Development of Reading Efficiency in First and Second Language

Efficiency in basic reading processes can be discussed in terms of accuracy and speed. In this longitudinal study, the development of accurate and fast reading processes was studied in a group of 66 children learning to read simultaneously in English, their first language (L1), and Hebrew, their second language (L2). Children's speed and accuracy were compared in Grade 1 and Grade 2 on parallel L1 and L2 tasks of letter naming, reading isolated words and the same words in text. Results indicated that corresponding accuracy and speed across the two languages are highly correlated. Despite differences in language familiarity and different orthographies, accuracy and speed rates of isolated word reading in L1 and L2 were highly similar. Yet, in L1, children were more efficient (faster and more accurate) in reading text than isolated words, but in early stages of L2 reading acquisition, text reading was not more efficient than the reading of isolated words. In terms of efficiency components in L2 language, accuracy distinguished good from poor L2 readers, but speed did not. It is concluded that (a) steps associated with the development of L1 reading efficiency (i.e., accuracy attained before speed) are applicable to the development of word recognition skills in L2, but they do not emerge concurrently in both languages and (b) specific linguistic features such as orthographic depth and morphosyntactic complexity may interact with more global L2 proficiency effects in determining the course of L2 reading skills development.