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Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades
Author(s) -
AuYeung Karen,
HipfnerBoucher Kathleen,
Chen Xi,
Pasquarella Adrian,
D'Angelo Nadia,
Hélène Deacon S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
reading research quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.162
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1936-2722
pISSN - 0034-0553
DOI - 10.1002/rrq.95
Subject(s) - french immersion , literacy , psychology , early literacy , primary education , mathematics education , emergent literacy , linguistics , pedagogy , philosophy
In this article, we report two studies that compared the development of English and French language and literacy skills in French immersion students identified as native English speakers ( EL 1s) and English learners ( EL s). In study 1, 81 EL 1s and 147 EL s were tested in the fall and spring terms of grade 1. The EL 1s and EL s had similar outcomes and comparable gains in English phonological awareness and word reading. Comparable performance was observed on all the French measures (phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension). Only in English receptive vocabulary did the EL 1s outperform the EL s. In study 2, a subset of the students in study 1 was followed into grades 2 and 3 (36 EL 1s and 33 EL s). Overall, the EL 1s and EL s demonstrated similar performance and gains in English phonological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension in grades 2 and 3. The EL 1s outperformed their EL peers in English expressive and receptive vocabulary across all grades, despite more rapid growth among the EL s. At the same time, outcomes on all of the French measures were comparable between the two groups. The findings of remarkably comparable performance by the EL 1s and EL s suggest that overall, French immersion does not impede English language and literacy skill development in EL s, making it a viable option for these students.