Elementary School ELLs' Reading Skill Profiles Using Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling

Roles of Length of Residence and Home Language Environment

Bibliographic Data

ID5100445
AuthorsEunice Eunhee Jang (0000-0002-8824-8216, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Maggie Dunlop (University of Toronto), Maryam Wagner (0000-0001-9305-6764, University of Toronto), Younhee Kim (0000-0001-7393-7767, University of Toronto), Youn‐hee Kim (University of Toronto), Zhimei Gu (University of Toronto)
Year2013
Volume63
Issue3
Pages400-436
Publication date2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage Learning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-8333 • E-ISSN: 1467-9922
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lang.12016
OpenAlexW1598774187
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited51

The study examined differences in reading achievement and mastery skill development among Grade-6 students with different language background profiles, using cognitive diagnosis modeling applied to large-scale provincial reading test performance data. Our analyses revealed that students residing in various home language environments show different reading achievement growth patterns. Earlier gaps in their reading achievement disappear the longer they reside in the target language community. Additionally, students who come from home environments where they use English and another language equally demonstrate higher skill mastery achievement levels, indicating that immigrant students' diverse home language environments do not adversely affect their reading achievement in the longer term. The study results support the evidence that multilingual home language environments are not a cause of low achievement; however, the achievement patterns of Canadian-born English language learners (ELLs) do differ from their immigrant counterparts, revealing that time alone is not a sufficient condition of reading skill achievement. ELLs' outperformance of monolinguals after 5 years of residence is a result of ongoing instructional support and a rich linguistic environment. The study results hold important policy implications: The evaluation of ELLs' academic achievement and school effectiveness for accountability purposes should be based on longitudinal data that track their developmental growths

Academic achievement · Achievement test · Affect (linguistics) · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Ell · First language · Immigration · Language proficiency · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Reading (process) · Residence · Standardized test · Teaching method · Vocabulary development · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development

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