2011/12/27 by Hui‐Kai Chuang, R. Malatesha Joshi, L. Quentin Dixon · 74 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Reading and Literacy Development #Multilingual Education and Policy #Second Language Learning and Teaching #Reading (process) #Psychology #Mandarin Chinese #Test (biology) #Language proficiency #Linguistics #Transfer of training #First language #Mathematics education #Cognitive psychology
paper · doi:10.1177/1086296x11431157
published in Journal of Literacy Research 44(1), 97-119 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2011/12/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
How proficiency in reading the first language (L1) influences proficiency in reading in the second language (L2) was explored in this study. Reading scores in Mandarin Chinese (L1) and in English (L2) for 30,000 Taiwanese ninth-grade students were randomly selected from all who took the national Basic Competency Test during a 6-year period in Taiwan. Results of regression analyses showed that proficiency in L1 reading predicts with statistical significance the L2 reading proficiency of those whose scores were analyzed. In addition, participants’ gender and school district also played small but statistically significant roles affecting the cross-language transfer of reading ability. The results are discussed in light of Cummins’s linguistic interdependence hypothesis.