This study explores the reading strategies (RSs) of bilingual and monolingual young learners in their first and second languages (L1 and L2, respectively)--either Kazakh or Russian as the L1 and L2--and English as a foreign language (L3). It also examines the influence of RSs on the learners' performance on reading comprehension tests in the three…

The majority of learners in South African schools are African language speakers, yet the dominance of English in the political economy has meant that schools choose to switch to English medium instruction by Grade 4, before learners have the necessary English proficiency to access the curriculum, with negative effects on learning. This paper…

In recent years, the issue of using bilingual education has come to the public's attention. A widespread belief is that students in bilingual classes achieve a higher competence in the language, but that they lag behind in subject-specific knowledge when compared to fellow students in traditional (i.e. monolingual) classroom settings.…

The present study examined whether knowledge of connectives contributes uniquely to expository text comprehension above and beyond reading fluency, general vocabulary knowledge and metacognitive knowledge. Furthermore, it was examined whether this contribution differs for readers with different language backgrounds or readers who vary in reading…

Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents' underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic-language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge. CALS are high-utility language skills that…

This article seeks to develop the research agenda of multilingualism and multicompetence by bringing together three research fields and their related methodologies: bilingualism, third language acquisition and language learner strategies. After a brief introduction to each area, it describes a study to explore whether bilingual adolescent students…