Investigating Oral Language Skills of Mandarin-English Bilingual and English Monolingual Students in Canada

• In Event: Bridging Languages: Innovative Approaches to Bilingualism and Biliteracy in Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Amidst global migration, fostering oral language skills in multi- and bilingual children is critical to ensure effective communication in both home and school languages. The present study used read-aloud, elision, and story retelling tasks to compare the oral language proficiency of 20 Mandarin-English (ME) bilingual and 20 English monolingual students in grades 1 to 8. The study results revealed that grades 4 to 6 English-dominant ME bilingual students outperformed their English monolingual counterparts in read-aloud and story retelling tasks. In addition, findings showed a predictive relationship between English oral reading fluency and English oral narrative skills in ME bilinguals. This study discusses the importance of fostering balanced development of multi- and bilingual competencies in young students from diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Authors

• Han Lai, University of Toronto

• Eunice Eunhee Jang, University of Toronto - OISE

• Melissa R. Hunte, University of Toronto - OISE

• Jianing Lv, Queen's University - Kingston

• Angelie Ignacio, University of Toronto - OISE