Editor: Viv Edwards (University of Reading, UK)
|
Volume: 12 Number: 1 Page: 1–17
|
|
|
|
|
Performance on ESL Examinations: Is There a Language Distance Effect?
|
|
Catherine Elder and Alan Davies
|
|
This paper considers the effect of language distance on the attainment of English language literacy, as measured by performance on an Australian ESL end-of-school examination for non-English-speaking background
students, who also sat for a further examination in their own L1. Learners were grouped into 'language families', Arabic, Slavic, Chinese, Romance, Indonesian/Malay, Japanese/Korean, Vietnamese/Khmer, according
to the language spoken at home. These language families were ranked according to their distance from English using a number of classification criteria. Correlational analyses and t tests were then undertaken
to test the following hypotheses: (1) that the relationship between LOTE (L1) and English (L2) literacy as measured by the relevant VCE examinations will be stronger for language families more closely related
to English; (2) that students whose first language is closer to English will perform better on the VCE English examination than those whose first language is more distant; (3) that other language background
factors will also have a significant effect on performance in English. The study concludes that while language distance exists, it cannot be separated clearly enough from other variables to allow firm pedagogical
implications to be drawn.
© Multilingual Matters 1998
Full text PDF
|
