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The relations between word reading, oral language, and reading comprehension in children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language (L2): a multigroup structural analysis

Babayiğit, Selma

The relations between word reading, oral language, and reading comprehension in children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language (L2): a multigroup structural analysis Thumbnail


Authors

Selma Babayigit Selma.Babayigit@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology



Abstract

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This study compared the reading and oral language skills of children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language (L2), and examined whether the strength of the relationship between word reading, oral language, and reading comprehension was invariant (equivalent) across the two groups. The participants included 183 L1 and L2 children (M=9; 7years, SD=3.64months) in England. As anticipated, there was a significant L1 advantage for oral language (i.e., vocabulary, verbal working memory, sentence repetition) and reading comprehension but not for word reading. Findings from the multigroup structural analysis indicated that the strength of relationships between oral language and reading was relatively invariant across the two groups. Oral language was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension levels in both groups. Finally, the weaker English oral language skills explained the lower performance of L2 learners on reading comprehension. Together the results underscored the importance of supporting oral language development in minority language learners.

Citation

Babayiğit, S. (2015). The relations between word reading, oral language, and reading comprehension in children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language (L2): a multigroup structural analysis. Reading and Writing, 28, 527-544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9536-x

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Dec 23, 2014
Publication Date Apr 1, 2015
Deposit Date Apr 14, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Reading and Writing
Print ISSN 2079-8245
Publisher AOSIS
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Pages 527-544
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9536-x
Keywords reading comprehension, English as a second language, vocabulary, working memory, sentence repetition, multigroup structural equation modeling
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/836200
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9536-x
Additional Information Additional Information : The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9536-x

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