THE READING STRATEGIES OF BILINGUAL LATINA O STUDENTS WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL ENGLISH READERS - OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES/

THIS RESEARCH examines the strategic reading processes of 8 bilingual Latina/o children who were identified as successful English readers. F or comparative purposes, two smaller samples were included-3 monolingu al Angle students who were successful English readers and 3 bilingual Latina/o students who were less successful English readers. The major objective of this study was to explore the question of how bilingualis m and biliteracy affect metacognition. Data were gathered using both u nprompted and prompted think alouds, interviews, a measure of prior kn owledge, and passage recalls. Preliminary analysis resulted in the ide ntification of 22 distinct strategies organized into three broad group s (text-initiated, reader-initiated, and interactive). Three of the st rategies were considered unique to the successful Latina/o readers: (a ) they actively transferred information across languages, (b) they tra nslated from one language to another but most often from Spanish to En glish, and (C) they openly accessed cognate vocabulary when they read, especially in their less dominant language. In addition, the successf ul Latina/o readers frequently encountered unknown vocabulary items wh ether reading English or Spanish text, but they were able to draw upon an array of strategic processes to determine the meanings of these wo rds. The less successful Latina/o readers used fewer strategies and we re often less effective in resolving comprehension difficulties in eit her language. They also frequently identified unknown vocabulary, but they differed substantially from the successful Latina/o readers in th eir ability to construct plausible interpretations of text. Because th e successful Angle readers rarely encountered unknown vocabulary and b ecause they could access well-developed networks of relevant prior kno wledge, they were able to devote substantial cognitive resources to th e act of comprehension. These readers seldom indicated the need to ove rtly monitor their reading comprehension. The data suggest that Latina /o students who are successful English readers possess a qualitatively unique fund of strategic reading knowledge.