Cover not available
Part of
Understanding Language and Cognition through Bilingualism: In honor of Ellen Bialystok
Edited by Gigi Luk, John A.E. Anderson and John G. Grundy
[Studies in Bilingualism 64] 2023
► pp. 169–187

Chapter 8
Metalinguistic awareness in bilinguals

| University of Western Ontario
| University of Western Ontario

The goal of this chapter is to outline Ellen Bialystok’s contribution to our understanding of metalinguistic awareness development. We start by describing both her work in the field and her cognitive framework that outlines the components (i.e., linguistic analysis & control) needed to successfully perform metalinguistic tasks. We then describe the impact of this theoretical approach on subsequent research on metalinguistic awareness in bilinguals and monolinguals. Finally, we outline how direct instruction in metalinguistic awareness can be informed by considering the importance of developing both linguistic analysis and control in the classroom.

Article outline
  • Ellen Bialystok’s contributions to the field of metalinguistic awareness
    • Cognitive framework of metalinguistic awareness
    • Metalinguistic awareness in bilingual children
  • Current research in metalinguistic awareness
    • Language factors and metalinguistic awareness
    • Bilingualism and language learning
    • Metalinguistic ability and language and literacy development
  • Implications of metalinguistic awareness research for bilingual education
  • In conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.64.08fri
References
Altman, C., Goldstein, T., & Armon-Lotem, S.
(2018) Vocabulary, metalinguistic awareness and language dominance among bilingual preschool children. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1953. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Astheimer, L., Janus, M., Moreno, S., & Bialystok, E.
(2014) Electrophysiological measures of attention during speech perception predict metalinguistic skills in children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 7, 1-12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barac, R., & Bialystok, E.
(2012) Bilingual effects on cognitive and linguistic development: Role of language, cultural background, and education. Child Development, 83(2), 413–422. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berko, J.
(1958) The child’s learning of English morphology, Word, 14(2–3), 150–177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E.
(1986) Factors in the growth of linguistic awareness. Child Development, 57, 489–510. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1987) Influences of bilingualism on metalinguistic development. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin, 3(2), 154–166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1988) Levels of bilingualism and levels of linguistic awareness. Developmental Psychology, 24, 560–567. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1992) Selective attention in cognitive processing: The bilingual edge. In R. J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive processing in bilinguals (pp. 501–513). North Holland. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997) Effects of bilingualism and biliteracy on children’s emerging concepts of print. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 429–440. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2001) Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy and cognition. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2005) Consequences of bilingualism for cognitive development. In J. F. Kroll, & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 417–432). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G.
(2008) Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(3), 828.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Luk, G., & Kwan, E.
(2005) Bilingualism, biliteracy, and learning to read: Interactions among languages and writing systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9, 43–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., Luk, G., Peets, K. F., & Yang, S.
(2010) Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(4), 525–531. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Martin, M. M.
(2004) Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: Evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science, 7, 325–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., McBride-Chang, C., & Luk, G.
(2005) Bilingualism, language proficiency, and learning to read in two writing systems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 580–590. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Mitterer, J.
(1987) Metalinguistic differences among three kinds of readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(2), 147–153. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., Peets, K. F., & Moreno, S.
(2014) Producing bilinguals through immersion education: Development of metalinguistic awareness. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(1), 177–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Ryan, E.
(1985) Towards a definition of metalinguistic skill. Merill-Palmer Quarterly, 31, 13–32.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Shapero, D.
(2005) Ambiguous benefits: The effect of bilingualism on reversing ambiguous figures. Developmental Science, 11, 282–604. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bruck, M., & Genesee, F.
(1995) Phonological awareness in young second language learners. Journal of Child Language, 22, 307–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cammarata, L., & Tedick, D.
(2012) Balancing content and language in instruction: The experience of immersion teachers. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 251–269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Campbell, R., & Sais, E.
(1995) Accelerated metalinguistic (phonological) awareness in bilingual children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 13, 61–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J.
(2003) The additive effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition: A review. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7(1), 71–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chan, A. Y. W.
(2004) Syntactic transfer: Evidence from the interlanguage of Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners. The Modern Language Journal, 88, 56–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, X., Ku, Y. M., Koyama, E., Anderson, R. C., & Li, W.
(2008) Development of phonological awareness in bilingual Chinese children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 37, 405–418. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Collier, V. P., & Thomas, W. P.
(2017) Validating the power of bilingual schooling: Thirty-two years of large-scale, longitudinal research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 37, 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coyle, D., & Baetens Beardsmore, H.
(2007) Research on content and language integrated learning (CLIL). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(5), 541–542. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J.
(1978) Bilingualism and the development of metalinguistic awareness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 9(2), 131–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10, 221–241.Google Scholar
Davidson, D., Raschke, V. R., & Pervez, J.
(2010) Syntactic awareness in young monolingual and bilingual (Urdu-English) children. Cognitive Development, 25, 166–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Deacon, S. H., Wade-Woolley, L., & Kirby, J.
(2007) Crossover: The role of morphological awareness in French immersion children’s reading. Developmental Psychology, 43, 732–746. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duncan, L. G., Casalis, S., & Cole, P.
(2009) Early metalinguistic awareness of derivational morphology: Observations from a comparison of English and French. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30(3), 405–440. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ehri, L. C.
(1987) Learning to read and spell words. Journal of Literacy Research, 19(1), 5–31.Google Scholar
Eviatar, Z., Taha, H., & Schwartz, M.
(2018) Metalinguistic awareness and literacy among semitic-bilingual learners: A cross-language perspective. Reading and Writing, 31(2), 1869–1891. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Francis, N.
(2002) Literacy, second language learning, and the development of metalinguistic awareness: A study of bilingual children’s perceptions of focus on form. Linguistics and Education, 13(3), 373–404. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frid, B., & Friesen, D. C.
(2019) Reading comprehension and strategy use in fourth- and fifth-grade French immersion students. Reading and Writing, 33, 1213–1233. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Friesen, D. C., & Bialystok, E.
(2012) Metalinguistic ability in bilingual children: The role of executive control. Rivista di Psicolinguistica Applicata, 12(3), 47–56.Google Scholar
Friesen, D. C., & Frid, B.
(2020) Predictors of successful reading comprehension in bilingual adults: The role of strategies and language proficiency. Languages, 6(1), 18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Friesen, D. C., & Haigh, C. A.
(2018) How and why strategy instruction can improve second language reading comprehension: A review. The Reading Matrix, 18, 1–18.Google Scholar
Friesen, D. C., Latman, V., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E.
(2015) Attention during visual search: The benefits of bilingualism. International Journal of Bilingualism, 19(6), 693–702. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Friesen, D. C., Luo, L., Luk, G. & Bialystok, E.
(2015) Proficiency and control in verbal fluency performance across the lifespan for monolinguals and bilinguals. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 30(3), 238–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Galambos, S. J., & Goldin-Meadow, S.
(1990) The effects of learning two languages on levels of metalinguistic awareness. Cognition, 34, 1–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García, O.
(2013) Theorizing translanguaging for educators. In C. Celic & K. Seltzer (Eds.), Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators (pp. 1–6). CUNY-NYSIEB.Google Scholar
Genesee, F., & Lindholm-Leary, K.
(2013) Two case studies of content-based language education. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 1(1), 3–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geva, E. & Farnia, F.
(2012) Developmental changes in the nature of language proficiency and reading fluency paint a more complex view of reading comprehension in ELL and EL1. Reading and Writing, 25, 1819–1845. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gil, M. G., Garau, M. J., & Noguera, J. S.
(2012) A case study exploring oral language choice between the target language and the L1s in mainstream CLIL and EFL secondary education. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas, 7, 133–145.Google Scholar
Goldstein, B. A., Fabiano, L., & Washington, P. S.
(2005) Phonological skills in predominantly English-speaking, predominantly Spanish-speaking, and Spanish-English bilingual children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 36, 201–218. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gombert, E. J.
(1992) Metalinguistic development. Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Goswami, U., Ziegler, J. C., & Richardson, U.
(2005) The effects of spelling consistency on phonological awareness: A comparison of English and German. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 92, 345–365. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hakes, D.
(1982) The development of metalinguistic abilities: What develops? In S. Kuczaj (Ed.), Language, cognition, and culture (pp.163–210). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Hermanto, N., Moreno, S., & Bialystok, E.
(2012) Linguistic and metalinguistic outcomes of intense immersion education: How bilingual? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(2), 131–145. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoare, P.
(2010) Content-based language teaching in China: Contextual influences on implementation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(1), 69–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, K.-J.
(2018) On bilinguals’ development of metalinguistic awareness and its transfer to L3 learning: The role of language characteristics. International Journal of Bilingualism, 22(3), 330–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jessner, U.
(2006) Linguistic awareness in multilinguals: English as a third language. Edinburg University Press.Google Scholar
Keshavarz, M. H., & Astaneh, H.
(2004) The impact of bilinguality on the learning of English vocabulary as a foreign language (L3). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7, 295–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kovelman, I., Baker, S. A., & Petitto, L. A.
(2008) Age of first bilingual language exposure as a new window into bilingual reading development. Bilingualism, 11, 203–223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lauchlan, F., Parisi, M., & Fadda, R.
(2012) Bilingualism in Sardinia and Scotland: Exploring the cognitive benefits of speaking a ‘minority’ language. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17(1), 43–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lindholm-Leary, K. J.
(2005) The rich promise of two-way immersion. Educational Leadership, 62, 56–59Google Scholar
Loizou, M., & Stuart, M.
(2003) Phonological awareness in monolingual and bilingual English and Greek five-year-olds. Journal of Research in Reading, 26(1), 3–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Luo, L., Luk, G., Bialystok, E.
(2010) Effect of language proficiency and executive control on verbal fluency performance in bilinguals. Cognition, 114(1), 29–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lyster, R.
(2019) Translanguaging in immersion: Cognitive support or social prestige? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 75, 340–352. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lyster, R., Collins, L., & Ballinger, S.
(2009) Linking languages through a bilingual read-aloud project. Language Awareness, 18, 366–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lyster, R., Quiroga, J., & Ballinger, S.
(2013) The effects of biliteracy instruction on morphological awareness. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 1, 169–197. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Myhill, D. A., & Jones, S.
(2015) Conceptualizing metalinguistic understanding in writing. Culture and Eduation, 27(4), 839–867. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nagy, W. E., García, G. E., Durgunoğlu, A. Y., & Hancin-Bhatt, B.
(1993) Spanish-English bilingual students’ use of cognates in English reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 25(3), 241–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Perez-Canado, M. L.
(2012) CLIL research in Europe: Past, present, and future. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(3), 315–341. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pratt, C., & Grieve, R.
(1984) The development of metalinguistic awareness: An introduction. Metalinguistic awareness in children: Theory, research, and implications. In W. E. Tunmer, C. Pratt, & M. L. Herriman (Eds.), Metalinguistic awareness in children (pp. 2–11). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quin, Y. W., & Li, X.
(2015) Balanced bilingualism and early age of second language acquisition as the underlying mechanisms of a bilingual executive control advantage: Why variations in bilingual experiences matter. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 164Google Scholar
Ramirez, G., Walton, P., & Roberts, W.
(2013) Morphological awareness and vocabulary development among kindergarteners with different ability levels. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(1), 54–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rauch, D. P., Naumann, J., & Jude, N.
(2011) Metalinguistic awareness mediates effects of full biliteracy on third-language proficiency in Turkish-German bilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism, 16(4), 402–418. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reder, F., Marec-Breton, N., Gombert, J. E., & Demont, E.
(2013) Second-language learners’ advantage in metalinguistic awareness: A question of languages’ characteristics. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(4), 686–702. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ricciardelli, L. A.
(1993) Two components of metalinguistic awareness: Control of linguistic processing and analysis of linguistic knowledge. Applied Psycholinguistics, 14(3), 349–367. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rutgers, D., & Evans, M.
(2015) Bilingual education and L3 learning: Metalinguistic advantage or not? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20(7), 788–806. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schoonen, R., van Gelderen, A., De Glopper, K., Hulstijn, J., Snellings, P., Simis, A. et al.
(2002) Linguistic knowledge, metacognitive knowledge and retrieval speed in L1, L2 and EFL writing. Astructural equation modelling approaches. In S. Ransdell & M. L. Barbier (Eds.), New directions for research in L2 writing (pp. 101–122). Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, M., Geva, E., Share, D., & Leikin, M.
(2007) Learning to read in English as a third language: The cross-linguistic transfer of phonological processing skills. Written Language and Literacy, 10, 25–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scribner, S., & Cole, M.
(1981) The psychology of literacy. Harvard University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serra, C.
(2007) Assessing CLIL at primary school: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10, 582–602. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sun, B., Hu, G., & Curdt-Christiansen, X. L.
(2018) Metalinguistic contribution to writing competence: A study of monolingual children in China and bilingual children in Singapore. Reading and Writing, 31(7), 1499–1523. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S.
(2000) Task-based second language learning: The uses of the first language. Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 251–274. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tedick, D. J., & Lyster, R.
(2020) Scaffolding language development in immersion and dual language classrooms. Routledge.Google Scholar
Tunmer, W. E., & Herriman, M. L.
(1984) The development of metalinguistic awareness: A conceptual overview. In W. E. Tunmer (Eds.), Metalinguistic awareness in children (pp. 12–35). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Gelderen, A., Schoonen, R., de Glopper, K., Hulstijn, J., Snellings, P., Simis, A., & Stevenson, M.
(2003) Roles of linguistic knowledge, metacognitive knowledge and processing speed in L3, L2 and L1 reading comprehension: A structural equation modeling approach. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7(1), 7–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Velasco, P., & Fialais, V.
(2018) Moments of metalinguistic awareness in a Kindergarten class: Translanguaging for simultaneous biliterate development. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21, 760–774. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verreyt, N., Woumans, E., Vanderlanotte, D., Szmalec, A., & Duyck, W.
(2016) The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(1), 181–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar