Understanding individual differences in word recognition skills and ESL children

This paper focuses on the extent to which the development of ESL (English as a Second Language) word recognition skills mimics similar trajectories in same-aged ELI (English as a First Language) children, and the extent to which phonological processing skills and rapid naming can be used to predict word recognition performance in ESL children. Two cohorts of Grade I ESL and ELI primary-level children were followed for two consecutive years. Results indicated that vocabulary knowledge, a measure of language proficiency, and nonverbal intelligence were not significant predictors of word recognition in either group. Yet, by considering individual differences in phonological awareness and rapid naming, it was possible to predict substantial amounts

of variance on word recognition performance six months and one year later in both language groups. Commonality analyses indicated that phonological awareness and rapid naming contributed unique variance to word recognition performance. Moreover, the profiles of not at-risk children in the ELI and ESL groups were similar on all but the oral language measure, where ELI children had the advantage. In addition, ELI and ESL profiles of children who had word-recognition difficulty were similar, with low performance on rapid naming and phonological

awareness. Results indicate that these measures are reliable indicators of potential reading disability among ESL children.

EDUCATIONAL ISSUES IN THE ASSESSMENT OF READING DISABILITIES

AMONG IMMIGRANT ESL CHILDREN There is a growing concern over the ability of the educational system to meet the needs of the increasingly diverse multiethnic, multilingual classroom. Prominent among these needs is the acquisition of literacy skills. In recent years, researchers have begun to challenge simplistic notions about the development of English as a Second Language (ESL)1 literacy skills, including the notion that second language (L2) oral proficiency can be used as a chief index of L2 reading. An injudicious adoption of first language (Li) based reading models to explain the development of ESL reading has also been questioned, as has the argument that accurate assessment of reading difficulties among L2 learners cannot be achieved without evaluating performance in the Li, or without first ensuring adequate L2 proficiency. In response to the criticism that placement in special education is often related to socioeconomic, linguistic, and cultural factors rather than to psychoeducational factors (Cummins 1991; Ogbu 1978; Ortiz and Ramirez 1989), and a growing awareness that educational difficulties may reflect normal linguistic and acculturation trajectories, well-intentioned professionals and school officials have avoided diagnosing ESL learners as LD for a number of years. One positive outcome of this growing sensitivity has been the development of alternative, culturally sensitive assessment procedures (e.g., Campione 1989; Cole 1996; Dao 1991; Duran, 1989; Figueroa 1989; Gavillan-Torres 1983; Oller and Damico 1990; Feuerstein 1979) and a growing awareness that assessment in the child's Ll may be more accurate and informative. Assessment in the Ll is, however, often not feasible because of a lack of trained professionals and appropriate assessment tools (Geva 2000a; Sattler 1992). Moreover, with time, immigrant children begin to lose their Ll proficiency. As a result, even when assessment tools and trained professionals are available, the Ll norms are not useful as benchmarks for assessment and evaluation. As is the case with ELI (English as a First Language) learners, some ESL learners may read with difficulty, not because they have not gained sufficient ESL proficiency, but because they have problems with decoding skills. Yet there is a dearth of research on literacy acquisition in language minority children (August and Hakuta 1997). In particular, there is little systematic research on normal and delayed development of word recognition skills in ESL children. A controversial area in reading research and practice concerns the extent to which ESL and minority children can be successful in acquiring reading skills for the first time in a second language in the absence of reading skills in the Li (Fitzgerald 1995; Snow, Burns, and Griffin 1998). At this point, there is also very little solid research evidence concerning the belief that instruction designed to ensure the attainment of some (unspecified) level of L2 oral language proficiency should precede the introduction of instruction designed to teach various reading skills in the L2 (Fitzgerald 1995). There is some research, however, that pertains to the development of basic reading skills in bilingual children (e.g., Comeau et al. 1999; Durgunoglu, Nagy, and Hancin-Bhatt 1993; Geva and Siegel 2000; Geva and Wade-Woolley 1998; Geva, Wade-Woolley, and Shany 1993, 1997; Gholamain and Geva 1999). This research has shown that young school children can learn to decode and spell words without apparent difficulty, even when their oral L2 proficiency is still developing. This research suggests that normally achieving children should not experience persistent difficulties in acquiring basic reading skills. Furthermore, like Ll children, some L2 learners may have a specific learning disability involving word recognition skills, and the common practice of delaying assessment and remediation for a number of years until language proficiency develops may lead to cumulative deprivation. It is necessary to develop ways of minimizing overidentification and underidentification of ESL learners who also may be at-risk of being reading disabled. To achieve this, it is first necessary to identify the developmental trajectories associated with various reading components in ESL learners. It is also necessary to study the correlates and precursors of early development of basic reading skills among ESL children and to examine the extent to which the development of basic word recognition skills in ESL children is bootstrapped to ESL oral proficiency and to underlying cognitive-linguistic processes. LINGUISTIC-COGNITIVE COMPONENT PROCESSES AND READING DEVELOPMENT IN EM