowledge in Spanish
ResultsMeasures
Spanish and English Vocabulary Knowledge
● Woodcock Picture Vocabulary ○ Name familiar and unfamiliar
pictured objects
Spanish-dominant students had higher vocabulary skills in Spanish
ResultsMeasures
Spanish and English Listening Comprehension
● Woodcock Listening Comprehension○ Cloze assessment
■ Listen to tape recorded passages■ Produce a response to an
unfinished sentence
● Spanish-dominant students had higher listening comprehension skills in Spanish
● Strong correlation between listening comprehension and vocabulary knowledge in both Spanish and English
ResultsMeasures
Spanish and English Reading Comprehension
● Woodcock Passage Comprehension○ Silently read passages○ Orally respond to unfinished
sentences
● The average results on reading comprehension did not differ between English and Spanish
● Strong correlation between listening comprehension and vocabulary knowledge in both Spanish and English
ResultsMeasures
Correlation between Spanish & English Variables
● Cross-linguistic correlation between Spanish and English alphabetic knowledge was not as high as expected but was still significant
● Cross-linguistic correlation between Spanish alphabetic knowledge and English comprehension was absent
Spanish-English Decoding Factor
Table 5 shows that the Spanish–English decoding factor correlated positively but mildly with oral language in both languages and moderately with reading comprehension in both languages.
Structural Equation ModelingExplanation
● Shows the degree of cross-linguistic relationships among variables that were consistent with the interdependence continuum
● Spanish-English alphabetic knowledge predicted Spanish and English reading comprehension
Discussions
● Alphabetic knowledge & cross-linguistic decoding○ Predicted reading comprehension in English and Spanish
● English reading comprehension was strongly associated with Spanish reading comprehension
● The effect was weaker than for Spanish-English decoding● There was a link between Spanish oral-language skills and English
reading comprehension
Conclusions
This study intended to
1. Provide a reliable definition of transfer2. Predict when transfer is positive vs negative3. Predict when it would be strong versus weak
They succeeded in creating an explanation for strong versus weak links but could not provide a reliable definition of transfer or predict when it was positive or negative. They presented a model of linguistic interdependence that can be applied psycholinguistically.
Discussion Question
Based on what you have heard thus far, how would this impact your
classroom instruction?