Concurrent and longitudinal cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness in Chinese-English bilingual children

The present study was designed to examine concurrent and longitudinal cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness at two levels, the construct level and the reading level. We investigated whether phonological awareness and morphological awareness measured in one language are related to the same constructs measured in another language in Chinese-English bilinguals. Moreover, we assessed the cross-linguistic effects of the two constructs on reading concurrently and one year later in Grade 1. Participants of the study included 91 kindergarten and Grade 1 Chinese-English bilingual children. The children were tested twice, approximately one year apart, on a battery of cognitive and literacy measures in both languages. The data were analyzed with comprehensive path models that included phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and word reading in both languages. Our results demonstrate cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness at the construct level and cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness to reading concurrently. Keywords: transfer; phonological awareness; morphological awareness; word reading; Chinese-English bilingual children