TY - JOUR
T1 - Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language
AU - Prior, Anat
AU - Zeltsman-Kulick, Rita
AU - Katzir, Tami
N1 - Funding Information: This study is based on the PhD dissertation or RZK. The research was supported by EU-FP7 Grant 1042 IRG-249163 to AP, by a Language Learning dissertation grant to RZK, and by the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities. The authors thank Dr. Nachshon Korem for research assistance and two anonymous reviewers for feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript. Funding Information: This study is based on the PhD dissertation or RZK. The research was supported by EU‐FP7 Grant 1042 IRG‐249163 to AP, by a Language Learning dissertation grant to RZK, and by the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities. The authors thank Dr. Nachshon Korem for research assistance and two anonymous reviewers for feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 UKLA
PY - 2020/2/1
Y1 - 2020/2/1
N2 - The current study examined the proficiency of Israeli adolescents in reading single words in English, which is taught as a foreign language, and what language skills predict individual variability. Parallel measures of word reading, phonology, decoding, morpho-syntax and vocabulary in Hebrew and English were administered to 217 adolescents in 8th and 11th grade. Following 5–8 years of English as a foreign language instruction, participants achieved reading levels commensurate with those of third to fourth grade native English-speaking children. Decoding and vocabulary knowledge were significant predictors of single word reading across both orthographies. Morpho-syntactic knowledge predicted word reading only in Hebrew. Further, there was pronounced variability in the extent to which phonological awareness and vocabulary predicted word reading across languages. Low levels of reading performance underline the inherent challenge in achieving reading proficiency in the complex English orthography in a foreign language setting, with limited instruction time and suboptimal pedagogy. Decoding and vocabulary are identified as important universal processes in reading, whereas differences in other predictors support script-dependent processes in reading as well.
AB - The current study examined the proficiency of Israeli adolescents in reading single words in English, which is taught as a foreign language, and what language skills predict individual variability. Parallel measures of word reading, phonology, decoding, morpho-syntax and vocabulary in Hebrew and English were administered to 217 adolescents in 8th and 11th grade. Following 5–8 years of English as a foreign language instruction, participants achieved reading levels commensurate with those of third to fourth grade native English-speaking children. Decoding and vocabulary knowledge were significant predictors of single word reading across both orthographies. Morpho-syntactic knowledge predicted word reading only in Hebrew. Further, there was pronounced variability in the extent to which phonological awareness and vocabulary predicted word reading across languages. Low levels of reading performance underline the inherent challenge in achieving reading proficiency in the complex English orthography in a foreign language setting, with limited instruction time and suboptimal pedagogy. Decoding and vocabulary are identified as important universal processes in reading, whereas differences in other predictors support script-dependent processes in reading as well.
KW - EFL
KW - adolescence
KW - script dependence
KW - word reading accuracy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077877515&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9817.12293
DO - 10.1111/1467-9817.12293
M3 - Article
SN - 0141-0423
VL - 43
SP - 116
EP - 139
JO - Journal of Research in Reading
JF - Journal of Research in Reading
IS - 1
ER -
