Cover not available

In:Plurilingual Education: Policies – practices – language development
Edited by Patrick Grommes and Adelheid Hu
[Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity 3] 2014
► pp. 219–244

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

L1 and L2 proficiency in Hebrew English adolescent learners

 | Tel-Aviv University
 | Tel-Aviv University
Published online: 15 July 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hsld.3.15rav
The chapter examines knowledge of Hebrew and English vocabulary and constructions in native Hebrew-speaking students defined as “poor readers” in English as L2. Participants were two groups of 7th graders – 14 good readers and 11 poor readers respectively, and two groups of 9th graders – 14 good readers and 15 poor readers respectively. They were administered two sets of tests in English as L2 and Hebrew as L1. Performance on all Hebrew tasks was heavily affected by English L2 reading group, explicitly linking poor readers in English to lower scores on all Hebrew tasks. Grade level was significant only where actual learning was taking place across early adolescence, as in the case of derived abstract nominal and passive voice construction. The chapter provides evidence for the role native-language proficiency plays in L2 proficiency.
References (49)
References
Ameel, E., Malt, B.C., & Storms, G. 2008. Object naming and later lexical development: From baby bottle to beer bottle. Journal of Memory and Language 58: 262–285. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R.A. 1980. The case of an (S)VO language: Subjectless constructions in Modern Hebrew. Language 56: 759–776. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1990. Acquiring an (S)VO language: Subjectless sentences in children’s Hebrew. Linguistics 28: 1135–1166. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R.A. & Ravid, D. 2008. Becoming a literate language user: Oral and written text construction across adolescence. In Cambridge Handbook of Literacy , D.R. Olson & N. Torrance (eds), 92–111. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, J.D. 1983. A closer look at the cloze: Validity and reliability. In Issues in Language Testing Research , J.W. Oller Jr. (ed.), 237–250. Rowley MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chenoweth, N.A. & Hayes, J.R. 2001. Fluency in writing: Generating text in L1 and L2. Written Communication 18: 80–98 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cummins, J. 1979. Linguistic interdependence and educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research 49: 222–251. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1984. Implications of bilingual proficiency for the education of minority language students. In Language Issues and Education Policies: Exploring Canada’s Multilingual Resources , P. Allen, M. Swain & C. Brumfit (eds). Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. 2005. The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition . Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durgunoğlu, A. 2002. Cross-linguistic transfer in literacy development and implications for language learners. Annals of Dyslexia 52: 189–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Faulkner, H. & Levy, B.A. 1999. Fluent and nonfluent forms of transfer in reading: Words and their message. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 6: 111–116. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garlock, V.M., Walley, A.C. & Metsala, J.L. 2001. Age-of-acquisition, word frequency, and neighborhood density effects on spoken word recognition by children and adults. Journal of Memory and Language 45: 468–492. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geva, E. & Verhoeven, L. 2000. Introduction: The development of second language reading in primary children: Research issues and trends. Scientific Studies of Reading 4: 261–266. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geva, E., Wade-Wolley, L. & Shany M. 1997. Development of efficient reading in first and second language. Scientific Studies of Reading 1: 119–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gruenenfelder, T.M. & Pisoni, D.B. 2009. The lexical restructuring hypothesis and graph theoretic analyses of networks based on random lexicons. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 52: 596–609. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jarvis, S. 2000. Methodological rigor in the study of transfer: Identifying L1 influence in the interlanguage lexicon. Language Learning 50: 245–309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kahn-Horwitz, J., Shimron, J. & Sparks, R. 2005. Predicting foreign language reading achievement in elementary school students. Reading and Writing 18: 527–558. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Weak and strong novice readers of English as a foreign language: Effects of first language and socioeconomic status. Annals of Dyslexia 56: 161–185. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kintsch, W. 1988. The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension construction-integration model. Psychological Review 95: 163–182. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koda, K. 2007. Reading and language learning: Crosslinguistic constrains on second language reading development. Language Learning 57: 1–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kormos, J. & Sáfár A. 2008. Phonological short-term memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning. Language and Cognition 11: 261–271.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Metsala, J.L. & Walley, A.C. 1998. Spoken vocabulary growth and the segmental restructuring of lexical representations: Precursors to phonemic awareness and early reading ability. In Word Recognition in Beginning Literacy , J.L. Metsala & L.C. Ehri (eds), 89–120. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meschyan G. & Hernandez, A. 2002. Is native-language decoding skill related to second language learning? Journal of Educational Psychology 94: 14–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Palladino, P. & Ferrari, M. 2008. Phonological sensitivity and memory in children with a foreign language learning difficulty. Memory 16 : 604–625. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paleologos, T.M. & Brabham, E.G. 2011. The effectiveness of DIBELS oral reading fluency for predicting reading comprehension of high- and low-income students. Reading Psychology 32: 54–74 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C.A. 2007. Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading 11: 357–383. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C.A. & Hart, L. 2001. The lexical quality hypothesis. In Precursors of Functional Literacy [Studies in Written Language and Literacy 11], L. Verhoeven, C. Elbro & P. Reitsma (eds), 189–214. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C.A., Landi, N. & Oakhill, J. 2005. The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In The Science of Reading : A Handbook, M.J. Snowling & C. Hulme (eds), 227–247. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prior, A. 2012. Reading in more than one language: Behavior and brain perspectives. In Listening to Many Voices: Reading, Writing, Mathematics and the Brain , Molfese, D., Breznitz, Z., Berninger, V. & O. Rubinsten (eds), 131–156. Dordvecht: Springer.
Proctor, C., August, D., Carlo, M. & Snow, C. 2006. The intriguing role of Spanish language vocabulary in predicting English reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology 98: 159–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. 2004. Later lexical development in Hebrew: Derivational morphology revisited. In Language Development across Childhood and Adolescence: Psycholinguistic and Crosslinguistic Perspectives [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 3], R.A. Berman (ed.), 53–82. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Semantic development in textual contexts during the school years: Noun Scale analyses. Journal of Child Language 33: 791–821. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Avidor, A. 1998. Acquisition of derived nominals in Hebrew: Developmental and linguistic principles. Journal of Child Language 25: 229–266. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Berman, R.A. 2010. Developing noun phrase complexity at school-age: A text-embedded cross-linguistic analysis. First Language 30: 3–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Apel Mashraki, Y. 2007. Prosodic reading, reading comprehension and language skills in Hebrew-speaking 4th graders. Journal of Research in Reading 30: 140–156. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rubin, J. 1987. Learner strategies: Theoretical assumptions, research history, and typology. In Learner Strategies in Language Learning , A. Wenden & J. Rubin (eds), 15–30. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiff, R., Ravid, D. & Levy-Shimon, S. 2011. Children’s command of plural and possessive marking on Hebrew nouns: A comparison of obligatory vs. optional inflections. Journal of Child Language 38: 433–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seroussi, B. 2004. Hebrew derived nouns in context: A developmental perspective. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopedia 56: 273–290. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Samuels, S.J. 2002. Reading fluency: Its development and assessment. In What Research has to say about Reading Instruction , 3rd edn, A.E. Farstrup & S.J. Samuels (eds), 166–183. Newark DE: International Reading Association.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L. 2004. Orthographic learning at a glance: On the time course and developmental onset of self-teaching. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 87: 267–298. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sparks, R. & Ganschow, L. 1993. The impact of native language learning problems on foreign language learning: Case study illustrations of the Linguistic Coding Deficit Hypothesis. The Modern Language Journal 77: 58–74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sparks, R.L., Artzer, M., Miller, K., Hordubay, D.J. & Walsh, G. 1998. Benefits of multisensory language instruction for at-risk foreign language learners: A comparison study of high school Spanish students. Annals of Dyslexia 48: 239–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sparks, R., Patton, J., Ganschow, L. & Humbach, N. 2009. Long-term crosslinguistic transfer of skills from L1 to L2. Language Learning 59: 203–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stanovich, K.E. 2000. Progress in Understanding Reading: Scientific Foundations and New Frontiers . New York NY: Guilford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L. 1994. Transfer in bilingual development: The Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis revisited. Language Learning 44: 381–415. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L. & van Leeuwe, J. 2008. Prediction of the development of reading comprehension: A longitudinal study. Applied Cognitive Psychology 22: 407–423. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Modeling the growth of word decoding skills: Evidence from Dutch. Scientific Studies of Reading 13: 205–223. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L., van Leeuwe & Vermeer, A. 2011. Vocabulary growth and reading development across the elementary school years. Scientific Studies of Reading 15: 8–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wesche, M. & Paribakht, T. M. 1996. Assessing vocabulary knowledge: Depth vs. breadth. Canadian Modern Language Review 53: 13–40.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Zwilling, Racheli & Dorit Ravid
2025. Later lexical development in Hebrew peer talk. Frontiers in Language Sciences 4 DOI logo
Porter, Alison
2020. An early start to foreign language literacy in English primary school classrooms. The Language Learning Journal 48:5 ► pp. 656 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue