Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language

Anat Prior; Rita Zeltsman-Kulick; Tami Katzir

doi:10.1111/1467-9817.12293

Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language

Anat Prior, Rita Zeltsman-Kulick, Tami Katzir

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	116-139
Number of pages	24
Journal	Journal of Research in Reading
Volume	43
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12293
State	Published - 1 Feb 2020

Bibliographical note

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

Keywords

EFL
adolescence
script dependence
word reading accuracy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Psychology (miscellaneous)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1111/1467-9817.12293

Cite this

@article{7cdd83a3038b47f7b8145963e7ef5799,

title = "Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language",

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "EFL, adolescence, script dependence, word reading accuracy",

author = "Anat Prior and Rita Zeltsman-Kulick and Tami Katzir",

note = "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: {\textcopyright} 2020 UKLA",

year = "2020",

month = feb,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1111/1467-9817.12293",

language = "English",

volume = "43",

pages = "116--139",

journal = "Journal of Research in Reading",

issn = "0141-0423",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "1",

}

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

AN - SCOPUS:85077877515

SN - 0141-0423

VL - 43

SP - 116

EP - 139

JO - Journal of Research in Reading

JF - Journal of Research in Reading

IS - 1

ER -

Adolescent word reading in English as a foreign language

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this