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Article published In:
Issues and Perspectives on Student Diversity and Content-Based Language Education
Edited by Fred Genesee and Diane J. Tedick
[Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 9:2] 2021
► pp. 252–278

Exploring conceptions of reading risk and program-specific literacy outcomes for Spanish speakers in dual language and English-medium programs

| Temple University
| University of Connecticut

Considerable research documents the efficacy of dual language programs for the reading achievement of English learners from Spanish-speaking homes. However, there is uncertainty in the field of dual language education about how students at-risk for literacy difficulties fare in these same programs, as well as questions about how risk should be defined – i.e., difficulty with decoding versus lower levels of vocabulary – with distinct understandings of risk potentially differentially explaining students’ reading trajectories. This study followed Spanish-speaking students from Grades 3–5 to understand how students at-risk for reading difficulties fare in English reading comprehension in dual language versus English-medium programs, examining two different risk indicators in the process. Study results indicate that across risk categories, students performed equally well regardless of program model. In addition, decoding was a more robust indicator of risk than vocabulary.

Keywords: dual language, English learners, at-risk readers, literacy, decoding, vocabulary, simple view of reading
Article outline
  • 1.The effects of bilingual instruction on literacy outcomes for English learners
  • 2.Phase-specific literacy difficulties across development
  • 3.The importance of vocabulary as a predictor of later reading ability
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Sample
    • 4.2Measures
      • 4.2.1Woodcock language proficiency battery-revised (WLPB-R)
        • Picture vocabulary
        • Word attack
        • Passage comprehension
      • 4.2.2Parent interview response sheet (PIRS)
    • 4.3Data analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Research question 1: Do the English language and literacy profiles of DLE and EM students vary by risk status as determined by a vocabulary cut off score?
    • 5.2Research question 2: Do different predictors of risk (i.e., decoding versus vocabulary) correlate with English reading comprehension in Grade 5 in DLE and EM programs?
    • 5.3Research question 3: Is the relationship between risk status and English reading comprehension at the end of Grade 5 moderated by program model?
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Limitations
  • 7.Conclusion and educational implications
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 3 June 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.20020.neu
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