Relationships between Adolescents' Oral Language Skills, Metacognitive Knowledge and Strategies and Reading Comprehension in English and French

The author examined bilingual reading comprehension within the parameters of two theories of second language (L2) reading comprehension performance: the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) and the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis (LTH). The oral language skills and metacognitive knowledge and reading strategies that relate to L2 reading comprehension are first described. She outlines the shortcomings of previous research in L2 reading comprehension are then discussed. The following four research questions are then posed by the author: (1) What oral language skills contribute to reading comprehension in English (L1) and French (L2)?; (2) How does metacognitive knowledge and strategies for reading comprehension compare and contrast in English and French?; (3) What type of metacogitive knowledge and skills contribute to reading comprehension in English and French?; and (4) What is the relative influence of oral language and metacognitive knowledge and strategies on reading comprehension in English and French? Based on the research results, a fifth question was addressed in the Discussion: Which theoretical framework (LIH; LTH) provides a better explanation for the results of this study? The participants in the author's study were 48 bilingual adolescents who spoke English (L1) and French (L2), enrolled in grade 10, and attended public Anglophone high schools in Quebec. They completed oral language and reading comprehension tasks in English and French, and questionnaires about their strategies for reading comprehension in both languages. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that vocabulary skills contributed to reading comprehension in both English and French. Furthermore, word-reading difficulty was a metacognitive factor that related to reading in English and French. Perceived difficulty of word reading in English significantly related to English reading comprehension. The author notes that although participants' repertoire of French metacognitive components was more strategic and reader-directed compared to the English strategies, none of the French strategies significantly related to French or English reading comprehension. When only the significant oral language and metacognitive factors were entered into one analysis, French vocabulary predicted English and French reading comprehension. More support was found for the LIH in light of L2 vocabulary predicting both L1 and L2 reading. The author discusses the differences between the curricula for L1 and L2 language learning and set the parameters for an explanation of the absence of cross-language transfer of metacognitive reading strategies.

PhD dissertation

McGill University

Montreal

2012

xviii-244p.

en