Reading in Chinese and English: A Comparison of More and Less Proficient Chinese-Immersion Readers

• In Event: 34.065 - Opportunities and Challenges in Chinese-English Dual-Language Bilingual Education

Abstract

Recent research findings on Mandarin Immersion (MI) students reveal that by the upper elementary grades, English reading outcomes are on par with non-immersion peers in the same school and district (Author, 2016; Padilla, Fan, Xu, & Silva, 2013). However, findings also indicate relatively lower second language (L2) proficiency outcomes for immersion students’ reading in a logographic script (Mandarin) as compared with other alphabetic partner languages such as Spanish (Author, 2016; Burkhauser et al., 2016). Given the inherent differences in the relationship between pronunciation and orthographic form for English and Chinese, such findings might be expected. That said, because immersion students are expected to use their reading and writing skills in both languages to learn academic subject matter content in the upper elementary grades, the development of sufficient levels of biliteracy is critical.

One fruitful line of research for understanding and improving reading performance involves the study of children’s use of strategic reading processes. Strategic readers are known to employ a wide range of processing strategies that are deliberate, goal-oriented, and reader-initiated (Yau, 2009). Children’s knowledge and appropriate use of such strategies has been linked to improved reading comprehension both in one’s first language (L1) (e.g., Lau & Chan, 2003; Schneider & Lockl, 2002) as well as the L2 (e.g., Jiménez, García, & Pearson, 1996; Sheorey & Mokhtari, 2001). However, limited research exists on beginning readers’ use of strategic processes with Chinese as L1 or L2 (e.g., Everson & Ke, 1997; Yau, 2009) or on immersion readers’ use of processing strategies (Bourgoin, 2015; Chamot & El-Dinary, 1999). To date, we know of no studies that have examined MI students’ use of strategic reading processes.

This study examined the oral reading behaviors and use of strategic reading processes of eight Grade 4 MI learners, four more-proficient and four less-proficient, as they actively engaged with narratives in Chinese (L2) and English (L1). It compared similarities and differences between more- and less-proficient readers’ use of strategic processes and explored children’s awareness of cross-linguistic connections between Chinese and English. Research questions addressed two main types of strategic processing: (1) those strategies used to decode letters and characters at the word-level, and (2) those used to comprehend word and sentence meaning at the text-level.

A non-probabilistic, purposive sampling approach was used to identify study participants. We then video-recorded during-reading think alouds and post-reading interviews in Chinese and English. Transcribed think-aloud data were coded and analyzed with MAXQDA data analysis software to describe, quantify, and compare observed patterns in strategically decoding and comprehending text for each reader by language. Interview data of developing biliterates’ experiences as readers of Chinese and English were also thematically coded and analyzed.

Investigating the strategic reading processes of developing Chinese-English biliterate children will help inform our understanding of Chinese-English biliteracy development and the potential for facilitating cross-linguistic transfer between a logographic and alphabetic script. Findings and implications for instruction of Chinese-English biliterates participating in MI education will be discussed.

Author

• Tara Williams Fortune, University of Minnesota