Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
06:33
Decomposing the Variance in Reading Comprehension to Reveal the Unique and Common Effects of Language and Decoding
Published on: October 11, 2018
6.8K
Bilingual Children's Vocabulary Skills at 5 Years Predict Reading Comprehension Development Within, Not Across,
1California State University, Sacramento, Department of Psychology, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6007, USA.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
|March 1, 2024
Summary
Early vocabulary skills support reading comprehension within a language for bilingual children. Reading comprehension skills, however, show cross-language connections, suggesting shared underlying abilities.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Bilingualism
- Literacy Acquisition
Background:
- Early vocabulary is a strong predictor of reading development in monolingual children.
- The link between vocabulary and reading across languages in bilingual children is not fully understood.
- Existing research presents mixed findings on cross-linguistic transfer of vocabulary to reading comprehension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the longitudinal relationship between early vocabulary and later reading comprehension in Spanish-English bilingual children.
- To determine if vocabulary knowledge in one language predicts reading comprehension in another language.
- To examine the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between reading comprehension skills across English and Spanish.
Main Methods:
- Followed 84 Spanish-English bilingual children from age 5 to 9.
- Assessed vocabulary skills at age 5.
- Measured reading comprehension skills annually from ages 6 to 9.
- Utilized longitudinal multilevel modeling to analyze data.
Main Results:
- Significant within-language relationships were found between early vocabulary and subsequent reading comprehension in both English and Spanish.
- No significant across-language relationships were observed between early vocabulary and later reading comprehension.
- Significant concurrent across-language relationships were found between English and Spanish reading comprehension skills.
Conclusions:
- Vocabulary's contribution to reading comprehension appears to be language-specific.
- Reading comprehension development in bilingual children involves language-general components.
- These language-general components facilitate concurrent cross-linguistic reading comprehension skills.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Language Development
362
Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
362
01:27Language and Cognition
345
Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
345
01:30Information Processing Approach
37
The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is...
37
01:25Learning Disabilities
129
Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders caused by neurological impairments that affect cognitive functions like language and reading, without indicating overall intellectual or developmental challenges. These disabilities differ from global intellectual or developmental disabilities as they are limited to distinct cognitive functions. Common learning disabilities include dysgraphia, dyslexia, and dyscalculia, each of which impacts unique aspects of learning.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a...
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a...
129
01:23Binet's Contribution to Measures of Intelligence
1.3K
Alfred Binet, along with his student Théophile Simon, was tasked by the French Ministry of Education in 1904 to create a method for identifying students who struggled to learn through conventional classroom instruction. This initiative aimed to address overcrowding by placing such students in specialized schools. Binet and Simon developed an intelligence test comprising 30 tasks, ranging from simple commands, like touching one's nose or ear, to more complex tasks, such as drawing...
1.3K
00:49Complementation Tests
4.9K
A complementation test is a simple cross to identify whether the two mutations are located on the same gene or different genes. It was first performed by Edward Lewis in the 1940s while working on fruit flies. He developed the test to identify the location and arrangement of different mutations on chromosomes.
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
4.9K