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Predicting reading comprehension in Creole Papiamento and Dutch in a post-colonial context

ORCiD logo with link | Radboud UniversityNijmegen, The Netherlands | University of CuraçaoWillemstad, Curaçao
 | Radboud UniversityNijmegen, The Netherlands
 | University of CuraçaoWillemstad, Curaçao
 | Radboud UniversityNijmegen, The Netherlands | University of CuraçaoWillemstad, Curaçao
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Radboud University Nijmegen.

Published online: 24 February 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.24002.mer
Abstract
In postcolonial contexts, children usually learn to read in a language other than their main socialization language, usually a creole. To understand how this affects reading acquisition we examined the early Creole Papiamento (L1) and Dutch (L2) reading skills of 128 Caribbean children. We investigated the impact of instructional order, first Papiamento then Dutch (Papiamento-first group), and vice versa (Dutch-first group), and cognitive and linguistic predictors on grade 2 reading comprehension. The study also explored linguistic interdependence. Results showed a significant positive effect of instructional order on Dutch reading comprehension for the Dutch-first group, but no differences between groups on Papiamento reading comprehension. Both linguistic and cognitive precursors predicted reading comprehension in Papiamento and Dutch. We found that reading comprehension in Papiamento and Dutch is interdependent, influenced by instruction language, especially in the Dutch-first group. This underlines the crucial role of L1 in shaping reading comprehension in both L1 and L2.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Development of reading in the main socialization language
  • 3.Development of reading in the L2
  • 4.The development of reading in a post-colonial context
  • 5.Present study
  • 6.Method
    • 6.1Study design
    • 6.2Participants
    • 6.3Measures
      • 6.3.1Reading measures
        • 6.3.1.1Word decoding
        • 6.3.1.2Reading comprehension
      • 6.3.2Nonreading measures
        • 6.3.2.1Vocabulary
        • 6.3.2.2Oral comprehension
        • 6.3.2.3Verbal short-term memory
        • 6.3.2.4Letter knowledge
    • 6.4Procedure
    • 6.5Analytic approach
  • 7.Results
    • 7.1Differences in L1 and L2 reading comprehension
    • 7.2Prediction of Papiamento reading comprehension
    • 7.3Prediction of Dutch reading comprehension
  • 8.Discussion
    • 8.1Differences in L1 and L2 reading comprehension
    • 8.2Prediction of Papiamento reading comprehension
    • 8.3Prediction of Dutch reading comprehension
    • 8.4Limitations and implications
  • 9.Conclusion
  • References
References (85)
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