Cross-linguistic transfer of oral language, decoding, phonological awareness and reading comprehension: A meta-analysis of the correlational evidence

Journal of Research in Reading

Volumn 34, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 114-135

  Melby Lervåg, Monica ^a   Lervåg, Arne ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79951535652     PISSN: 01410423     EISSN: 14679817     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01477.x     Document Type: Article

References (73)

1. Abu-Rabia, S. & Siegel, L.S. (2002). Reading, syntactic, orthographic, and working memory skills of bilingual Arab Canadian children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 31, 661-678. doi:DOI: 10.1023/A:1021221206119.
2. Alderson, J.C. (1984). Reading in a foreign language: A reading or a language problem? In C. Alderson & A.H. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a foreign language. (pp. 1-24). London: Longman.
3. Arab-Moghaddam, N. & Sénéchal, M. (2001). Orthographic and phonological processing skills in reading and spelling in Persian/English bilinguals. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 140-147. doi:DOI: 10.1080/01650250042000320.
4. Atwill, K., Blanchard, J., Christie, J., Gorin, J.S. & García, H. (2009). English-language learners: Implications of limited vocabulary for cross-language transfer of phonemic awareness with kindergartners. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. doi:DOI: 10.1177/1538192708330431.
5. Atwill, K., Blanchard, J., Gorin, J.S. & Burstein, K. (2007). Receptive vocabulary and cross-language transfer of phonemic awareness in kindergarten children. Journal of Educational Research, 100 (6), 336-346. doi:DOI: 10.3200/JOER.100.6.336-346.
6. Bialystok, E. (1988). Levels of bilingualism and levels of linguistic awareness. Developmental Psychology, 24, 560-567. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.24.4.560.
7. Bialystok, E., Luk, G. & Kwan, E. (2005). Bilingualism, biliteracy, and learning to read: Interactions among languages and writing systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9, 43-61. doi:DOI: 10.1207/s1532799xssr0901-4.
8. Bollen, K.A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. Wiley series in probability and mathematical statistics. New York: Wiley.
9. Borenstein, M., Hedges, L., Higgins, J. & Rothstein, H. (2005). Comprehensive meta-analysis version 2 [software]. Engelwood, NJ: Biostat.
10. Brenneman, M.H., Morris, R.D. & Israelian, M. (2007). Language preference and its relationship with reading skills in English and Spanish. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 171-181. doi:DOI: 10.1002/pits.20214.
11. Carlisle, J.F., Beeman, M.M., Davis, L.H. & Spharim, G. (1999). Relationship of metalinguistic capabilities and reading achievement for children who are becoming bilingual. Applied Psycholinguistics, 20, 459-478. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0142716499004014.
12. Chen, X., Ku, Y., Koyama, E., Anderson, R.C. & Li, W. (2008). Development of phonological awareness in bilingual Chinese children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 37, 405-418. doi:DOI: 10.1007/s10936-008-9085-z.
13. Chow, Y.-W., McBride-Chang, C. & Burgess, S. (2005). Phonological processing skills and early reading abilities in Hong Kong Chinese kindergarteners learning to read English as an L2. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 81-87. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.97.1.81.
14. Coady, J. (1997). L2 vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy. (pp. 225-237). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15. Cobo-Lewis, A., Pearson, B.Z., Eilers, R.E. & Umbel, V.C. (2002). Effects of bilingualism and bilingual education on oral and written English skills: A multifactor study of standardized test outcomes. In D.K. Oller & R.E. Eilers (Eds.), Language and literacy in bilingual children. (pp. 64-97). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
16. Comeau, L., Cormier, P., Grandmaison, E. & Lacroix, D. (1999). A longitudinal study of phonological processing in children learning to read in a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 29-43. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.29.
17. Connor, U. (1996). Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second-language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18. Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49, 222-25l. doi:DOI: 10.2307/1169960.
19. Cummins, J. (1991). Interdependence of first and second-language proficiency in bilingual children. In E. Bialystok (Ed.), Language processing in bilingual children. (pp. 70-89). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20. Cummins, J. (2004). Review of Oller & Eilers' language and literacy in bilingual children. Journal of Child Language, 31 (2), 424-429. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0305000904226290.
21. Da Fontoura, H.A. & Siegel, L.S. (1995). Reading, syntactic and working memory skills of bilingual Portuguese-English Canadian children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 7, 139-153. doi:DOI: 10.1007/BF01026951.
22. De Ramírez, R.D. & Shapiro, E.S. (2007). Cross-language relationship between Spanish and English oral reading fluency among Spanish-speaking English language learners in bilingual education classrooms. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 795-806.
23. Diaz, R.M. & Klingler, C. (1991). Towards an explanatory model of the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive development. In E. Bialystock (Ed.), Language processing in bilingual children. (pp. 167-192). New York: Longman.
24. Dickinson, D.K., McCabe, A., Clark-Chiarelli, N. & Wolf, A. (2004). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in low-income Spanish and English bilingual preschool children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25, 323-347. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0142716404001158.
25. Durgunoglu, A.Y., Nagy, W.E. & Hancin-Bhatt, B.J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 453-465. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.85.3.453.
26. Duursma, E., Romero-Contreras, S., Szúber, A., Proctor, C.P., Snow, C., August, D. et al. (2007). The role of home literacy and language environment on bilinguals' English and Spanish vocabulary development. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 171-190. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0142716407070099.
27. Duval, S. & Tweedie, R.L. (2000). Trim and fill: A simple funnel plot based method of testing and adjusting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Biometrics, 56, 455-463. doi:DOI: 10.1111/j.0006-341X.2000.00455.x.
28. Edelsky, C., Hudelson, S., Altwerger, B., Flores, B., Barkin, F. & Jilbert, K. (1983). Semilingualism and language deficit. Applied Linguistics, 4 (1), 1-22. doi:DOI: 10.1093/applin/4.1.1.
29. Ellis, R. 1994. The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
30. Ferroli, L. (1991). Developmental spelling and transfer of literacy skills among primary grade bilinguals (Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service ED362010.)
31. Garcia-Vazquez, E., Vazquez, L., Lopez, I. & Ward, W. (1997). Language proficiency and academic success: Relationship between proficiency in two languages and achievement among Mexican American students. Bilingual Research Journal, 21 (4), 395-408.
32. Genesee, F., Geva, E., Dressler, D. & Kamil, M. (2006). Synthesis cross-linguistic relationships. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth. (pp. 153-174). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
33. Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K.J., Saunders, W. & Christian, D. (2006). Educating English language learners: A synthesis of empirical evidence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
34. Goetry, V., Wade-Woolley, L., Kolinsky, R. & Mousty, P. (2006). The role of stress processing abilities in the development of bilingual reading. Journal of Research in Reading, 29, 349-362. doi:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9817.2006.00313.x.
35. Gottardo, A. & Mueller, J. (2009). Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101 (2), 330-344. doi:DOI: 10.1037/a0014320.
36. Gottardo, P., Chiappe, P., Yan, B., Siegel, L.S. & Gu, Y. (2006). Relationships between first and second language phonological processing skills and reading in Chinese-English speakers living in English-speaking contexts. Educational Psychology, 26, 367-393. doi:DOI: 10.1080/01443410500341098.
37. Gottardo, A., Yan, B., Siegel, L.S. & Wade-Woolley, L. (2001). Factors related to English performance in children with Chinese as a first Language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 530-542.
38. Hakuta, K. (1987). Degree of bilingualism and cognitive ability in mainland Puerto Rican children. Child Development, 58, 1372-1388. doi:DOI: 10.2307/1130628.
39. Hakuta, K. & Diaz, R. (1985). The relationship between degree of bilingualism and cognitive ability: A critical discussion and some new longitudinal data. In K.E. Nelson (Ed.), Children's language, volume 5. (pp. 319-344). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
40. Hedges, L.V. & Olkin, I. (1985). Statistical methods for meta-analysis. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
41. Hoover, W.A. & Gough, P.B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 127-160. doi:DOI: 10.1007/BF00401799.
42. Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures: Applied linguistics for language teachers. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
43. Lafrance, A. & Gottardo, A. (2005). A longitudinal study of phonological processing skills and reading in bilingual children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 26, 559-578. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0142716405050307.
44. Lambert, W.E. & Tucker, G.R. (1972). Bilingual education of children: The St. Lambert experiment. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
45. Ledesma, H.M. (2002). Language factors influencing early reading development in bilingual (Filipino-English) boys. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Dissertation Services.
46. Lervåg, A. (2010). The structure and development of beginning reading comprehension skills. Paper presented at the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, 7-10 July, Berlin.
47. Lervåg, A. & Aukrust, V.G. (2010). Vocabulary knowledge is a critical determinant of the difference in reading comprehension growth between first and second language learners. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi:DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02185.x.
48. Lipsey, M.W. & Wilson, D.B. (2001). Practical meta-analysis: Applied social research methods series. (Vol. 49). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
49. Lopez, L.M. & Greenfield, D.B. (2004). The cross-language transfer of phonological skills of Hispanic head start children. Bilingual Research Journal, 28, 1-18.
50. Loyola, J.L. & McBride, D.F. (1991). Puerto Rican children's code switching and their performance on receptive vocabulary instruments and a nonverbal cognitive measure. Diagnostique, 16 (4), 239-253. doi:DOI: 10.1177/153450849101600405.
51. Luk, G. & Bialystok, E. (2008). Common and distinct cognitive bases for reading in English-Cantonese bilinguals. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 269-289. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S0142716407080125.
52. MacMillan, B. (2002). Rhyme and reading: A critical review of the research methodology. Journal of Research in Reading, 25, 4-42. doi:DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.00156.
53. MacSwan, J. & Rolstad, K. (2005). Modularity and the facilitation effect: Psychological mechanisms of transfer in bilingual students. Hispanic Journal of the Behavioral Sciences, 27 (2), 224-243. doi:DOI: 10.1177/0739986305275173.
54. Manis, F.R., Lindsey, K.A. & Bailey, C. (2004). Development of reading in grades K-2 in Spanish-speaking English-language learners. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice/Council for Exceptional Children, 19, 214-224. doi:DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5826.2004.00107.x.
55. Mumtaz, S. & Humphreys, G.W. (2002). The effect of Urdu vocabulary size on the acquisition of single word reading in English. Educational Psychology, 22 (2), 165-190. doi:DOI: 10.1080/01443410120115247.
56. Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M.J. & Stevenson, J. (2004). Phonemes, rimes, vocabulary and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 40, 665-681.
57. Nagy, W., García, G.E., Durgunoglu, A. & Hancin-Bhatt, B. (1992). Cross-language transfer of lexical knowledge: Bilingual students' use of cognates (Technical report No. 558). Illinois: Center for the Study of Reading.
58. Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
59. Ordonez, C.L., Carlo, M., Snow, C. & McLaughlin, B. (2002). Depth and breadth of vocabulary in two languages: Which vocabulary skills transfer? Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 719-728. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.94.4.719.
60. Proctor, C.P., Carlo, M., August, D. & Snow, C. (2006). The intriguing role of Spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98 (1), 159-169. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.98.1.159.
61. Quiroga, T., Lemos-Britton, Z., Mostafapour, E., Abbott R.D. & Berninger, V.W. (2002). Phonological awareness and beginning reading in Spanish-speaking ESL first graders: Research into practice. Journal of School Psychology, 40 (1), 85-111. doi:DOI: 10.1016/S0022-4405%2801%2900095-4.
62. Riccio, C.A., Amado, A., Jimenez, S., Hasbrouck, J.E., Imhoff, B. & Denton, C. (2001). Cross-linguistic transfer of phonological processing: Development of a measure of phonological processing in Spanish. Bilingual Research Journal, 25, 416-436.
63. Royer, J.M. & Carlo, M.S. (1991). Transfer of comprehension skills from native to second language. Journal of Reading, 34, 450-455.
64. Swanson, H.L., Rosston, K., Gerber, M. & Solari, E. (2008). Influence of oral language and phonological processing on children's bilingual reading. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 413-429. doi:DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2007.07.002.
65. Swanson, H.L., Saez, L., Gerber, M. & Lefstead, J. (2004). Literacy and cognitive functioning in bilingual and nonbilingual children at or not at risk for reading disabilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96 (1), 3-18. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.96.1.3.
66. Tagoilelagi, F.T., McNaughton, S., MacDonald, S. & Farry, S. (2005). Bilingual and biliteracy development over the transition to school. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8 (5), 455-479. doi:DOI: 10.1080/13670050508668624.
67. Uchikoshi, Y. (2006). English vocabulary development in bilingual kindergartners: What are the best predictors? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9, 33-49. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S1366728905002361.
68. Veii, K. & Everatt, J. (2005). Predictors of reading among Herero-English bilingual Namibian school children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 8 (3), 239-254. doi:DOI: 10.1017/S1366728905002282.
69. Verhoeven, L.T. (1994). Transfer in bilingual development: The linguistic interdependence hypothesis revisited. Language Learning, 44 (3), 381-415. doi:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1994.tb01112.x.
70. Wade-Woolley, L. & Geva, E. (2000). Processing novel phonemic contrasts in the acquisition of L2 word reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 4, 295-311. doi:DOI: 10.1207/S1532799XSSR0404-3.
71. Wang, M., Cheng, C. & Chen, S.-W. (2006). Contribution of morphological awareness to Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 542-553. doi:DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.98.3.542.
72. Wilson, D.B. (2006). Meta-analysis macros for SAS, SPSS, and STATA. Retrieved from
73. Zechmeister, E.B., Chronis, A.M., Cull, W.L., D'Anna, C.A. & Healy, N.A. (1995). Growth of a functionally important lexicon. Journal of Reading Behavior, 27 (2), 201-212. doi:DOI: 10.1080/10862969509547878.