This research-based, highly practical volume presents ways teachers and schools can accelerate literacy achievement with bilingual K-6 students in both English and their home languages. Georgia Earnest García shares innovative instructional strategies for students with different language backgrounds in multiple settings--bilingual/ESL classrooms,…

According to the Simple View of Reading, decoding and linguistic comprehension are essential for reaching efficient reading comprehension. Students with Swedish as a first (L1) or second language (L2) in grades 1-3 might need special support to develop reading comprehension. In order to identify needs in reading in L1 and L2 students, the current…

Addressing language barriers during instruction is critical for improving content area learning and achievement within classrooms with students from different native language backgrounds. Although several instructional supports have been highlighted in the literature as helping to reduce language barriers, it is questionable whether teachers are…

It is important for individuals to have a rich vocabulary to be able to communicate effectively with their environment and develop their expressive power both in their mother tongue and in a foreign language. In this research, we propose a method to contribute to the teaching of vocabulary and to support the long-term learning of words. In this…

While it has been shown that socioeconomic status (SES) is important for children's literacy development in their first language (L1), less is known about its association with reading in a second language (L2). The present study examined the different effects of SES on the acquisition of reading in Chinese as L1 and English as L2 from ages 7 to…

Vocabulary is foundational for reading and strongly linked to emergent bilingual (EB) students' academic achievement. Given the few syntheses on vocabulary interventions that are focused on emergent bilinguals, this literature review appraises the existing research and thoroughly accounts for methodological characteristics across studies relating…

We investigated the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the unfolding of vocabulary and text-comprehension skills in language minority bilingual children, who are educated exclusively in their L2. For comparison, a monolingual control group was also tested, consisting of children of the same age and schooling. We administered a synonyms task to…

The present paper aims to investigate the interplay of lexical and grammatical development in school-aged Greek-Albanian bilingual children by providing evidence both from majority, Greek, and heritage, Albanian. To this end, 47 8 to 10-year-old bilingual children were tested by means of expressive vocabulary tests in Greek and in Albanian, while…

This action research study aimed to improve reading with understanding in a lower primary classroom in Fiji. Five emergent readers were selected through an examination of class running records. Peer observation, student worksheets, and class running records were utilized to collect data. The data analysis revealed that when teachers implement…

This study investigates the strategies that teachers employ when presenting the meaning and form of a novel English word to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This case study observed and interviewed three teachers who taught five ASD students with diverse characteristics and varying language proficiency. Thematic analysis was conducted…

In the present study, we aimed to compare reading-writing relations between first-grade Native English Speakers (NESs) and English Language Learners (ELLs). Thirty-four ELLs and 35 NESs completed measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary, lexical-level reading (word reading) and writing (spelling), and discourse-level reading (reading…

The current study examines the bilingual language development of twelve young children. We focus on the use of Spanish as a heritage language among the children while they learn English in an English-majority environment. Data was collected in English and Spanish four times over the first two years of formal schooling. The study focuses on oral…

Bilinguals are more successful than monolinguals in novel language learning due to the transfer of prior learning strategies and experiences with two languages. The extent of such transfer may depend on the similarity between previously acquired languages and a novel language. This hypothesis was tested in relation to vocabulary learning in…

This article explores the findings from a formative study focused on language and literacy development in an international school's K5 classroom in South America. The teacher's pedagogical goal was to increase the amount of English used by students related to the social context of a restaurant. The intervention involved an integrated literacy and…

We use a novel paradigm to examine the effect of language exposure and variable input on the acquisition of words in primary school--aged children. Children growing up with different languages and foreign or regional accents in their input might benefit from their experience with variability when learning new words from peers with unfamiliar…