The language and literacy profile of young Polish children learning English as an additional language in the UK school system Marta Katarzyna Wesierska Doctor of Philosophy University of York Psychology August 2018 Abstract Children’s reading comprehension difficulties can lead to lower performance at school and limited access to the curriculum. Reading may be a particular challenge for those children who are learning English as an additional language (EAL). While a number of studies have been conducted on the development of literacy in children, this research aimed to add to a growing avenue of investigation into the population of children learning EAL. The aim of this research project was an in depth examination of the language and literacy performance of the population of Polish children learning EAL in the UK school system both in their first and second language. The three hundred and nineteen children who were assessed in this study were sampled from three language backgrounds: Polish children learning EAL and two monolingual groups of Polish and English native speakers. The children were assessed with a range of standardised and bespoke tools assessing pre-literacy abilities, oral language, decoding, reading comprehension and higher level comprehension skills. This thesis benchmarked the performance of children learning EAL against their monolingual peers in both languages spoken, along with investigating the relationships between reading comprehension, decoding and language comprehension in this language pair and in comparison to their monolingual peers. Cross-language transfer both within and between language and literacy constructs was also investigated in the EAL group. Finally, the issue of low language performance in this group and the necessity of conducting assessment in both languages spoken by the EAL child were explored. The relevance of these findings for this group of EAL learners in the school setting as well as practical implications and future directions were also discussed. ii Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… ii Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………...………. iii List of Tables ………………………………………………………...……………............ viii List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………...... xi Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………..... xii Author’s Declaration ……………………………………………………………….......... xiii Chapter 1 – An overview of literature in second language learning and literacy acquisition ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Bilingualism and second language acquisition ………………………………….. 1 1.2 Applicability of EAL research in the school setting ……………………….......... 3 1.3 Linguistic differences between Polish and English ……………………………... 5 1.4 Simple View of Reading ………………………………………………………....... 8 1.4.1 SVR in Monolinguals ……………………………………………………......... 9 1.4.2 SVR research in L1s other than English ……………………………………… 12 1.4.3 SVR and Orthographic Depth ………………………………………………… 13 1.4.4 SVR in pupils learning multiple languages …………………………………… 15 1.5 Decoding and its predictors ……………………………………………………..... 17 1.5.1 Decoding and its predictors in children learning multiple languages ………… 20 1.5.2 Phonological complexity ……………………………………………………… 22 1.6 Linguistic Comprehension ……………………………………………………….. 25 1.6.1 Linguistic Comprehension in L2 ……………………………………………… 26 1.7 Cross language transfer …………………………………………………………... 28 1.8 Beyond the Simple View: higher order comprehension skills ………………..... 31 1.9 Summary …………………………………………………………………………... 34 1.10 Aims of thesis …………………………………………………………………….. 36 Chapter 2 – Methodology ………………………………………………………………... 37 2.1 Sample ……………………………………………………………………………... 37 2.1.1 Justification for Sample Size ………………………………………………….. 37 2.1.2 Characteristics of the EAL population ………………………………………... 38 2.1.2.1 Selection of schools to sample the EAL group…………………………….. 39 2.1.3 SES status of the sample ……………………………………………………… 39 2.1.4 Curriculum differences between Poland and the UK ………………………..... 40 2.2 Materials …………………………………………………………………………... 42 2.2.1 Nonverbal IQ ………………………………………………………………….. 42 2.2.2 Pre-literacy skills ………………………………………………………............ 42 2.2.2.1 Phonological awareness …………………………………………………… 43 2.2.2.2 Verbal short term memory ………………………………………………… 43 2.2.2.3 Speed of lexical access …………………………………………………...... 44 2.2.2.4 Letter sound knowledge ……………………………………………............ 44 2.2.3 Oral language measures ……………………………………………………..... 45 iii 2.2.3.1 Expressive vocabulary …………………………………………………….. 45 2.2.3.2 Expressive grammar ……………………………………………………..... 45 2.2.3.3 Receptive vocabulary ……………………………………………………… 46 2.2.3.4 Receptive grammar ………………………………………………………... 46 2.2.3.5 Sentence repetition …………………………………………………............ 47 2.2.3.6 Listening comprehension ………………………………………………….. 47 2.2.4 Measures of reading ability and comprehension ……………………………… 48 2.2.4.1 Decoding real words …………………………………………………......... 48 2.2.4.2 Non-word reading ………………………………………………………..... 49 2.2.4.3 Reading comprehension …………………………………………………… 50 2.2.5 Higher level comprehension skills …………………………………………..... 50 2.2.5.1 Comprehension monitoring ……………………………………………….. 50 2.2.5.2 Inference task …………………………………………………………........ 51 2.3 Bespoke measures created for the purpose of this research …………………… 51 2.3.1 Elision …………………………………………………………………………. 51 2.3.2 Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN Objects) ………………………………..... 52 2.3.3 Inference generation assessment …………………………………………….... 53 2.3.4 Comprehension monitoring …………………………………………………… 55 2.4 Procedure ………………………………………………………………………….. 56 2.5 Ethics ……………………………………………………………………………..... 57 2.6 Parent questionnaires …………………………………………………………….. 58 2.7 Statistical Analyses ………………………………………………………………... 59 2.7.1 Analysis Plan ……………………………………………………………………... 60 2.7.2 Reliability Assessment …………………………………………………………… 60 2.7.3 Oral Language composite ………………………………………………………… 61 Chapter 3 – Benchmarking the abilities of children learning EAL, monolingual English and monolingual Polish children aged 4-7 years ……………………………… 64 3.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 64 3.1.1 Pre-literacy skills …………………………………………………………….... 65 3.1.2 Oral language ………………………………………………………………..... 68 3.1.3 Word reading and reading comprehension ……………………………………. 70 3.2 Aims and hypotheses …………………………………………………………........ 71 3.3 Method …………………………………………………………………………….. 73 3.3.1 Sample ……………………………………………………………………........ 73 3.4 Results ……………………………………………………………………………... 73 3.4.1 Part 1: Standard Scores ……………………………………………………….. 73 3.4.2 Part 2: Non-verbal IQ ……………………………………………………......... 78 3.4.3 Part 3: Benchmarking oral language ………………………………………….. 79 3.4.3.1 Analyses comparing children learning EAL to their English speaking peers .......................................................................................................................... 79 3.4.3.2 Analyses comparing children learning EAL to their Polish speaking peers .......................................................................................................................... 81 3.4.4 Part 4: Benchmarking pre-literacy …………………………………………..... 84 iv 3.4.4.1 Analyses in English ……………………………………………………….. 84 3.4.4.2 Analyses in Polish ………………………………………………………..... 85 3.4.5 Part 5: Benchmarking decoding and reading comprehension ………………... 87 3.4.5.1 Analyses in English ……………………………………………………….. 87 3.4.5.2 Analyses in Polish ………………………………………………………..... 89 3.5 Discussion ………………………………………………………………………….. 91 Chapter 4 – Predicting decoding in an EAL population ……………………………..... 98 4.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 98 4.2 Aim ……………………………………………………………………………….... 102 4.3 Method …………………………………………………………………………….. 102 4.4 Results …………………………………………………………………………....... 103 4.4.1 English analyses ……………………………………………………………..... 104 4.4.2 Polish analyses ………………………………………………………………... 110 4.5 Discussion ………………………………………………………………………….. 114 Chapter 5 – Predictors of reading comprehension and higher level comprehension skills ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 117 5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...... 117 5.2 Aims ……………………………………………………………………………....... 123 5.3 Method ….………………………………………………………………………..... 124 5.4 Results ……………………………………………………………………………... 125 5.4.1 Predictors of reading comprehension ………………………………………..... 125 5.4.2 Higher level comprehension skills: comparison between EAL and monolinguals ……………………………………………………………….……….. 130 5.4.3 Higher level comprehension skills: correlations and predictors ……………… 131 5.4.3.1 MEP Inference subtest …………………………………………………….. 131 5.4.3.2 Comprehension monitoring in English …………………………………..... 134 5.4.3.3 Comprehension monitoring in Polish …………………………………....... 136 5.5 Discussion ………………………………………………………………………….. 137 Chapter 6 – Cross-language analyses ………………………………………………........ 142 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 142 6.1.1 Phonology ……………………………………………………………………... 143 6.1.2 Word reading (decoding) ……………………………………………………... 145 6.1.3 Oral Language ………………………………………………………………… 148 6.2 Aims ………………………………………………………………………………... 149 6.3 Method …………………………………………………………………………….. 149 6.3.1 Sample ………………………………………………………………………… 149 6.3.2 Materials ………………………………………………………………............. 150 6.4 Results ……………………………………………………………………………... 150 6.4.1 Within constructs analyses …………………………………………………..... 150 6.4.1.1 Pre-literacy skills …………………………………………………….......... 150 6.4.1.2 Decoding …………………………………………………………............... 151 6.4.1.3 Reading comprehension …………………………………………………… 151 6.4.1.4