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Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada 29:2 (2016), 613–639. doi 10.1075/resla.29.2.09fer
issn 0213–2028 / e-issn 2254–6774 © John Benjamins Publishing Company
Reading comprehension
e role of acculturation, language dominance, and
socioeconomic status in cross-linguistic relations
Aline Ferreira1,2, Alexandra Gottardo1, Christine Javier1, John
W. Schwieter1,3 and Fanli Jia4
1Wilfrid Laurier University / 2University of California Santa Barbara /
3University of Greenwich / 4Seton Hall University
e role of rst language (L1) skills in second language (L2) achievement is oen
investigated to assist learners in acquiring their L2. ere are several factors that
may inuence potential relations among Spanish and English measures (e.g.,
age of L2 acquisition, social status, among others). is study investigates rela-
tions among L1 and L2 variables for language learners. Specically, it focuses on
relations among oral language (vocabulary), reading (word reading and reading
comprehension) variables and sociocultural variables (language dominance,
acculturation, socio-economic status) in Spanish-English bilinguals, all of
whom were attending school in a large metropolitan, English-speaking region
in Canada. Results showed that in both English and Spanish, reading and oral
language variables were related. Reading comprehension was related to word
reading and vocabulary in the given language. Additionally, reading comprehen-
sion in Spanish was related to dominance in that language and to aliation with
the heritage culture.
Keywords: bilingual dominance, acculturation, reading
1. Introduction
Spanish-speaking families are heavily represented in terms of numbers of re-
cent immigrants to Canada. More specically, Canadians of Latin American
origin comprise one of the largest non-European ethnic groups in the country
(Statistics Canada, 2006) with political and economic reasons being common mo-
tivations for leaving their countries of origin (Saphir, 2008). When immigrants
arrive in Canada, they face many challenges including language barriers: a lack
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614 Aline Ferreira et al.
of English- or French-language skills may lead to unemployment or underem-
ployment in Canada (Saphir, 2008). However, weaknesses in the societal language,
English or French,1 might depend on the socio-economic status (SES) of the fami-
lies in their country of origin. e position of English as a “lingua franca” has
prompted people from dierent parts of the globe to learn English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) (Ur, 2010). is practice is common for middle class citizens in
Latin America (Zaragoza, 2014). On the other hand, families from a lower SES
might not have access to the same school system, either private or public, and
therefore might not able to learn EFL when in their home country. When arriv-
ing and settling in their new home, these immigrants must learn English to nd
a job and make friends outside the Spanish-speaking community in order to feel
more integrated into the new culture. Children are expected to attend school in
the English system along with their English-speaking peers, in which case learning
English is the basis for their academic success in Canada. Older children oen have
diculties with the acquisition of some aspects of language (Farnia & Geva, 2011;
Proctor, Carlo, August, & Snow, 2005), which impedes their ability to express and
develop their ideas and opinions. Data collected from older children and adoles-
cent English learners show that they are at risk for lower literacy skills (Education
Quality and Accountability Oce, 2012; National Center for Education Statistics,
2009), which lead to lower levels of secondary school completion and a lack of ac-
cess to postsecondary education (Geva & Gottardo, 2009; Schwieter, 2011).
Many factors may aect language development in young immigrants, includ-
ing cognitive-linguistic and sociolinguistic variables (e.g., acculturation, motiva-
tion to learn, socio-economic status, among others). Although these variables have
been tested with regard to oral language acquisition (Gardner, 1985) and reading
(Jia, Gottardo, Koh, Chen, & Pasquarella, 2014; see August & Shanahan, 2006;
Durgunoglu, 2002, for reviews), gaps still exist in terms of the role of sociocultural
factors and their relationship with linguistic variables related to reading. As such,
the present study examines relations among sociocultural variables such as ac-
culturation, bilingual dominance, and socio-economic status (SES), and language
and literacy skills for Spanish-English speakers who show language dominance in
one of their languages.
1. French and English are both ocial languages in Canada. For the sake of brevity, future ref-
erences to the societal language will be English given the context of the study, although both
English and French are implied and important in their own contexts.
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Reading comprehension 615
1.1 Sociocultural variables and literacy
In a socioeducational model of second language (L2) acquisition, Gardner (1985)
proposed an integrative motive for learning the L2 in a context in which meet-
ing and communicating with members of the target culture, among other vari-
ables, play an important part in the process of L2 learning. In this model, language
aptitude and learner attitude toward the more prestigious linguistic and cultural
group play an important role in language acquisition in immigration contexts in
which there is a high level of interaction with the mainstream community in the
target language. Indeed, dierent variables must be taken into account in order to
describe how they might have an impact on the process of maintaining a rst lan-
guage or learning a second language, specically in relation to reading skills. Key
sociocultural variables, specically acculturation, language dominance, and SES,
and their relationships with language development and literacy will be explored in
the present study.
1.1.1 Acculturation
Acculturation is a “process of change that occurs when individuals from dierent
cultures interact and share a common geographical space following migration,
political conquest, or forced relocation” (Organista, Marín, & Chun, 2010, p. 100).
It involves “two or more groups, with consequences for each; in eect, however,
the contact experiences have a much greater impact on the nondominant group
and its members” (Berry, 2001, p. 616). When interpreting language as a primor-
dial component of a culture, it is expected that immigrants will learn the target
language in order to be integrated into the target culture. erefore, they will be-
come (late) bilingual speakers of the dominant language in their new country as
well as speaking their home language. However, the process is not straightforward.
Several factors might contribute to success in learning the L2 while maintaining
the rst language (L1). Paradis, Genesee, and Crago (2011) claim that the size of
the language group and the status of both the majority and minority languages
within the community can aect an individual’s attitudes and motivation to speak
a particular language. erefore, more prestigious languages would be stronger
within a community. Paradis et al. (2011) argue that minority languages or cul-
tures within a community are more susceptible to attrition, a notion that can be
discouraging for many families. us, acculturation, as a sociolinguistic variable,
can be related to L2 acquisition (Gardner, 1985; Jia et al., 2014).
Individual factors specic to the learner also can have an inuence on accul-
turation. Gardner (1985) explained that the willingness to learn a new language
is related to socialization with members of the target language community. is
integrative motive feeds interest in learning the L2, where the learner is active in
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616 Aline Ferreira et al.
the L2 learning process. A positive attitude towards both language and culture will
benet L2 learners, when students embrace their experience in order to maximally
prot from it (Schwieter & Ferreira, 2016).
Jia et al. (2014) suggested that sociocultural variables, such as acculturation,
should be investigated in relation to English literacy skills. In their study, the re-
searchers examined whether acculturation impacted Chinese adolescents’ liter-
acy achievement by testing the simple view of reading model (Gough & Tunmer,
1986). By analyzing whether dierent variables were related to reading success,
the researchers found that acculturation explained unique variance in L2 reading
in adolescent English learners. e study operationalized acculturation using a
questionnaire, while literacy skills (vocabulary, reading uency, and reading com-
prehension) were assessed via standardized tests rather than commonly used self-
report methods. Results suggested a contribution of sociocultural factors to L2
reading in adolescent English learners beyond cognitive-linguistic factors. Other
studies on acculturation and native language loss have documented the conse-
quences of L2 exposure aer immigration to another country (Guardado, 2002,
2010; Wong Fillmore, 1991). Grosjean (1982) argues that bilingualism is not static,
that is, language prociency in bilinguals may change depending on environmen-
tal factors. is change, or restructuring might occur when a person has to adjust
his/her abilities to adapt to the new environment or community, resulting in a lack
of ease in the L1 when having a conversation in the restructured (or lost) language.
Even though acculturation has received some attention in the literature, re-
search on the relations among acculturation, bilingual dominance, reading, socio-
economic factors, and vocabulary seems to be incipient. Hammer and Dewaele
(2015) investigated a group of adult Polish immigrants in England and analyzed
post-migration sociolinguistic aspects (e.g., acculturation and frequency of L2
use aer migration), temporal predictors of L2 attainment (e.g., age of onset),
and also socio-biographical variables (e.g., education level, motivation behind
immigration, gender, age, and context of L2 acquisition). Results suggested that
acculturation and age of onset were related to L2 attainment. ey also high-
lighted that the participants, who were highly educated, might have high levels
of meta-linguistic awareness and therefore be able to reect on their L2 learning
process. Similar to Hammer and Dewaele’s study, most studies on acculturation
deal with adults, not children. However, the present study examined multiple
cognitive-linguistic and socio-cultural variables in relation to language and lit-
eracy skills across English and Spanish in bilinguals, who were in the upper el-
ementary grades.
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Reading comprehension 617
1.1.2 Bilingual dominance
When a speaker knows two or more languages, language dominance or bilingual
dominance is assessed in order to determine how much a bilingual learner fa-
vours a given language. Bilinguals are commonly classied as dominant in the
L1, dominant in the L2, or balanced bilinguals (Flege, Mackay, & Piske, 2002).
Balanced bilingualism is characterized by equal performance in both languages on
a variety of tests (Grosjean, 1982) and usually presents “little interlingual interfer-
ence” (Lambert, 1990, p. 203). Dierent variables may be used to assess dominance
(Dunn & Fox Tree, 2009) based on the diversity of experiences with all languages.
Child-specic variables, such as age of acquisition and language use in the home,
are related to language dominance. In these cases, the home language is the lan-
guage that a family uses for their domestic communication and is commonly the
rst language that children learn from their caretakers.
e language spoken at home may or may not be the dominant societal lan-
guage, but rather is the more natural language for family interaction. As children
grow and begin to increase their interactions with people outside the family, the
home language will share space with the community language and can be replaced
by the dominant language spoken in the community. ese experiences result in
children showing dominance in their L2. ese bilingual learners oen show un-
even levels of performance in the L1 and L2, depending on their knowledge of
each skill (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) and the amount of time they
are exposed to each language (Cobo-Lewis, Eilers, Pearson, & Umbel, 2002).
In addition to child-specic factors, societal factors operate to inuence lan-
guage use and language dominance in bilinguals. Dominant languages are those
most oen used by bilinguals. ese languages usually are taught in schools, heard
in the national media, and spoken in daily interactions. In multicultural settings,
people oen have to deal with more than one language. When the most important,
prestigious language spoken in the community is not the one which is spoken
most oen at home, speakers are exposed to languages for dierent amounts of
time every day. ese languages usually include the community language and the
heritage language or L1 (Fishman, 2001). Dunn and Fox Tree (2009, p. 273) pro-
posed that “L2s are oen the languages that people learn deliberately, in school,
for some future potential use.” erefore, multiple factors related to individual and
group experiences are involved in language use.
Unfortunately, in many studies examining literacy acquisition, bilinguals
are categorized as belonging to a homogeneous group (i.e., all English language
learners) or are classied by L1 with no attempt to control systematically for lev-
els of L1 skills or L1 and L2 experiences (Wei, 2002). In contrast, Toribio (2001)
classied English-Spanish bilinguals as beginner, intermediate, or advanced
learners. However, these classications ignore the potential reciprocal eects of
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618 Aline Ferreira et al.
languages, with L1 and L2 skills inuencing each other (Cook, 2003; Hernandez,
Li, & MacWhinney, 2005). Some researchers have used the terminology “balanced
bilinguals” in their studies to describe individuals who are equally procient in
L1 and L2 (Moreno & Kutas, 2005; Náñez & Padilla, 1995). In reality, balanced
bilinguals are rare, as most bilinguals prefer one of their languages, either the L1 or
L2. For example, Dewaele (2011) found that even though bilinguals can be highly
procient in both languages, they tend to use their L1 for specic activities such
as communicating feelings, swearing, or addressing their children. Speakers also
report a stronger emotional attachment and lower levels of communicative anxi-
ety in their L1.
In measuring bilingual dominance, methods such as self-reported language
assessments based on one or a few questions, or subjective impressions of the re-
searcher or educator are subject to biases of the participant or the researcher in
addition to the purposes of the study (Flege et al., 2002). One solution is to use
a gradient scale, such as the bilingual dominance scale, based on a more global
categorization of language ability, as opposed to using a dichotomous scale (Dunn
& Fox Tree, 2009; Hakuta & D’Andrea, 1992). Rather than asking an over-arching
question about language use, the bilingual dominance scale, examines the use of
the L1 and L2 in multiple contexts and across multiple linguistic tasks (Dunn &
Fox Tree, 2009). In this study, an adaptation of the scale by Dunn and Fox Tree was
used to measure bilingual dominance.
1.1.3 Socioeconomic status, language and literacy
Socioeconomic status (SES) is related to language and executive functioning (Calvo
& Bialystok, 2013) and literacy (Duncan & Magnuson, 2005). Several variables are
related to parental SES, including family income, parental education, family struc-
ture and neighborhood conditions, as well as childhood wellbeing. ese variables
should be considered when analyzing the relationship between SES and literacy.
In the context of the United States, the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
(ECLS-K) showed that African-American and Hispanic children scored close to
half a standard deviation lower in reading than their peers (Levitt & Fryer, 2004;
Ronald & Levitt, 2004), and the variables that explained most of the racial reading
gap were related to poverty. Early in their lives, children of low SES do not perform
well on reading outcomes (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008) and these delays in literacy
development can impair their later academic success (Schwieter, 2011). Janus and
Duku (2007) analyzed several areas that contribute to children’s school readiness,
including SES and parental involvement in their child’s literacy development.
Results showed that children with identied risk factors were more likely to be at
a disadvantage at school entry in terms of school readiness and were more likely
than their peers to be vulnerable to academic underachievement (Janus & Duku,
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Reading comprehension 619
2007). ese researchers and others claimed that future growth is delayed without
a solid foundation, which will lead to weaker performance in school (Schwieter,
2011). Research results showed an impact of home literacy environments on the
literacy scores and reading interests of students from low socioeconomic back-
grounds (Van Vechten, 2013), independent of immigrant status (Van Steensel,
2006). e research showed that adolescents and young adults from lower SES
are behind in their reading levels, demonstrating long-term eects of early de-
lays (Van Vechten, 2013). Poor reading skills contribute to poor motivation for
reading, which in turn is related to lower engagement in reading, producing a
cyclical relationship. erefore, interventions should target students from lower
SES backgrounds in order to facilitate literacy development and overall academic
achievement.
1.1.4 Bilingualism, vocabulary, and literacy
Many studies have been carried out to investigate the links between bilingualism
and academic achievement, especially in terms of how language prociency skills
are related to reading ability (Durgunoglu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt 1993; Gottardo,
2002; Gottardo, Yan, Siegel, & Wade-Woolley, 2001; LaFrance & Gottardo, 2005;
Proctor, August, Carlo, & Barr, 2010). Gottardo (2002) found that phonological
processing was related to reading skills in English and Spanish. Children who per-
formed well on phonological awareness tasks in one language were also able to
do well in other languages. In terms of vocabulary, studies have shown that bi-
lingual children demonstrate below-average vocabulary scores in both languages
(see August & Shanahan, 2006; Grin, Burns, & Snow, 1998, for reviews), and
their vocabulary is similar in terms of size in both languages. Signicant relations
were also found between vocabulary and speed of processing of spoken language
(Fernald, Perfors, & Marchman, 2006; Hurtado, Marchman, & Fernald, 2007;
Marchman, Fernald, & Hurtado, 2010).
One of the criticisms of studies that investigate vocabulary development in
bilingual children is the use of isolated lexical items or items in short sentences,
which do not allow children to form a full representation of the word meanings,
resulting in lower scores on these tasks. It is important to consider that bilingual
children are learning two sets of lexical items at the same time, which implies
that they have a smaller vocabulary in each language compared to monolingual
children (Cobo-Lewis et al., 2002). Also, many variables contribute to vocabu-
lary development, including quantity and quality of conversations that children
hear every day (Hart & Risley, 1995; Huttenlocher, Haight, Bryk, Seltzer, & Lyons,
1991). ese variables might dierentially inuence prociency across languages
in bilinguals.
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620 Aline Ferreira et al.
An increasing number of studies have investigated factors related to reading
comprehension in bilinguals. Specically, the simple view of reading (Gough &
Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) is a commonly-tested model of reading
comprehension. In this model, reading comprehension (RC) is the product of de-
coding (D), a word-level reading skill where the individual is expected to recog-
nize words based on the letter-sound correspondences, and listening comprehen-
sion (LC), which involves vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, and
syntactic awareness, RC = D x LC (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). If either D or LC is
equal to zero, then reading comprehension is also equal to zero. Joshi and Aaron
(2011) proposed a modied formula in which RC = WR (word recognition) x
LC. Both formulas incorporate the construct of word-level reading skill (D in the
original formula and WR in the revised formula).
When learning to read, individuals rely more heavily on decoding than on lis-
tening comprehension. However, this pattern tends to shi as reading prociency
increases and vocabulary knowledge becomes more important for understanding
text (Catts, Hogan, & Adlof, 2005). As individuals become more advanced read-
ers and word recognition becomes automatic, they rely less on “sounding out”
words and in addition, advanced texts become more complex and readers must
rely more on the linguistic context, via vocabulary knowledge, syntactic aware-
ness, and morphological awareness, in order to make meaning from the text at
hand. e simple view of reading has been tested on monolingual children (Gough
& Tunmer, 1986), poor comprehenders (Catts, Adlof, & Weismer, 2006), and also
on Spanish-English learners in longitudinal studies (Gottardo & Mueller, 2009;
Hoover & Gough, 1990; Proctor, August, Carlo, & Barr, 2010; Proctor, Carlo,
August, & Snow, 2005). For example, Proctor et al. (2010) found that Spanish
vocabulary predicted Spanish reading comprehension, and that English reading
predicted Spanish reading in a study that measured Spanish and English read-
ing comprehension from grades 2 to 5. In addition, vocabulary knowledge was
important in predicting reading comprehension, beyond listening comprehension
performance (Proctor et al., 2005).
Even though many studies have tested the simple view of reading, the role of
socio-cultural variables in reading remains unclear. Sociocultural variables in
reading comprehension is missing particularly for immigrant children in late el-
ementary school. erefore, it is important to examine whether acculturation and
bilingual dominance, as well as socioeconomic status, have an impact on reading
comprehension, beyond the role of word reading and vocabulary knowledge.
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Reading comprehension 621
2. e present study
e present study examines the role of acculturation in reading comprehension
in English and Spanish. Specically, we ask whether identication with the her-
itage culture or the mainstream culture is related to reading comprehension in
Spanish and in English beyond word reading and vocabulary knowledge. In addi-
tion, factors related to the categorical variables of language dominance, identied
as English dominance or Spanish dominance, were examined. Specically, were
reading comprehension, word reading and vocabulary related to dominance in a
specic language as determined by a bilingual dominance scale?
2.1 Participants
Fiy-one participants (29 females, 22 males) were recruited through community
centres, churches, and local associations that served Latino families. ese par-
ticipants were students who were living in a suburban area on the edge of a large
metropolitan, English-speaking area in Canada. e participants had a mean age
of 11 years (SD = 1.1 years) and had lived in Canada for a mean of 6 years 3
months, but showed high variability in terms of time living in Canada (SD = 3.3
years). e participants classied as Spanish dominant had lived in Canada for an
average of 4.5 years, while the group classied as English dominant had lived in
Canada for an average of 7 years. More details on the classication procedure will
be discussed below.
Family SES was calculated for each participant. Measuring SES is challenging
when conducting research with immigrants because occupational level and fam-
ily income can change dramatically from the country of origin to the country to
which the person immigrates. In contrast, educational level is a stable indicator of
the SES, even in the face of changes in geographic location (Gottfried, Gottfried,
Bathurst, Guerin, & Parramore, 2003). Children’s academic performance is highly
related to maternal education with maternal and paternal educational levels being
highly correlated (Ensminger & Fothergill, 2003). In the current study, parental
education was used as a measure of SES using a parental report questionnaire.
e educational level of each parent was assigned a numerical code based on the
Hollingshead’s (1975) Four Factor Index of Social Status. Levels of education were
assigned a value of 1 through 7 with higher numbers indicating a higher level of
education. More specically, 5 indicates partial college education with at least one
year of specialized training while 6 indicates a 4-year college or university educa-
tion with a graduation. Mean scores for the present sample were between 5 and 6,
suggesting that the families in the present study are part of the upper-middle class.
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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622 Aline Ferreira et al.
2.2 Methods and measures
2.2.1 Bilingual dominance
An adaptation of Dunn and Fox Tree’s (2009) Bilingual Dominance Scale was used
to measure bilingual dominance. e original questionnaire was designed for par-
ticipants who were adult bilinguals and consisted of 12 questions. Questions in-
cluded age of acquisition and years of education in the language, as well as comfort
with the languages. Additional questions examined the participants’ use of one or
both languages to complete specic tasks, such as mental arithmetic. e scale
used for this study consisted of 14 questions with two of the original questions
being modied to better suit the language abilities of children between the ages of
9 and 13. e rst modication was to the question: “If you have a foreign accent,
which language(s) is it in?” is question was not considered age-appropriate, as
many students this age could not make this judgment accurately. erefore, the
question was split and modied into two questions: “When speaking in English
(Spanish), do people ever tell you that you have an accent?” e second modica-
tion was to the question: “Do you feel that you have lost any uency in a particular
language?” Again, to make the question more age-appropriate, it was changed to:
“When having a conversation in English (Spanish), do you sometimes have trou-
ble coming up with the right words to say?” e questionnaire was administered
using a paper-and-pencil format. Scoring was completed as per Dunn and Fox
Tree. For example, ve points were assigned for uency in the language that was
predominantly used at home, while four points were assigned for uency in the
societal language (see Dunn & Fox Tree, 2009, for full details).
2.2.2 Acculturation
An adapted version of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans
(ARSMA) was used to assess mainstream acculturation and heritage encultura-
tion (Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995). e scale used two categories, which
reect a bidimensional model of acculturation and are more consistent with the
experiences of Canadian immigrants (Jia et al., 2014; Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus,
2000). e original ARSMA was created for Mexican-Americans and is not fully
consistent with the experiences of Canadians of Latino origin. e adapted mea-
sure used for this study focused on language use, friendships, entertainment and
perceived aliation and identity. Each item was rated on a ve-point Likert scale
that ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Higher scores on the main-
stream dimension reected greater adaptation to the individual’s current cultural
setting, measuring acculturation. In contrast, higher scores on the heritage dimen-
sion reected greater aliation with the values and traditions of the individual’s
culture of origin, measuring enculturation. Percentages were calculated and used
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Reading comprehension 623
in the analyses because the dimensions had dierent numbers of items associated
with them.
2.2.3 Word reading: English and Spanish
Word reading was assessed using standardized measures in English and Spanish.
e Word Identication subtest from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised
(WRMT-NU; Woodcock, 1998) was administered to measure English reading.
Participants were asked to read the words aloud from a list. e words increased
in diculty and testing was discontinued when the participant made 6 consecu-
tive errors at the end of a page. is subtest has a Cronbach’s α of .92 (Woodcock).
In Spanish, the Identicación de letras y palabras subtest of the Batería III
Woodcock-Muñoz (Woodcock & Muñoz-Sandoval, 1995) was used to measure
word reading. In this task, participants were asked to identify a series of letters and
words of increasing diculty. e split-half reliability using a Spearman-Brown
correction was .91 (Woodcock & Muñoz-Sandoval).
2.2.4 Reading comprehension: English and Spanish
Reading comprehension was assessed using standardized measures in English and
Spanish. e Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA; Neale, 1999) was used as
a measure of reading comprehension in English. Participants were asked to read
passages aloud and then answer comprehension questions for each passage. ere
were a total of six passages, however the total number of passages administered
to each participant varied depending on the participant’s reading ability and age
for a maximum of 44 questions. e passages increased in diculty, and testing
stopped when the participant exceeded the maximum number of allowable de-
coding errors for a given passage (16 to 20 depending on the passage). A total
comprehension score was used in the analyses. e NARA has a reliability coef-
cient of .84 for ages 10 to 12 (Neale).
Reading comprehension was measured in Spanish using the Comprensión de
textos, text comprehension subtest of the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz (Woodcock
& Muñoz-Sandoval, 1995). e participants read the passages silently and then re-
sponded orally to a question presented in a cloze format. For the simplest passages,
the participants were required to select the picture that matched the statement
being read. e passages increased in length and complexity in terms of the target
sentences as well as the sophistication of the topics being covered. Testing was
discontinued when the participant made six consecutive errors. e Cronbach’s α
for children age nine was .88 (Woodcock & Muñoz-Sandoval).
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624 Aline Ferreira et al.
2.2.5 Vocabulary in English and Spanish
Standardized measures of receptive vocabulary were administered in English and
Spanish. e Peabody picture vocabulary test, 3rd edition (PPVT-III; Dunn &
Dunn, 1997), was employed to measure English vocabulary. In this task, partici-
pants chose the picture that best matched the orally presented word. e PPVT-III
split-half reliability ranged from .86 to .97, with test-retest reliability ranging from
.91 to .94 (Dunn & Dunn).
e Test de vocabulario en imágenes Peabody (TVIP; Dunn, Padilla, Lugo, &
Dunn, 1986) was administered as a measure of Spanish vocabulary. e TVIP is
the Spanish equivalent of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R;
Dunn & Dunn, 1981). is measure was norm-referenced and had a split-half reli-
ability of .93 (Dunn et al.).
2.3 Procedure
Participants were tested in English and in Spanish on separate days. English mea-
sures were administered by a native English speaker while Spanish measures were
administered by two researchers, one a native Spanish speaker and one a highly-
procient Spanish speaker who was a Spanish instructor for university level cours-
es. e order of testing was counterbalanced by language so that some students
were tested rst in English and others were tested rst in Spanish. Because the
standardized measures were normed on monolinguals, raw scores were used for
all of the analyses.
3. Results
3.1 Categories based on the bilingual dominance scale
Using the scoring system from Dunn and Fox Tree (2009), an English score and
a Spanish score were calculated for each participant for the Bilingual Dominance
Scale (BDS) (see above). e bilingual dominance category was obtained by cal-
culating the dierence between these two scores (Spanish score − English score).
A positive score indicated Spanish dominance, a negative score indicated English
dominance, and a score of zero was considered “balanced” (both languages equal-
ly dominant). Only four participants had a score of zero. erefore, this category
was deleted from all group comparisons. irty-three participants were consid-
ered English dominant and 14 were considered Spanish dominant. ese groups
then received a categorical score of zero for Spanish dominant and one for English
dominant to facilitate group comparisons.
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Reading comprehension 625
3.2 Group comparisons based on bilingual dominance
Group comparisons were conducted based on the classications of English domi-
nant or Spanish dominant. Means, standard deviations, and t-tests are displayed
in Table 1 for the raw scores on each measure by group. Given the unequal sample
sizes for the two groups, Levene’s Test of Equal Variances was calculated to iden-
tify the variables that violated the assumption of homogeneity of variances. ese
analyses revealed that the assumption of homogeneity of variances was violated
only for the measure of reading comprehension in Spanish. e group compar-
isons showed that the groups diered on the measures of reading comprehen-
sion in Spanish with the Spanish dominant group having higher scores, t(1, 45) =
−2.79, p < .01 (corrected for unequal variances). e groups also diered on the
subscale measuring acculturation to Canadian society with the English dominant
group identifying a higher percentage of the statements related to being Canadian
t(1, 45) = 2.91, p < .01. e groups did not dier on any other variables.
Table 1. Group comparisons based on language dominance
Spanish dominant English dominant
M (SD) M (SD) T-test Sig.
Age 137.07 (11.8) 130.33 (15.3) 1.47
English
Vocabulary (PPVT-III) 133.79 (23.0) 145.67 (22.5) 1.65
Word reading (WRMT-R) 71.50 (10.2) 74.18 (9.1) 0.89
Neale reading comprehension 24.14 (7.8) 28.79 (7.9) 1.85
Spanish
Identicación de letras y palabras (Woodcock) 49.07 (7.9) 46.88 (8.5) −0.82
Vocabulary (TVIP) 91.00 (13.3) 87.85 (21.0) −0.52
Comprensión de textos (Woodcock) 21.43 (3.7) 17.13 (6.5) −2.79**+
Acculturation
Latino/a enculturation (%) 78.79 (10.9) 72.56 (11.2) −1.68
Canadian acculturation (%) 77.34 (7.6) 85.27 (8.4) 2.91**
Mean highest level parental education 5.46 (1.8) 5.97 (1.5) 0.96
** p < .01; + t-value corrected for unequal variances
3.3 Correlations among cognitive-linguistic and demographic variables
Correlational analyses were conducted to determine patterns of relationships
among variables. ese analyses assisted in determining which socio-cultural
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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626 Aline Ferreira et al.
variables were appropriate for further analyses. e results of the correlational
analyses revealed expected patterns with all the English reading and oral language
variables being signicantly correlated (see Table 2). e Spanish reading and oral
language variables were also signicantly correlated. Additionally, cross-language
scores for word reading performance and vocabulary knowledge were signicant-
ly correlated. e correlational analyses also revealed that bilingual dominance
scores were moderately correlated with mainstream acculturation (r = .42, p < .01).
Table 2. Pearson correlations among primary variables (N = 51)
Bilingual dominance
Canadian culture
Latino culture
Mean level of education
of parents
Word ID
PPVT
Eng Read Comp
Identicación de letras
ypalabras (Woodcock)
TVIP
Bilingual dominance
Canadian acculturation .42**
Latino enculturation −.26 −.21
Mean level of education of
parents
.15 −.17 .11
English word reading .13 .20 .14 .06
English vocabulary .24 .33* .23 .01 .50**
English reading comprehension .27 .31* .11 .03 .66** .76**
Spanish word reading −.12 −.09 .21 .00 .47** .30* .52**
Spanish vocabulary −.08 −.09 .36* .19 .46** .49** .54** .70**
Spanish read comprehension −.33* −.20 .45** .11 .33* .13 .26 .63** .64**
* p < .05; ** p < .01
3.4 Regression analyses using cognitive-linguistic and acculturation variables
in relation to reading comprehension in Spanish and English
Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine relationships
among continuous variables. Specically, the relationships among the mainstream
and heritage subscales of the acculturation measure and reading comprehension
in English and Spanish were examined to determine whether these acculturation
variables were uniquely associated with reading comprehension. Scores on with-
in-language vocabulary and word reading measures, which are commonly asso-
ciated with reading comprehension, were entered in the equation. e variables
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Reading comprehension 627
were entered as blocks and the order of the two blocks was alternated. For the rst
set of analyses, scores on the mainstream and heritage subscales were entered as
the rst block and the scores on English word reading and English vocabulary
were entered as the second block. For the second set of analyses, the order of the
blocks was reversed to determine the unique role of scores on the mainstream and
heritage subscales (see Table 3). Although mainstream acculturation was related
to English reading comprehension when it was entered in the rst block, β = .341,
t(2, 45) = 2.34, p < .05, it was no longer signicantly related to English reading
comprehension when were entered in the second block aer word reading and
vocabulary. English word reading and vocabulary were both related to English
reading comprehension, β = .361, t(2, 45) = 3.52, p < .001 and β = .593, t(2, 45) =
5.37, p < .001, respectively.
Table 3. Heritage and Mainstream Cultural Aliation Predicting English Reading
Comprehension Scores aer controlling for English Word Reading and Vocabulary (total
R2 = .752)
Model 1 R2Step β, sig. Final βt(sig)
Block 1 .123
Heritage language .178 −.076 1.21
Mainstream language .341* .023 2.34*
Block 2 .629
Word ID .361 *** .361 *** 3.52***
PPVT .593 *** .593 *** 5.37***
Model 2
Block 1 .745
Word ID .363** .361 3.52***
PPVT .582*** .593 5.37***
Block 2 .007
Heritage language −.076 −.076 −.90
Mainstream language .023 .023 .27
* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < . 001
Another set of hierarchical regression analyses was conducted to determine
whether the mainstream and heritage subscales of the acculturation measure were
related to reading comprehension in Spanish and whether these variables were
associated with reading comprehension aer word reading and vocabulary were
entered. As in the previous set of analyses, variables were blocked and entered in
two alternate orders (see Table 4). Scores on the mainstream and heritage sub-
scales were entered as the rst block and the scores on Spanish word reading and
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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628 Aline Ferreira et al.
Spanish vocabulary were entered as the second block. Subsequently the order of
the blocks was reversed.
In contrast to the results of the analyses with the English variables, heritage
enculturation was related to Spanish reading comprehension when entered in the
second block, β = .201, t(2, 45) = 2.01, p < .05. In addition, Spanish word reading
and vocabulary were both related to Spanish reading comprehension, β = .459, t(2,
45) = 3.80, p < .001 and β = .328, t(2, 45) = 2.57, p < .01, respectively.
3.5 Logistic regression analyses relating cognitive-linguistic variables to
bilingual dominance
Although the results of the t-tests demonstrated dierences based on the classica-
tion of Spanish dominant and English dominant from the bilingual dominance scale
(adapted from Dunn & Fox Tree, 2009), binary logistic regression analyses were
conducted to examine factors related to these categorical classications of interest
when several factors were included simultaneously. Given that categorical variables
were contrasted with regard to multiple predictor variables, binary logistic regres-
sion analyses were the most appropriate type of analysis (Press & Wilson, 1978).
Table 4. Heritage and Mainstream Cultural Aliation Predicting Spanish
Comprehension Scores aer controlling for Spanish Word Reading and Vocabulary (total
R2 = .682)
Model 1 R2Step β, sig. Final βt(sig)
Block 1 .213
Heritage language .426 .201 3.02**
Mainstream language −.112 −.138 −.79
Block 2 .469
Word ID .459*** .459 3.80***
TVIP .328** .328 2.57 **
Model 2
Block 1 .617
Word ID .456*** .459 3.54***
TVIP .405** .328 3.15**
Block 2 .065
Heritage language .201* .201* 2.01*
Mainstream language −.138 −.138 −1.49
* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < . 001
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Reading comprehension 629
Two binary logistic regression analyses were used to predict group member-
ship based on language dominance. Variables were grouped into two separate
analyses because all of the key variables could not be included in one analysis in
order to maintain a reasonable ratio of participants per variable. e two groups
of variables used English vocabulary and literacy, and Spanish vocabulary and lit-
eracy, as dependent variables. ese variables were grouped based on theoretical
considerations, specically the grouping of language and literacy skills within lan-
guage. e statistically signicant models (p < 0.10) were t for the two analyses
using the forward Wald criteria (one-tailed).
e rst analysis examined the relationship between English predictor vari-
ables, specically vocabulary, word reading and reading comprehension, and the
language dominance category. Table 5 shows the predictor variables with their sig-
nicance and odds multipliers, plus the discriminant power of the overall model
(i.e., percent of cases correctly classied using the derived model).
Table 5. Binary Logistic Regression using English Variables to Predict Bilingual
Dominance Category
Predictor B S.E. Waldχ2Df Odds Ratio Sig.
English reading comp .077 .044 3.096 1 1.080 .078
Constant −1.177 1.168 1.016 1 .308 .313
Excluded variables: English word reading, English vocabulary
% Correct Classied: 70.2%
Nagelkerke R2: .099
α = .05
e English variable that showed a tendency to be related to group membership
was English reading comprehension (p < .08) with an odds multiplier of 1.08. In
other words, children who had obtained higher scores on English reading compre-
hension were 1.08 times more likely to be classied in the English dominant cat-
egory. Performance on the other English language measures was not signicantly
related to category membership. e model had moderate discriminant power
with 70.2% of the data correctly classied using the above model.
A parallel analysis examined the relationship between Spanish predictor vari-
ables, specically vocabulary, word reading and reading comprehension, and the
language dominance category (see Table 6). e variable that was most strongly
associated with group membership was Spanish reading comprehension (p < .04)
with an odds multiplier of .867. e data in Table 6 suggest that children who
had obtained higher scores on Spanish reading comprehension were .867 times
more likely to be classied in the English dominant category versus the Spanish
dominant category. Performance on the other Spanish language measures was not
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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630 Aline Ferreira et al.
signicantly related to category membership. e model had moderate discrimi-
nant power with 68.9% of the data correctly classied using the above model.
Table 6. Binary Logistic Regression using Spanish Variables to Predict Bilingual
Dominance Category
Predictor B S.E. Waldχ2Df Odds Ratio Sig.
Spanish reading comp −.143 .069 4.260 1 .867 .039
Constant 3.573 1.444 6.119 1 35.614 .013
Excluded variables: Spanish word reading, Spanish vocabulary
% Correct Classied: 68.9%
Nagelkerke R2: .159
α = .05
4. Discussion
In this study, we examined whether bilingual dominance, socioeconomic status,
and acculturation had an impact on reading comprehension, word reading, and
vocabulary. In terms of the bilingual dominance scale, the participants were di-
vided into two groups: English dominant or Spanish dominant. e majority of
the participants were considered English dominant. is trend to linguistic domi-
nance in the majority language and L1 loss is common in the children of immi-
grants in Canada (Guardado, 2002). In contrast to the United States, maintenance
of Spanish as an L1 is dicult in Canada due the lack of media and mainstream
resources. In addition, although immigrants might live in lower SES neighbour-
hoods, neighbourhood demographics include immigrants from many dierent
cultural and linguistic groups as well as English speakers of lower SES (www1.to-
ronto.ca/wps/portal). erefore, the common language of the neighbourhood and
the school playground is English. L1 maintenance is only supported in the home
and through extra curricular educational opportunities, such as heritage language
classes, which require intentional access.
e results showed strong relationships among the variables of interest. All
the reading and oral language variables were related within language, with signi-
cant relations between reading comprehension and the key variables of vocabu-
lary and word reading in each language. e results of the data analyses showed
that performance on reading comprehension was important in dierentiating the
groups based on bilingual dominance. Children who had obtained higher scores
on Spanish reading comprehension were more likely to be classied in the Spanish
dominant category. A statistical trend was found in which children who had high-
er scores on English reading comprehension were more likely to be classied as
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
All rights reserved
Reading comprehension 631
the English dominant. Performance on the other language measures did not dier
based on language dominance. Reading comprehension rather than word reading
and vocabulary are likely related to the diculty of the task. Specically, reading
comprehension skill is related to lower-level skills and instruction. e two groups
also diered on the subscale measuring acculturation with greater identication
with being Canadian in the English dominant group. In fact, Statistics Canada
(2006) points to the nding that “a large majority of Canadians of Latin American
origin say they feel a strong sense of belonging to Canada.” us, by examining
the relations among language dominance, literacy skills and acculturation we can
assume that the perception of belonging to Canadian culture was positively related
to their English language skills.
In terms of SES, our results suggest that the families in the present study are
part of the upper-middle class based on educational level. At this level, SES is not
related to any obvious variability in children’s performance on literacy measures.
Although these families might not be able to provide the nancial support com-
mensurate with their SES, they are able to provide the cultural capital and experi-
ences that are related to being from an upper middle class background (e.g., access
to free educational activities or books from libraries) (Aber, Gephart, Brooks-
Gunn, & Connell, 1997; De Graaf, De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000). ese results
are likely related to Canadian immigration policy, which selects immigrants based
on a point system that rewards high levels of education among other skills. As
a consequence of this unique immigration policy, recent immigrants to Canada
tend to be middle class professionals in their country of origin and are oen more
educated than their age-matched, Canadian-born counterparts (Galarneau &
Morissette, 2009). In addition to family resources, the Government of Canada, in
cooperation with local school boards, community colleges, immigrant and com-
munity organizations, oers English (and French) courses for newcomers across
the country, at a very low cost to immigrants. Newcomers, in this sense, have the
opportunity to learn or improve their language skills and enhance their opportu-
nities in the country.
When acculturation variables were examined, mainstream acculturation was
not related to reading comprehension, although group dierences were found
based on bilingual dominance. In contrast, heritage enculturation was related to
Spanish reading comprehension. ese ndings suggest that even though mainte-
nance of heritage culture has benets for L1 literacy skills in addition to cognitive-
linguistic variables, it has no positive or negative eect on English reading. Given
the age of the participants and their lengthy experiences with schooling in Canada,
socio-cultural variables did not play a role in English reading comprehension in
this sample. ese ndings suggest that identication with the mainstream cul-
ture is not a key variable related to reading comprehension in elementary school
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
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632 Aline Ferreira et al.
students, many of whom have received much of their education in Canada. In
contrast, success in English reading comprehension was related to performance on
cognitive-linguistic variables among the participants. is relationship was likely
based on learner aptitude and instructional experience with English. ese nd-
ings dier from research conducted with adolescents and adults who immigrated
at a later age (Jia et al., 2014; Lybeck, 2002). However, experience and identica-
tion with the heritage culture as well as performance on the cognitive-linguis-
tic tasks appear to support reading comprehension in the L1, linking language
aptitude and learner attitudes in the weaker language of many of these students
(Gardner, 1985).
e present ndings showed that acculturation measures contribute explana-
tory variance to reading comprehension in addition to cognitive-linguistic vari-
ables in the simple view of reading (also see Jia et al., 2014). Additionally, the
ndings are consistent with other studies conducted in Canada, which favour a bi-
dimensional model of acculturation (Berry, 1990). e bi-directional model sug-
gests that belonging to one’s heritage culture and to the culture of the dominant
society is not orthogonal (Berry). e ndings suggest benets for programs that
facilitate strong language and literacy skills in the L2 while maintaining aliations
with the L1 and the heritage culture.
In addition, the children in the present sample might not be fully representa-
tive of all Canadian immigrants from Latin America. erefore the results might
be applicable only to immigrant children from middle to high SES backgrounds.
In addition, the families in this sample lived in a suburban area of a large city and
consented to include their children in a research study. In both locales, Canada
and the United States, researchers are recruiting children with a Latin American
background from extreme ends of the SES spectrum, high and low, respectively.
In this sense, studies should attempt to target children from families with a broad
range of SES to investigate how SES is related to language and academic achieve-
ment in Spanish-English speaking children.
e ndings of the present study corroborated with previous results that
showed that acculturation variables are related to language and literacy skills
(Gardner, 1985; Jia et al., 2014; Schumann, 1986), supporting Schumann’s so-
cioeducational model of language acquisition. Specically, in the present study
heritage enculturation was related to reading comprehension in Spanish but ac-
culturation was not related to English performance. English language and literacy
skills were related to cognitive-linguistic variables, while L1 literacy skills were re-
lated to L1 cognitive-linguistic skills and heritage enculturation. e present study
shows the importance of including sociocultural variables in cognitive-linguistic
models of reading comprehension such as the simple view of reading to gain a bet-
ter understanding of the reading process in L2 learners.
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
All rights reserved
Reading comprehension 633
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Abstract
El papel de las habilidades de la primera lengua (L1) en el éxito en la segunda lengua (L2) es
frecuentemente investigado para ayudar a los alumnos en la adquisición de su L2. Varios fac-
tores pueden potencialmente inuenciar en las relaciones entre idiomas a lo que se reere a las
medidas en español e inglés (por ejemplo, la edad de adquisición de la L2, la condición social,
entre otros). Este estudio investiga las relaciones entre las variables de L1 y L2 en los aprendices
de lenguas. Particularmente, se centra en las relaciones entre el lenguaje oral (vocabulario), la
lectura (palabras y comprensión lectora) y las variables socioculturales (el dominio del lenguaje,
la aculturación, el estatus socio-económico) en los bilingües español-inglés, todos los cuales
asistían a la escuela en una grande zona metropolitana de una región anglófona de Canadá. Los
resultados mostraron que tanto en inglés como en español, la lectura y las variables del lengua-
je oral estaban relacionadas. La comprensión de lectura en cada idioma fue más fuertemente
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
All rights reserved
638 Aline Ferreira et al.
relacionada con el dominio en ese idioma. La aliación con el patrimonio cultural se relaciona
positivamente con la lectura en español, pero no mostró relación con la lectura en inglés.
Palabrasclave: dominio bilingüe, aculturación, lectura
Authors’ addresses
Aline Ferreira
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Phelps Hall 4206
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4150
USA
aferreira@spanport.ucsb.edu
Alexandra Gottardo
Psychology Department
Wilfrid Laurier University
75 University Ave. W.
Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5
Canada
agottardo@wlu.ca
Christine Javier
2181 Yonge Street
Unit 2707
Toronto, ON M4S 3H7
Canada
christine.javier@gmail.com
John W. Schwieter
75 University Ave. W.
411 Bricker Academic Building
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ON N2L3C5
Canada
jschwieter@wlu.ca
Fanli Jia
Jubilee Hall Room 358,
Department of Psychology
Seton Hall University
400 South Orange Ave
South Orange, NJ 07079
USA
fanli.jia@shu.edu
About the authors
Aline Ferreira is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic and Portuguese Linguistics at the University
of California Santa Barbara where she is also the Director of the Bilingualism, Translation, and
Cognition Laboratory. She was previously a post-doctoral research fellow in psychology at
Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Ferreira is the co-editor of the books
e development of translation competence: eories and methodologies from psycholinguistics
and cognitive science (Cambridge Scholars), Psycholinguistic and cognitive inquiries into transla-
tion and interpreting (John Benjamins), and e handbook of translation and cognition (Wiley-
Blackwell).
Alexandra Gottardo is a Full Professor of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada. She has a background in educational psychology and speech-language lan-
guage pathology. Her research interests include examining factors related to the development
© 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company
All rights reserved
Reading comprehension 639
of reading, both word reading and reading comprehension, in second language learners. As a
developmental psychologist she studies development across a wide range of ages, from pre-
schoolers to adolescents. Although her focus is on cognitive-linguistic variables with and across
languages, she has recently become more interested in socio-cultural variables as additional
explanatory variables.
Christine Javier received her M.Sc. degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, with a specialization
in Developmental Psychology. She is interested in all aspects of educational development, with
a particular interest in the literacy and language development of bilingual children. Currently,
Javier works as a Psychoeducational Consultant in private practice. She conducts psychoeduca-
tional, intellectual, and vocational assessments on children, adolescents, and adults.
John W. Schwieter is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics and Faculty of Arts
teaching scholar at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, and a Visiting Professor of Applied
Linguistics at the University of Greenwich, England. His research interests include: cognitive
and sociocultural perspectives of bilingualism/multilingualism; language acquisition, teaching,
and learning; and translation processes. His recent books include: e handbook of translation
and cognition (Wiley-Blackwell); Cognitive control and consequences of multilingualism (John
Benjamins, 2016); e Cambridge handbook of bilingual processing (Cambridge University
Press, 2015); and Psycholinguistic and cognitive inquiries into translation and interpreting (John
Benjamins, 2015).
Fanli Jia received his Ph.D. in July 2016 from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Seton Hall University. His research in-
terests include the interface between cultural variations in moral identity, environmental iden-
tity, and acculturation in relation to reading in English as a second language learner.
