Elsa Cardenas-Hagan just reported on this at IDA in Denver.  Her 
studies on Spanish speaking children learning English confirmed that 
phonological skills-particularly phonological awareness- are 
bi-directional-.  That is, improvement in one influences the other-- 
which is why, of course, as Aydin Dorgonoglu of U of MN has shown, that 
literacy skills are highly transferable-- and that includes 
phonological skills needed for literacy.   This bi-directionality of 
skills was also shown in studies done by Leonore Ganschow and Rick 
Sparks and Karen Miller on high school students with LD learning 
Spanish through a highly structured-- Ortong-Gillingham-type language 
program.   This was around 1993.  They showed that improved skills in 
Spanish ( the students' L2)  improved skills in English ( L1).  Those 
findings were replicated by other collaborating with Ganschow and 
Sparks on other language instruction        (German, Latin).

Dr. Cardenas-Hagan noted that these studies show why it is important to 
build literacy in the learner's first or dominant language if at all 
possible.  It should then be much easier for the learner to become 
literate in English.   We know, however, that many learners do not have 
that possiblity because their education system will not support 
bilingual education or native language literacy, or because their 
language is not written, or because even if written, is not a prominent 
language in the setting where the learner studies and no one can do the 
native language instruction.   Then for those who cannot become 
literate in their first or other language they already speak, it is 
essential to build the pre-literacy skills thoroughly before they are 
asked to start literacy studies per se.   Literacy is WAY more than 
knowing how to acquire it by studying.   We have to remember that most 
children in THIS culture (and all other highly literate cultures) are 
exposed to literacy almost from birth and are given great amounts of 
phonological preparation for reading.  It is a disadvantaged child in 
this culture who does not already "know" a lot of stories in books he 
or she has been read.

In terms of learning difficulties, the failure to transfer literacy 
skills is one of the most diagnostic problems when a person literate in 
one language cannot become literate in another.  This is another of 
Dorgonoglu's conclusions as well. She notes, as does Geva (Toronto) 
that it does not matter what the first language is, the literacy 
skills--including phonological awareness- will transfer quite solidly, 
although for those from languages that have a very different writing 
system and/or are quite different structurally and phonologically, the 
transfer may take a little longer.  Geva notes a phenomenon called 
"negative transfer" where the normal language learner at first tries to 
apply the rules of the first language to the new language.  Eventually 
--and in normal language learning this happens rather rapidly--the 
learner corrects him/herself and begins to learn and apply the new 
language rules.   Sometimes the transfer can be improved by raising the 
learner's metacognitive skills --learning how to learn, but if there 
are core phonological difficulties it will still be a hard task to 
learn how to deal with the written code.

Richard Sparks has studied the problem in American College students 
having difficulty learning a foreign language-- he has not moved much 
off his and Ganschow's original conclusion that if there is a core 
weakness in phonological awareness, it will seriously impact learning 
to be literate in a new language.

Nonetheless, I think it is hard to pin the difficulties of adult 
language learners on one cause.  There are MULTIPLE causes for their 
failure to learn.  It often requires a lot of gentle digging to find 
out the probable cause.

Robin Schwarz







-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah J.C. MS CCC/SLP <deb_bil_slp at yahoo.com>
To: The English Language Learners Discussion List 
<englishlanguage at dev.nifl.gov>
Sent: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 16:50:05 -0500
Subject: Re: [EnglishLanguage] native language literacy

Not at this time--I am knee deep in deadlines.......perhaps in a few
weeks--i ahve read it and witnessed it clinically.
******************************************************************
DEBORAH JILL CHITESTER M.S.,CCC/SLP
Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist
Second Language, Literacy & Learning Connection, LLC
   -Attaining Success for Second Language Learners-
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Listserve: Second_Language at yahoogroups.com
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Confidentiality Notice: This transmission may contain information that 
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy R Faux/AC/VCU" <nfaux at vcu.edu>
To: "The English Language Learners Discussion List"
<englishlanguage at dev.nifl.gov>
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [EnglishLanguage] native language literacy


Deborah,

Can you cite those studies?

Nancy

*********************************************************
Nancy R. Faux
ESOL Specialist
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
nfaux at vcu.edu
http://www.aelweb.vcu.edu/
1-800-237-0178



"Deborah J.C. MS CCC/SLP" <deb_bil_slp at yahoo.com>
Sent by: englishlanguage-bounces at dev.nifl.gov
11/07/2005 04:07 PM
Please respond to
The English Language Learners Discussion List
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To
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Subject
Re: [EnglishLanguage] native language literacy






I hae read some studies which point to a positive impact of L2 upon L1 
in
terms of metalinguistics.
******************************************************************
DEBORAH JILL CHITESTER M.S.,CCC/SLP
Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist
Second Language, Literacy & Learning Connection, LLC
   -Attaining Success for Second Language Learners-
Web Site: www.SLLLC.org
Listserve: Second_Language at yahoogroups.com
E-mail: djcslp at slllc.org
609-737-7225(Tel/Fax),  732-642-5118 (cell)
Confidentiality Notice: This transmission may contain information that 
is
privileged,
confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you
are
not
the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure,
copying,
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thereon is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in
error,
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----- Original Message -----
From: "zazie" <zazee27 at yahoo.com>
To: "The English Language Learners Discussion List"
<englishlanguage at dev.nifl.gov>
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: [EnglishLanguage] native language literacy


But Mr. Brown's response is not to the question that was asked.  The 
talk
is
always about L1 aiding L2, not the other way around.  It would be an
interesting thing to study.  Previously somone mentioned that students
with
problems in ESL class tended to be those with less L1 education.  
STudents

in Literacy-level classes often have had so little education that they
have
not had the training in academic (school/study) skills that others have,
even those with only elementary-school education.  No wonder they don't
feel
a great desire to learn to read in their L1; they have no intention of
sitting home reading books in the evenings.  (Not that many "educated"
Americans do so, either!)
Zazie


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