Chapter 32: Cross-Language Transfer in Bilingual and Biliteracy Development

It is estimated that 60 to 75% of the world’s population speak two or more languages. In other words, there are more bilingual or multilingual individuals than monolinguals in the world (Tucker, 2003). In addition, the numbers of children who are being educated via a second language (L2) are much more than those who are educated exclusively via the first language (L1). As a result of this bilingualism approach to education, many children throughout the world are learning to speak and read in two different languages simultaneously. Therefore, it is important to identify and examine the factors that may influence bilingual and biliteracy development. Learning to read in two languages is fundamentally different from learning to read in exclusively one language because learners may bring their existing linguistic knowledge in their L1 to the process of learning to read in their L2 (Koda, 2008). In addition, knowledge acquired through learning to read in the L2 may also facilitate literacy development in the L1. The transfer of knowledge from one language to the other during the learning process is called cross-language transfer. The current chapter will examine the theories of cross-language transfer in biliteracy development. Furthermore, whether cross-language transfer occurs and what is being transferred are determined by many linguistic factors such as proficiency in L1 and L2, print input and exposure in L2, typological similarities and differences between the two languages, and metalin-guistic awareness of the learner. The current chapter will focus on the transfer of awareness in three major constituent processes in learning to read: phonology, morphology, and orthography.