How does Russian and German reading comprehension develop during the first 3 years of primary school in Russian heritage speakers and which factors predict performance in each language?
Methodology:
40 Russian-German children were tested annually from first to third grade (age in grade 1 M = 7; 1 years). Reading was assessed with comparable Russian and German word and sentence reading comprehension tests. The Russian test was available in Cyrillic and Latin script (the latter for children who could not read Cyrillic letters). Potential predictors included lexicon size in Russian and German and rapid automatized naming (RAN) of numbers (both assessed in primary school). Other factors were assessed in kindergarten, that is, nonverbal reasoning and, derived from a parents’ questionnaire, their socioeconomic status and language input in the family.
Data and analysis:
Linear regressions were used to compare the development of Russian and German. Stepwise regression analyses identified predictors for reading comprehension in each language.
Findings:
German reading ability improved faster than that of Russian, likely due to the increasing amount of German input outside the family, literacy instruction in German at school, and the large variance in Russian literacy abilities. Children who could read Cyrillic script, who likely received some form of Russian literacy instruction, and who had a larger Russian lexicon size exhibited better reading performance. These results are discussed regarding the divergent attainment trajectories. Decisive factors for German were German lexicon size and RAN.
Originality:
This longitudinal study tracked Russian and German reading development over 3 years in primary school, assessed Russian reading in Cyrillic and Latin scripts, and identified predictors for bilingual reading development in both languages.
Implications:
To become proficient readers in their heritage language, children need to have a substantial lexicon size and receive literacy instruction.
ArteltC.SchiefeleU.SchneiderW. (2001). Predictors of reading literacy. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 16(3), 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173188
BenmamounE.MontrulS.PolinskyM. (2013). Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 39(3–4), 129–181. https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2013-0009
4.
BergmannA. (2017). Russischunterricht im deutschen Bildungssystem: Traditionen, gesellschaftliche Anforderungen und bildungspolitische Perspektiven. In YıldızC.TopajN.ThomasR.GülzowI. (Eds.), Die Zukunft der Mehrsprachigkeit im deutschen Bildungssystem: Russisch und Türkisch im Fokus (pp. 129–153). Peter Lang.
BrehmerB. (2007). Sprechen Sie Qwelja? Formen und Folgen russisch-deutscher Zweisprachigkeit in Deutschland. In AnstattT. (Ed.), Mehrsprachigkeit bei Kindern und Erwachsenen: Erwerb, Formen, Förderung (pp. 163–186). Attempto Verlag.
7.
BrehmerB.MehlhornG. (2015). Russisch als Herkunftssprache in Deutschland.Ein holistischer Ansatz zur Erforschung des Potenzials von Herkunftssprachen [Russian as a native language in Germany. A holistic approach to exploring the potential of native languages]. Zeitschrift Für Fremdsprachenforschung, 26(1), 85–123.
8.
CzapkaS.TopajN.GagarinaN. (2021). A four-year longitudinal comparative study on the lexicon development of Russian and Turkish heritage speakers in Germany. Languages, 6(27), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6010027
9.
DuzyD.EhmJ. H.SouvignierE.SchneiderW.GoldA. (2013). Prädiktoren der Lesekompetenz bei Kindern mit Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Zeitschrift fur Entwicklungspsychologie und Padagogische Psychologie, 45(4), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000093
10.
GagarinaN. (2017). Monolingualer und bilingualer Erstspracherwerb des Russischen: Ein Überblick. In WulffN.Witzlack-MakarevichK. (Eds.), Handbuch des Russischen in Deutschland: Migration – Mehrsprachigkeit – Spracherwerb (pp. 393–410). Frank & Timme.
11.
GagarinaN.BaumJ.BeselJ. (2017). Lesetest Russisch für mehrsprachige Grundschulkinder. Leibniz-ZAS.
12.
GagarinaN.KlassertA. (2018). Input dominance and development of home language in Russian-German bilinguals. Frontiers in Communication-Language Sciences, 3(40), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00040
13.
GagarinaN.NenonenO. (2017). Cross-linguistic lexical tasks: Russian version (CLT-RU). Part of COST IS0804 LITMUS battery. Unpublished material.
14.
GagarinaN.PosseD.DüsterhöftS.GolcherF.TopajN. (2017). Bilingual lexicon development in German in preschool children with the home languages Russian and Turkish. In PeukertH.GogolinI. (Eds.), Dynamics of linguistic diversity (pp. 125–142). John Benjamins.
15.
GlückC. W. (2011). WWT 6-10, Wortschatz- und Wortfindungstest für 6- bis 10-Jährige (2nd ed.). Elsevier.
16.
GoebelK.RauchD.VielufS. (2011). Leistungsbedingungen und Leistungsergebnisse von Schülerinnen und Schülern türkischer, russischer und polnischer Herkunftssprachen. Zeitschrift Für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht, 16(2), 50–65.
17.
GoughP. B.TunmerW. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6–10.
18.
GustafsonS.SamuelssonC.JohanssonE.WallmannJ. (2013). How simple is the simple view of reading?Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 57(3), 292–308.
19.
HamanE.ŁuniewskaM.PomiechowskaB. (2015). Designing Cross-linguistic Lexical Tasks (CLTs) for bilingual preschool children. In Armon-LotemS.de JongJ.MeirN. (Eds.), Assessing multilingual children (pp. 196–240). Multilingual Matters.
20.
KerekE.NiemiP. (2012). Grain-size units of phonological awareness among Russian first graders. Written Language and Literacy, 15(1), 80–113. https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.15.1.05ker
21.
KirbyJ. R.ParrilaR. K.PfeifferS. L. (2003). Naming speed and phonological awareness as predictors of reading development. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(3), 453–464. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.3.453
22.
KlassertA.GagarinaN. (2010). Der Einfluss des elterlichen Inputs auf die Sprachentwicklung bilingualer Kinder: Evidenz aus russischsprachigen Migrantenfamilien in Berlin. Diskurs Kindheits- Und Jugendforschung, 4, 413–425.
23.
LafranceA.GottardoA. (2005). A longitudinal study of phonological processing skills and reading in bilingual children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 26(4), 559–578. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716405050307
24.
LanderlK.WimmerH. (2008). Development of word reading fluency and spelling in a consistent orthography: An 8-year follow-up. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.1.150
25.
LesemanP. P. M. (2000). Bilingual vocabulary development of Turkish preschoolers in the Netherlands. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21(2), 93–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630008666396
26.
LimbirdC. K.MaluchJ. T.RjoskC.StanatP.MerkensH. (2014). Differential growth patterns in emerging reading skills of Turkish-German bilingual and German monolingual primary school students. Reading and Writing, 27(5), 945–968. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9477-9
27.
LoniganC. J.BurgessS. R.AnthonyJ. L. (2000). Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 36(5), 596–613. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.596
28.
MarxA.StanatP. (2012). Reading comprehension of immigrant students in Germany: Research evidence on determinants and target points for intervention. Reading and Writing, 25(8), 1929–1945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9307-x
29.
MayerA. (2013). TEPHOBE Test zur Erfassung der phonologischen Bewusstheit und der Benennungsschwierigkeit (2., aktual). Ernst Reinhardt Verlag.
30.
MehlhornG. (2019). Differenzierung im Russischunterricht – Einblicke in ein Aktionsforschungsprojekt. In DrackertA.KarlK. B. (Eds.), Didaktik der slawischen Sprachen – Beiträge zum 2. Arbeitskreis in Innsbruck (pp. 203–234). Innsbuck University Press. https://doi.org/10.15203/3187-80-1
31.
MengK.ProtassovaE. (2022). Geboren in Kasachstan, herangewachsen in Deutschland. Langzeitstudie zur Integration und deutsch-russischen Zweisprachigkeit junger Russlanddeutscher. Leibniz-Institut für deutsche Sprache.
32.
MetsalaJ. L.WalleyA. C. (1998). Spoken vocabulary growth and the segmental restructuring of lexical representations: precursors to phonemic awareness and early reading ability. In MetsalaJ. L.EhriL. C. (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy (pp. 89–120). Lawrence Erlbaum.
33.
MeyerM. S.WoodF. B.HartL. A.FeltonR. H. (1998). Longitudinal course of rapid naming in disabled and nondisabled readers. Annals of Dyslexia, 48(1), 89–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-998-0005-6
34.
MollK.RamusF.BartlingJ.BruderJ.KunzeS.NeuhoffN.StreiftauS.LyytinenH.LeppänenP. H. T.LohvansuuK.TóthD.HonbolygóF.CsépeV.BogliottiC.IannuzziS.DémonetJ. F.LongerasE.ValdoisS.GeorgeF.. . . LanderlK. (2014). Cognitive mechanisms underlying reading and spelling development in five European orthographies. Learning and Instruction, 29, 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.09.003
35.
MüllerA. G.StanatP. (2006). Schulischer Erfolg von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit Migrationshintergrund: Analysen zur Situation von Zuwanderern aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion und aus der Türkei. In BaumertJ.StanatP.WatermannR. (Eds.), Herkunftsbedingte Disparitäten im Bildungswesen: Differenzielle Bildungsprozesse und Probleme der Verteilungsgerechtigkeit (pp. 221–255). Springer.
36.
OlfertH.SchmitzA. (2018). Heritage language education in Germany: A focus on Turkish and Russian from primary to higher education. In TrifonasP. P.AravossitasT. (Eds.), Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 397–415). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44694-3_25
37.
PaceA.LuoR.Hirsh-PasekK.GolinkoffR. M. (2017). Identifying pathways between socioeconomic status and language development. Annual Review of Linguistics, 3, 285–308.
38.
ParshinaO.LaurinavichyuteA. K.SekerinaI. A. (2021). Eye-movement benchmarks in Heritage Language reading. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 24(1), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672892000019X
39.
R Core Team. (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing.
40.
RakhlinN. V.MourguesC.Cardoso-MartinsC.KornevA. N.GrigorenkoE. L. (2019). Orthographic processing is a key predictor of reading fluency in good and poor readers in a transparent orthography. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 56(5), 250–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.12.002
41.
RoosJ.SchölerH. (2009). Entwicklung des Schriftspracherwerbs in der Grundschule. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
42.
RothF. P.SpeeceD. L.CooperD. H. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of the connection between oral language and early reading. Journal of Educational Research, 95(5), 259–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220670209596600
43.
SchaarsM. M. H.SegersE.VerhoevenL. (2019). Cognitive and linguistic precursors of early first and second language reading development. Learning and Individual Differences, 72, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.03.008
44.
SchwartzM. (2008). Exploring the relationship between family language policy and heritage language knowledge among second generation Russian-Jewish immigrants in Israel. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29(5), 400–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630802147916
SegererR.MarxA.StanatP.SchneiderW.RoickT.MarxP. (2013). Determinanten der Lesekompetenz bei Jugendlichen nicht deutscher Herkunftssprache. Zur Bedeutung der Spracherwerbsreihenfolge im Falle von Mehrsprachigkeit. In JudeN.KliemeE. (Eds.), PISA 2009 – Impulse für die Schul- und Unterrichtsforschung (pp. 111–131). Beltz.
47.
Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis). (2020). Bildung und Kultur. Allgemeinbildende Schulen. Schuljahr 2019/2020 [Education and culture. Schools of general education. Academic year 2019/2020].
UnsworthS. (2016). Quantity and quality of language input in bilingual language development. In NicoladisS.MontanariE. (Eds.), Bilingualism across the lifespan: Factors moderating language proficiency (pp. 103–121). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14939-007
51.
VerhoevenL.PerfettiC. A. (2011). Introduction to this special issue: Vocabulary growth and reading skill. Scientific Studies of Reading, 15(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2011.536124
52.
VerhoevenL.PerfettiC. A. (2021). Universals in Learning to Read Across Languages and Writing Systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 26(2), 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2021.1938575
53.
VerhoevenL.ReitsmaP.SiegelL. S. (2011). Cognitive and linguistic factors in reading acquisition. Reading and Writing, 24(4), 387–394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9232-4
54.
WeisM.MüllerK.MangJ.HeineJ.-H.MahlerN.ReissK. (2019). Soziale Herkunft, Zuwanderungshintergrund und Lesekompetenz. In ReissK.WeisM.KliemeE.KöllerO. (Eds.), PISA 2018. Grundbildung im internationalen Vergleich (pp. 129–162). Waxmann.
55.
WileT. L.BorowskyR. (2004). What does rapid automatized naming measure? A new RAN task compared to naming and lexical decision. Brain and Language, 90(1–3), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0093-934X(03)00419-X
56.
ZhangH.KodaK. (2018). Vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness in Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) reading comprehension ability. Reading and Writing, 31(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9773-x
57.
ZieglerJ. C.GoswamiU. (2006). Becoming literate in different languages: Similar problems, different solutions. Developmental Science, 9(5), 429–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00509.x
58.
ZöllerI.RoosJ.SchölerH. (2006). Einfluss soziokultureller Faktoren auf den Schriftspracherwerb im Grundschulalter. Risikofaktoren Kindlicher Entwicklung, Migration, Leistungsangst Und Schulübergang, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90075-9_2
