Microsoft Word Pub Series 004 # Kamil doc

 

 

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the United States is based on Spanish–English bilinguals; hence, there is much that we can learn 

from studies conducted with children who speak a diverse range of native languages. Although 

two thirds of U.S. school-aged children who speak a language other than English are Spanish 

speakers (Garcia, 2000), in many classrooms linguistic diversity beyond Spanish is a fact of life.  

 

Basic Issues in L2 Reading 

 

Much of the research on reading pertains to the reading of monolingual speakers of 

English, that is, L1 reading. Nonetheless, this body of research provides a starting point for 

thinking about what is important to understanding L2 reading. There is a high degree of 

convergence on the fundamental components in beginning reading in L1, such as alphabetics 

(phonemic awareness and phonics), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading 

Panel [NRP], 2000; Rand Reading Study Group, 2002; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These 

topics are also relevant to the study of L2 reading but with the added complexities of a second-

language learner’s knowledge of two languages. First, there is the complexity of teaching reading 

when the learner is not natively proficient in the language. Since the language of written texts 

maps onto oral language, L2 learners need to develop some proficiency in the target language 

(Alderson, 1984). They also need to become aware of the implicit cultural knowledge and norms 

associated with literate language use shared by native speakers of a language. Second, the L2 

learner has access to knowledge and skills unavailable to the monolingual speaker, including 

enhanced metalinguistic awareness, code-switching, translation, and, if L1 and L2 are 

linguistically related languages, knowledge of cognates. Third, for learners who are already 

literate, some skills can transfer to reading in the second language. Finally, sociocultural and 

sociopolitical factors often play a mediating role in the education of L2 learners and their reading 

development.  

In what follows, we will first examine the cognitive aspects of learning to read in L2. The 

topics in this part of the discussion parallel those found to be significant in L1 reading. Then we 

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proceed to discuss the sociocultural factors that affect L2 reading and their instructional 

implications. 

 

Metalinguistic Awareness 

Metalinguistic awareness refers to the ability to reflect on the structure and properties of 

language. Learning a second language usually involves a conscious and deliberate effort, which 

promotes a level of linguistic awareness in a bilingual that is qualitatively different from that of a 

monolingual (Garcia, Jimenez, & Pearson, 1998; Vygotsky, 1962). One of the most robust 

findings on bilingual children is their enhanced metalinguistic awareness. This awareness can be 

demonstrated in various ways, such as sensitivity to word shapes and word length, onset-rime 

awareness, and knowledge of sentence grammaticality. In a number of studies, bilingual children 

consistently outperformed monolingual children on tasks measuring metalinguistic awareness 

(Bialystok, 1997, 2001). Bilingual children seem to have a heightened awareness of the symbolic 

nature of language as encoded in text, and they seem to be able to transfer this knowledge from 

one language to another (Bialystok, 1997). Considerable research shows that bilingual children 

younger than 6 outperform monolingual children on isolated metalinguistic tasks (Garcia, 2000). 

Only one study, by Miramontes (1990), documented a metalinguistic advantage in older U.S. 

bilingual readers. Why the metalinguistic advantage for bilinguals seems to disappear after age 6 

is unclear (Garcia, 2000). Garcia et al. (1998) suggest that this could be due to the tendency to 

school bilingual children in predominantly one language, which inhibits continual bilingual 

development.  

Bialystok’s (2001) analysis of the research on monolingual and bilingual differences in 

metalinguistic ability suggests that bilingual children excel in the control of attention when 

presented with misleading information. She also found that tasks that are high in their demands 

for analysis of representations are not necessarily solved better by either monolinguals or 

bilinguals (Bialystok, 2001). Young children will probably benefit from instruction that builds on 

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their superior performance in tasks requiring attentional control, such as symbol substitution, 

judging grammaticality of sentences, and phoneme segmentation (Bialystok, 2001). Instruction 

for young L2 learners should be different than that for older students, although both may be at 

beginning stages of L2 reading acquisition, because the metalinguistic advantage is less 

pronounced beyond age 6.  

 

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness 

Phonological awareness is a general term that refers to sensitivity to the different sound 

components within speech, while phonemic awareness refers specifically to an awareness and 

ability to manipulate individual phonemes in the speech stream. For alphabetic languages such as 

English and Spanish, the ability to manipulate individual sound units occurs at the lexical and 

sub-lexical level. Children who have phonological skills are able to segment words into syllables, 

onset-rime units, and phonemes. In English, the mapping of speech to written language occurs at 

the level of phonemes. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to segment speech into individual 

phonemes and to blend phonemes to form syllables or words. Hence, phonemic awareness is a 

key component of many tests of general phonological awareness skills.  

Research on monolingual children has consistently shown that phonemic awareness is 

one of the best predictors of learning to read and spell (NRP, 2000). In particular, many studies 

have shown strong correlations between phonemic awareness skills and word recognition. 

Efficient word recognition in turn enables skilled readers to read more and, by reading more, 

increase their vocabulary and knowledge. Another compelling finding is that phonemic awareness 

is a stronger predictor of reading achievement than traditional measures of intelligence or reading 

readiness (Juel, Griffith, & Gough, 1986). Phonemic awareness instruction for monolingual 

children leads to gains in reading achievement, but this appears to be effective only in the early 

grades (NRP, 2000). 

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