Abstract of

The Reading Strategies of Bilingual Latina/o Students Who Are Successful English Readers: Opportunities and Obstacles

Robert T. Jiménez

Georgia Earnest García

P. David Pearson

This research examines the strategic reading processes of 8 bilingual Latina/o children who were identified as successful English readers. For comparative purposes, two smaller samples were included—3 monolingual Anglo 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 bilingualism and biliteracy affect metacognition. Data were gathered using both unprompted and prompted think alouds, interviews, a measure of prior knowledge, and passage recalls. Preliminary analysis resulted in the identification of 22 distinct strategies organized into three broad groups (text-initiated, reader-initiated, and interactive). Three of the strategies were considered unique to the successful Latina/o readers: (a) they actively transferred information across languages, (b) they translated from one language to another but most often from Spanish to English, and (c) they openly accessed cognate vocabulary when they read, especially in their less dominant language. In addition, the successful Latina/o readers frequently encountered unknown vocabulary items whether reading English or Spanish text, but they were able to draw upon an array of strategic processes to determine the meanings of these words. The less successful Latina/o readers used fewer strategies and were often less effective in resolving comprehension difficulties in either language. They also frequently identified unknown vocabulary, but they differed substantially from the successful Latina/o readers in their ability to construct plausible interpretations of text. Because the successful Anglo readers rarely encountered unknown vocabulary and because they could access well-developed networks of relevant prior knowledge, they were able to devote substantial cognitive resources to the act of comprehension. These readers seldom indicated the need to overtly 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.

Abstract from Jiménez, R.T., García, G., & Pearson, P. (1996). The Reading Strategies of Bilingual Latina/o Students Who Are Successful English Readers: Opportunities and Obstacles. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(1), 90–112. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.31.1.5