Relationship of metalinguistic capabilities and reading achievement for children who are becoming bilingual

This study investigated the developing metalinguistic capabilities of Hispa nic primary school children who are becoming bilingual but whose English re ading achievement is below average. Two questions were posed: first, do nat ive- and second-language vocabulary and degree of bilingualism contribute t o performance on a metalinguistic task (defining words) and, second, do nat ive- and second-language vocabulary and metalinguistic development at the w ord level significantly predict reading comprehension in the spring? The re sults showed that performance on the definition task in English and in Span ish was significantly explained by word knowledge in the language of the ta sk; performance on the definition task in the other language (English or Sp anish) but not degree of bilingualism contributed significantly, after the effects of vocabulary in the two languages were accounted for. Both native- and second-language vocabulary and phonological awareness independently co ntributed to achievement in English reading comprehension. The results sugg est that, for children with limited native-language development in the earl y stages of bilingualism, vocabulary development in both the native and sec ond language and metalinguistic development at the word level may be import ant education priorities because of their effects on second-language readin g comprehension.