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Exploring sources of poor reading comprehension in English language learners

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Abstract

This study examined the sources of reading comprehension difficulties in English language learners (ELLs). The characteristics of ELL poor comprehenders were compared to their English as a first language (EL1) peers. Participants included 124 ELLs who spoke Chinese as an L1 and 79 EL1 students. Using a regression technique based on age, non-verbal reasoning, word reading accuracy, and word reading fluency, three types of comprehenders (poor, average, and good) were identified within each language group. The groups were then compared on measures of oral language skills (vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth, and listening comprehension), metalinguistic skills (morphological awareness and syntactic awareness), working memory, and higher-level processing skills (inference, conjunction use, and comprehension monitoring). ELL poor comprehenders had significantly lower scores than ELL average and good comprehenders on vocabulary breadth, listening comprehension, and morphological awareness, whereas there were no significant differences between the average and good comprehender groups on these skills. Additionally, both ELL poor and average comprehenders had lower scores than ELL good comprehenders on all three higher-level skills. Finally, results showed that ELL poor comprehenders scored lower than EL1 poor comprehenders on vocabulary breadth, listening comprehension, and morphological awareness, but the two groups did not differ on higher-level skills. Theoretical and educational implications for the identification and instruction of ELL poor comprehenders are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Although English and French are both official languages in Canada, this paper focuses on Chinese-speaking children who are learning English as their second language.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 756-2013-0874 to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education, University of Houston, 3657 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Miao Li

  2. Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Esther Geva & Xi Chen

  3. Ontario Ministry of Education, Toronto, Canada

    Nadia D’Angelo

  4. Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A & M University, College Station, USA

    Poh Wee Koh

  5. Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada

    Alexandra Gottardo

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  1. Miao Li
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  2. Esther Geva
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Li, M., Geva, E., D’Angelo, N. et al. Exploring sources of poor reading comprehension in English language learners. Ann. of Dyslexia 71, 299–321 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-021-00214-4

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