Longitudinal Relations Between Verbal Working Memory and Reading in Students From Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Longitudinal Studies Poster Session

Abstract

The current research aimed to understand the longitudinal relationships between reading and verbal working memory (VWM) based on the Mutualism Hypothesis (Demoulin & Kolinsky, 2016). The sample included overall weighted sample, English monolinguals (EL1) as well as language minority learners with high (LM-HE) and persistently low English proficiency (LM-PLE). A moderate growth rate relation was found when students were developing early reading skills. However, the cross-lagged effects were either small (βs<=.15) or nonsignificant. The results suggested the process of acquiring early reading skills and the shaping of VWM influenced each other irrespective of English language proficiency. However, the reading-VWM relation maybe better understood as a co-development process rather than a causal factor of each other.

Authors

• Shuai Zhang, Appalachian State University

• R. Malatesha Joshi, Texas A&M University - College Station