Weak and strong novice readers of english as a foreign language: Effects of first language and socioeconomic status |
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Authors: | Janina Kahn-Horwitz Joseph Shimron Richard L Sparks |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa, Israel;(2) College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Abstract: | This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated
on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and
morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in addition to knowledge of EFL letters
and EFL vocabulary, were measured. The study also investigated the effect of socioeconomic background (SES) on beginning EFL
readers. Participants included 145 fourth graders from three schools representing two socioeconomic backgrounds in the north
of Israel. The results indicate that knowledge of English letters played a more prominent role than knowledge of Hebrew L1
components in differentiating between strong and weak EFL readers. The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis was supported
by L1 phonological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge appearing as part of discriminating functions. The presence
of English vocabulary knowledge as part of the discriminant functions provides support for English word reading being more
than just a decoding task for EFL beginner readers. Socioeconomic status differentiated the groups for EFL word recognition
but not for EFL reading comprehension. |
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Keywords: | Foreign language reading socioeconomic status weak and strong beginners |
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