Universal and Language-Specific Predictors of Early Word Reading in a Foreign Language: An Analysis of the Skills That Underlie Reading Acquisition in Three Different Orthographies

• Published in: Developmental psychology 2018-12, Vol.54 (12), p.2274-2290
• Main Authors: Zeguers, Maaike H. T., van den Boer, Madelon, Snellings, Patrick, de Jong, Peter F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquisition; Alphabets; Child; Child Development - physiology; Children; Chinese; Chinese languages; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive skills; Dutch language; Female; Foreign Countries; Foreign language learning; Foreign Languages; French; French language; Grade 7; Human; Humans; Indo European Languages; Intelligence; Intelligence - physiology; Language acquisition; Language Development; Male; Multilingualism; Native Language; Native language acquisition; Nonverbal Ability; Nonverbal intelligence; Orthography; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Phonological awareness; Psycholinguistics; Reading; Reading ability; Reading acquisition; Reading comprehension; Reading Development; Reading Instruction; Reading Skills; Second Language Learning; Second language reading; Second language writing; Secondary School Students; Spanish; Spanish language; Test Construction; Thinking Skills; Verbal intelligence; Words (Phonetic Units); Writing; Writing Skills; Writing systems; Written Language
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/dev0000606

A central question in the field of foreign language acquisition is whether the processes involved in reading development in a foreign language are universal or dependent on characteristics of the specific language involved. We investigated the impact of orthographic depth and writing system on word reading acquisition in a foreign orthography, by studying children who are proficient readers in the transparent alphabetic Dutch orthography and who learn to read simultaneously in the transparent alphabetic Spanish orthography, the nontransparent alphabetic French orthography and the nonalphabetic Chinese orthography. Results showed that the skills that underlie foreign language word reading are not universal, but are different for alphabetic and nonalphabetic orthographies, and are also different for transparent and nontransparent alphabetic orthographies, albeit to a lesser extent. Word reading acquisition in transparent alphabetic Spanish depended mainly on reading skills in the native language. In contrast, in nontransparent alphabetic French and nonalphabetic Chinese, word reading was mainly influenced by cognitive skills: French word reading by phonological awareness and verbal intelligence, and Chinese word reading by verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Findings thus suggest that the processes underlying foreign language word reading acquisition are not universal but rather depend on the specific language involved.