Reading Comprehension in French L2/L3 Learners: Does Syntactic Awareness Matter?

Abstract

This study examines the contributions of syntactic awareness to reading comprehension, both within and across languages, in third-grade children learning French as a second (L2) or third language (L3). Participants were 72 non-francophone children enrolled in a Canadian French immersion program in which all academic instruction is in French. Children completed measures of reading comprehension, syntactic awareness, word reading, vocabulary, and reading-related control variables in both English and French. Regression analyses examining within-language relations revealed that French syntactic awareness made a significant unique contribution to French reading comprehension after controlling for nonverbal reasoning, language status (French as either L2 or L3), word reading, and vocabulary. Furthermore, French syntactic awareness contributed across languages to English reading comprehension, after accounting for English controls (word reading, vocabulary, syntactic awareness) in addition to nonverbal reasoning and language status. In sharp contrast, measures of English syntactic awareness made no unique contribution to reading comprehension in either English or French after the aforementioned controls. These findings add to theoretical models of reading comprehension by highlighting the importance of syntactic awareness in the language of instruction in supporting bilingual children’s reading comprehension.