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This thesis presents an investigation of the complexities of the immediate, ideological, educational, and societal contexts for literacy development among North Sámi learners between the ages of 9 and 15 who live in Northern Finland, Norway and Sweden in the central regions of Sápmi. Further, this thesis focuses on one area of literacy, namely writing. It examines these children’s writing, its phases and peculiarities, writing strategies, and the nature of transitions that these multilingual writers experience in switching between North Sámi, English and their respective national majority language. The main body of the collected materials consists of computer mediated pupil texts that the author gathered at 10 schools that arranged compulsory schooling in Central Sápmi during the school year 2012-2013. The texts were collected using keytroke logging methodology that not only records the final written product but also keeps track of changes and other writing activity during the writing session. Other materials collected and analyzed in this study include questionnaires addressed to the pupils, their parents, and to their language teachers. The materials also include detailed interviews with with 24 teachers from the participating schools. This study consists of six individual papers that focus at 1) research methodological aspects that concern studying Indigenous populations, 2) language attitudes, ideologies and available language arenas that have an impact on biliteracy emergence in North Sámi speaking Sápmi, or 3) the qualities and characteristics of multilingual pupil's writing and texts. The implications of the six individual papers are analyzed with respect to language revitalization and biliteracy emergence using the Hornbergian Continua of Biliteracy as the overarching theoretical framework. North Sámi, English and the national majority languages in the respective countries are constantly present in the lives of Sámi learners. Young Sámi learners grow up to be multilingual citizens of the global north through this extensive exposure to many languages and cultures from multiple sources such as popular culture, literature, media, community, tourism, and school. In their writing, multilingual Sámi learners show a wide spectrum of strategies and knowledge that carries over from one language to another. Nevertheless, most young Sámi learners cannot draw on equally many points on their Continua of Biliteracy in all their languages. Due to factors such as scarcity of adequate teaching materials, lack of popular culture and media content in Sámi languages, and language compartmentalizing language ideologies, the scales on the continua of biliteracy are in severe imbalance for many Sámi learners. Many Sámi learners risk losing their indigenous heritage language because the non-indigenous languages are prevalent in school as well as out of school contexts. / Literacy in Sápmi: multilingualism, revitalization and literacy development in the global north (Vetenskapsrådet 2011-6153)

Due to the internationalisation of higher education, the use of English at higher education institutions has become widespread. Today an increasing number of students participate in courses with the local language as medium of instruction but with textbooks in English. These have been called parallel-language courses, because they are expected to facilitate learning disciplinary discourse in two languages: the local language and English. This thesis reports an exploration of Swedish students' reading and learning from English textbooks in parallel-language courses. The overarching aim was to investigate the relationship between the students' Swedish and English reading habits and reading proficiency, their academic biliteracy, and incidental learning of subject-specific terminology in English from reading. The study also set out to identify pedagogical solutions to facilitate students' reading and learning from reading in English. The investigation comprised four studies which utilised a variety of methods and approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. Participants were Swedish and British students of biology and Swedish students of English. The results show that many Swedish students are capable of reading and learning from texts in Swedish and English without experiencing serious difficulties, although additional support is required for the learning of English terminology. The findings also indicate that some students' difficulty when reading in English is not due to poor English language proficiency, but rather a range of other factors such as weak general literacy skills, low motivation, low subject and vocabulary knowledge, note-taking strategies, slow reading speed, and time. For some students, learning is also rendered difficult by their self-perceptions and beliefs about reading and learning. Based on my findings, I propose a range of practices for EAP and subject teachers to adopt in order to improve reading and learning in parallel-language courses. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted.</p><p> </p>

This thesis examined the role of metalinguistic skills in concurrent and subsequent word-level reading and oral vocabulary among Chinese-English bilingual children who learned Chinese as their heritage language and English as their societal language. While previous studies on biliteracy development among this group of children have mostly focused on one of the two languages, this thesis gave equal emphasis to both languages. The research had two general purposes: 1) to investigate the role of phonological awareness, morphological awareness and orthographic processing in predicting word-level reading and oral vocabulary in Chinese and English concurrently and longitudinally; and 2) to examine the cross-linguistic role of phonological and morphological awareness to word-level reading and vocabulary, concurrently and longitudinally, between Chinese and English. These goals were explored through two interrelated studies, using path analyses. The participants included 91 Chinese-English bilingual children, recruited from kindergarten and Grade 1 Chinese heritage language classes in Canada. They were tested twice, one year apart, on a battery of cognitive and literacy measures in Chinese and English. Findings of Study 1 on within-language relationships indicated that, for word-level reading, all three metalinguistic skills were independent concurrent predictors in English, whereas only morphological awareness was predictive in Chinese. For oral vocabulary, morphological awareness was the only concurrent predictor in both languages. The longitudinal contributions of these metalinguistic skills were mostly mediated through the auto-regressors of the literacy outcomes. Findings of Study 2 on between-language relationships demonstrated that Chinese phonological awareness directly contributed to concurrent and subsequent English word reading beyond the effect of concurrent English phonological awareness. Yet, Chinese morphological awareness indirectly predicted concurrent and subsequent English oral vocabulary through concurrent English morphological awareness. Similarly, English morphological awareness only indirectly predicted concurrent and subsequent Chinese oral vocabulary. These findings suggest that different metalinguistic skills are required for literacy development in Chinese and English. Moreover, metalinguistic skills transfer to literacy, even across two typologically distant languages, but the transfer patterns of phonological and morphological awareness to different literacy skills vary considerably. These results are discussed in light of current reading and transfer models as well as linguistic contexts of biliteracy acquisition.

This thesis examined the role of metalinguistic skills in concurrent and subsequent word-level reading and oral vocabulary among Chinese-English bilingual children who learned Chinese as their heritage language and English as their societal language. While previous studies on biliteracy development among this group of children have mostly focused on one of the two languages, this thesis gave equal emphasis to both languages. The research had two general purposes: 1) to investigate the role of phonological awareness, morphological awareness and orthographic processing in predicting word-level reading and oral vocabulary in Chinese and English concurrently and longitudinally; and 2) to examine the cross-linguistic role of phonological and morphological awareness to word-level reading and vocabulary, concurrently and longitudinally, between Chinese and English. These goals were explored through two interrelated studies, using path analyses. The participants included 91 Chinese-English bilingual children, recruited from kindergarten and Grade 1 Chinese heritage language classes in Canada. They were tested twice, one year apart, on a battery of cognitive and literacy measures in Chinese and English. Findings of Study 1 on within-language relationships indicated that, for word-level reading, all three metalinguistic skills were independent concurrent predictors in English, whereas only morphological awareness was predictive in Chinese. For oral vocabulary, morphological awareness was the only concurrent predictor in both languages. The longitudinal contributions of these metalinguistic skills were mostly mediated through the auto-regressors of the literacy outcomes. Findings of Study 2 on between-language relationships demonstrated that Chinese phonological awareness directly contributed to concurrent and subsequent English word reading beyond the effect of concurrent English phonological awareness. Yet, Chinese morphological awareness indirectly predicted concurrent and subsequent English oral vocabulary through concurrent English morphological awareness. Similarly, English morphological awareness only indirectly predicted concurrent and subsequent Chinese oral vocabulary. These findings suggest that different metalinguistic skills are required for literacy development in Chinese and English. Moreover, metalinguistic skills transfer to literacy, even across two typologically distant languages, but the transfer patterns of phonological and morphological awareness to different literacy skills vary considerably. These results are discussed in light of current reading and transfer models as well as linguistic contexts of biliteracy acquisition.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Michael F. Perl / It has long been believed that how well one reads and writes in his/her first language will help a learner when trying to read and write in a second language. In an attempt to explore this issue more thoroughly, the researcher administered the Spanish Idea Proficiency Test (IPT) and the English Idea Proficiency Test form 3B, along with a questionnaire obtaining specific demographic data (first semester second language grade, grade point average, gender, grade in school, number of semesters studied the second/foreign language, and the number of languages the student had studied) to 96 Kansas high school students (48 Native Spanish speakers learning English in an English as a second language environment; 48 Native English speakers learning Spanish in a foreign language setting). First, the researcher wanted to determine if first language literacy skills, along with demographic data, predicted second language proficiency scores. Using the 5 reading subscales and the 3 writing subscales from the IPT, as well as the 6 variables from the demographic data, a multiple linear regression was run, along with regressions for each subgroup. It was determined that the 14 variables accounted for 83% of the variance. Second, the researcher wanted to determine the nature of the relationship between first language literacy skills and second language literacy skills. To this end, several Pearson’s r were figured. While a negative relationship for the first and second language proficiency scores was found, a slight positive relationship was found between the first and second language scores for the two subgroups. Additionally, a significantly positive relationship was found for first and second language reading and writing proficiency scores for the native Spanish speakers. Also, a significant positive relationship was found for first semester second language grade and second language reading scores for native English speakers. Third, the researcher wanted to determine if there was a difference between the two subgroups’ second language proficiency scores when controlling for the length of time studied. When an ANCOVA was conducted, there was found to a significant difference between the proficiency scores of the two subgroups, with the native Spanish speakers having a higher mean.

This thesis aims to learn about opportunities for and challenges to the development of multilingual literacies in three forms of education in Sweden and Australia that teach or draw on immigrant languages.  In Sweden mother tongue instruction and multilingual study guidance are in focus and in Australia, a community language school. Taking an ecological approach to the research sites, the thesis investigates how language ideologies, organization of the form of education and language practices impact on the development of multilingual literacies. A range of linguistic ethnographic data including 75 lesson observations, 48 interviews, field notes and photographs has been analyzed against the theoretical backdrop of the continua of biliteracy (Hornberger, 1989; Hornberger &amp; Skilton-Sylvester, 2000), heteroglossia (Bakhtin, 1981) and emerging theories of translanguaging (García &amp; Li, 2014) to investigate the questions. The thesis ties together the results of four interlocking case studies investigating the above-mentioned forms of education. Study I analyses the syllabus for mother tongue instruction in Sweden and finds that while aligning with the overall values of the curriculum for the compulsory school, a hidden curriculum constrains implementation. In Study II, multilingual practices during multilingual study guidance in Sweden are analysed, and demonstrate how translanguaging helps recently arrived students reach the learning goals of subjects in the Swedish curriculum. In study III, systematic analysis of indexicals reveals contrasting language narratives about language and language development in and around a Vietnamese community language school in Australia. Study IV focuses on mother tongue instruction in Sweden and through analysis of audio-recordings of lessons, interviews and field notes, finds three dimensions of linguistic diversity infuse the subject.  Opportunities for the development of multilingual literacies are created when there is equal access to spaces for developing literacies in different immigrant languages, within which language ideologies that recognize and build on the heteroglossic diversity of students’ linguistic repertoires dynamically inform the organization of education and classroom practices. Challenges are created when monoglossic ideologies restrict access to or ignore linguistic diversity and when there is a lack of dynamic engagement with implementation and organization. Basing organization, and classroom strategies around the linguistic reality of the students and the genres they need, benefits the development of multilingual literacies in both settings and can help students become resourceful language users (Pennycook, 2012b, 2014). / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Bilingualism characterizes not only people, but homes, schools, and communities across the United States. While some bilingual people are forced to suppress their bilingualism, others are encouraged to develop their skill set to a level of becoming biliterate. Bilingualism and biliteracy are key features in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs where students are provided daily opportunities to develop two languages simultaneously, along with grade-level academic content. Research in DLBE suggest closure of the achievement gap (Valentino & Reardon, 2015). Traditionally, DLBE programs were designed to keep the two target languages (for example, Spanish and English) separate as designated by time, space, teacher, and academic content area. Teachers who work under these strict guidelines often find that policing language use is both restrictive and unnatural, thus interfering with the flow of bilingual language development. This qualitative case study included 10 teacher participants from one rural school district in the Midwest. The study investigated how teachers perceive and respond to the constraints of language separation during instructional activities. Data were gathered from teacher interviews, classroom observations, and written informal interviews. Findings from this study indicate that under the strict separation of language program model, DLBE teachers brought their unique personal bilingual experiences to their practice by creating opportunities for dynamic and flexible bilingual language use during instructional time. The following strategies contributed to their students’ dynamic bilingualism: (a) the student as teacher, (b) active learning, student engagement, and group work, (c) the use of cognates, (d) strengthening bridges between languages and metalinguistic transfer, (d) reading the word and the world or learning literacy with culturally and contextually relevant literature, and (e) code-switching and translanguaging as a means of addressing the subtractive nature of language learning within an additive bilingual model. On the basis of the findings, the researcher recommends that DLBE program models open spaces for practicing dynamic and flexible bilingualism. Strategizing spaces for the use of two languages during instructional time fosters growth and development for students to become functionally bilingual and biliterate.

With the increase in emergent bilinguals and higher standards for all, the challenge for educational stakeholders is to fully utilize dual language programs as a prominent means toward meeting and surpassing rigorous state and national standards. Part of maximizing dual language programs’ impact, and the purpose of this study, was to provide detailed analyses of program models and student biliteracy development. Thus, the research questions sought to explore the level of understanding and implementation of dual language programs in general and the biliteracy component in particular at each campus, before documenting the second through fifth grade English and Spanish reading biliteracy trajectories of students at each school. Both campuses experienced more challenges in the implementation of the program structure, staff quality, and professional development rather than in curriculum and instruction. Furthermore, although both campuses’ students experienced positive trajectories towards biliteracy by the end of fifth grade, each campus was characterized by different rates and correlation between English and Spanish reading growth in each grade. Finally, the researcher conducted a split plot MANOVA to examine how much variance in the biliteracy trajectories was explained by school attendance, gender, initial English oral language and initial Spanish oral language; only school of attendance and initial English oral language levels explained the variance in biliteracy trajectories for students at these campuses.