Latinx bilinguals using dual-language books to develop biliteracy

ABSTRACT With much focus on English development in United States schools and research, less is known about how bilinguals develop literacy in their home languages without sustained formal instruction. This qualitative study of reading strategies addressed that gap. It examined how young bilinguals used English literacy knowledge gained through formal instruction to develop biliteracy, specifically literacy skills in their home language of Spanish. Five third- and fifth-grade Spanish-English bilinguals read three dual-language books and engaged in two verbal protocols. Analysis of student interviews, running records, verbal protocols, and video recordings of reading sessions found that students used English phonological knowledge to support decoding. To read the Spanish text, they also relied on memory of and direct references to the book’s English text along with their Spanish oral language knowledge. Findings provide evidence of students leveraging oral and written linguistic knowledge across the Continua of Biliteracy to support their biliteracy development. Implications are discussed for bilingual reading development and instruction.