Bilingualism, cognates and reading fluency in children. (16th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Davis, Andréa K.; Bowman, Natalie; Kaushanskaya, Margarita
• Is Part Of: Journal of research in reading. Volume 41(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: S12
• Page End: S29
• Publication Date: 2018-10-16
• Subjects: bilingualism -- cognates -- reading fluency; Reading -- Research -- Periodicals; Reading -- Periodicals; 418.4
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.12263
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0141-0423

Abstract

Abstract : Background: The goal of this study was to examine the effect of cognates on Spanish–English bilingual children's English reading fluency. Because cognates lead to higher levels of non‐target language activation, we hypothesised that the presence of cognates would result in reduced reading fluency for bilingual children. Methods: Monolingual English‐speaking children and Spanish–English bilingual children (ages = 8–13 years) read aloud two stories in English. One story contained cognate words, while the other story did not. Results: Results revealed that bilingual children made more errors and read more slowly when reading a story containing cognates. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the presence of cognates in a text disrupts bilinguals' oral reading fluency, suggesting that lexical‐level, local co‐activation can have a global effect on bilinguals' ability to engage in a higher‐level reading task. Highlights: What is already known about this topic: Bilinguals process language non‐selectively. Cognates are known to co‐activate the non‐target language, with bilinguals processing cognates more efficiently than non‐cognates. Children from a language minority background demonstrate consistently lower reading achievement compared with their majority language peers. What this paper adds: The presence of cognates inhibits oral reading fluency in bilinguals. Cognates influence performance on an ecologically valid text‐reading measure. Implications for theory, policy or practice: Cognate effects are not always facilitatory. Explicit cognate awareness training may be an effective instructional approach for bilingual readers.