The relation of bilingual cognitive skills to the second language writing performance of primary grade students

Abstract

The purposes of the current study were to examine the effects of cognitive and reading skills (i.e., working memory [WM], oral language development [OLD], and reading skills) on second language (L2) writing performance as well as the changes in these relationships across different grades among Spanish-speaking children learning English. A battery of measures assessing English and Spanish WM, OLD, reading skills, and English writing were administered to 494 English learners in Grades 1 to 3. Path analysis was conducted for each grade separately in both English and Spanish models. The findings indicated that the relationships between English writing performance and English cognitive and reading skills became stronger as the grades increased. However, the relationships between English writing and the Spanish cognitive and reading determinants were mixed, indicating a statistically significant relationship with Spanish WM and reading skills for Grade 2 and 3 students but not with OLD across all grades. Implications for L2 writing development are discussed.