Premium
Acquisition of Literacy in Bilingual Children: A Framework for Research
Author(s) -
Bialystok Ellen
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9922.00180
Subject(s) - neuroscience of multilingualism , psychology , literacy , disadvantage , developmental psychology , language development , linguistics , pedagogy , computer science , philosophy , neuroscience , artificial intelligence
Much research that contributes to understanding how bilingual children become literate cannot isolate the contribution of bilingualism itself to the discussion of literacy acquisition for these children. This paper identifies three areas of research relevant to examining literacy acquisition in bilinguals, explains the contribution of each, and associates each with a skill required by monolingual children in becoming literate. A review of the literature explores differences between bilingual and monolingual children in the development of literacy acquisition skills. The relation between bilingualism and the development of each of the three skills is different, sometimes indicating an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage for bilingual children. Bilingualism clearly affects children’s development of literacy, but its effect is neither simple nor unitary.