Second language learners who are at-risk for reading disabilities: A growth mixture model study.
Weak letter names, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary predict reading failure in Chinese ESL kindergarteners.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yeung (2018) tracked Chinese kindergarteners who were learning English as a second language. The team used growth mixture modeling to see how early reading skills grew over time. They wanted to spot which kids were heading for reading trouble later.
What they found
Four clear reading paths showed up. The lowest group lagged in letter names, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary. These weak spots flagged future reading risk in ESL pupils.
How this fits with other research
van Tilborg et al. (2014) looked at kids with intellectual disability. Letter knowledge and phonemic awareness mattered little for them. Instead, nonverbal IQ and rhythmic skills predicted literacy. The two studies seem to clash, but the kids are different. Neurotypical ESL learners need sound-letter skills; kids with ID need broader cognitive supports.
Ho et al. (2013) also worked with Chinese preschoolers. They showed the Gumpel Readiness Inventory is a quick, valid screener. Yeung (2018) adds a deeper math model that maps growth, not just a one-time score.
Leung et al. (2014) proved a short school-readiness program lifts letter naming and sound skills. Yeung (2018) tells us which children to pick for such programs: those weak in letters, sounds, and words.
Why it matters
If you screen Chinese ESL kindergarteners, check letter names, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary. When any area is low, start small-group or individual letter-sound play right away. Pair this with rich vocabulary read-alouds. Early catch plus brief, focused teaching can shift kids off the low-growth track before first grade starts.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a one-minute letter-name and first-sound check to your intake for Chinese ESL kindergarteners; start mini-lessons on the weakest skill.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This one-year longitudinal study examined the developmental trajectories of English reading in Chinese children learning English as a second language (ESL) and identified cognitive profiles of children who are at risk for English reading disability. One hundred and eighty-four Chinese ESL children from eight Hong Kong kindergartens were measured four times during their last year of kindergarten for phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary and English word reading. Growth mixture modeling was applied to classify the children based on their growth trajectories in English word reading. Four subgroups of word reading growth were classified, namely high-achieving, fast-growth, slow-growth and low-achieving groups. The cognitive-linguistic skills were compared across different groups with age, non-verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary in L1 controlled. The results showed that low-achieving groups, who were expected to be at-risk for L2 reading disability, showed deficits in letter-name knowledge, phonemic awareness, and receptive and expressive vocabulary. Fast-growth and high-achieving groups were not distinguishable on the measured cognitive-linguistic skills. Children in the low-growth groups were significantly weaker in phonemic awareness, receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary than children in the high-achieving group. Our findings identified specific cognitive-linguistic deficits that were associated with children who are at-risk for reading disability. Implications for the early identification of L2 reading disability were discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.05.001