Mary-Claire Ball

Internally-displaced children often lack schooling and reside in highly multilingual contexts. In Nigeria, children must learn to read in a local language (e.g., Hausa), and English; here, language skills can transfer across languages to support biliteracy. Importantly, the strength of transfer is constrained by proficiency in language skills. Formal schooling and early life exposure are crucial for acquisition of language skills. In our sample of 1595 Nigerian internally-displaced children, we investigated how pre-displacement school enrollment and early life language language exposure (i.e., at home) predict language skills, and how language skills transfer across languages to support literacy. Pre-displacement school enrollment particularly supported phonological awareness, and early life language exposure particularly supported vocabulary. Phonological awareness was stronger in Hausa relative to English, resulting in greater transfer from Hausa to English. IDP context allows the investigation of cognition and environment to enrich theoretical models of biliteracy, and inform pedagogical practices.

This study is a mixed-methods impact evaluation of a digital parenting and shared book reading intervention (Worldreader’s BookSmart app with embedded parenting tips, Vroom TipsTM) on caregivers’ self-efficacy, beliefs, and practices, and early childhood outcomes in South Africa. We further investigated whether behavioral nudges could promote sustained engagement. Study 1 consisted of a 4-arm randomized controlled trial (BookSmart, BookSmart with reminder nudges, BookSmart with goal-setting nudges, control group) where caregivers (N = 519) of children aged 3-5 years used BookSmart for 15 weeks. We found randomization to access the intervention (i.e., intent-to-treat) had no significant effect on caregiver or child outcomes. However, behavioral nudges, particularly goal-setting messages, increased caregiver engagement and improved cognitive and language skills specifically for disadvantaged children (i.e., children from lower-SES households and children with lower baseline skills). Greater intervention engagement (i.e., treatment-on-the-treated) was significantly associated with language skills and marginally associated with literacy skills. Study 2 consisted of qualitative interviews with caregivers (N = 20) before and after using BookSmart for 3 weeks. Results indicated that several barriers impacted caregivers’ engagement with the intervention, including costs (e.g., airtime) and language accessibility (e.g., caregivers reported translating English books into their native language). Our results highlight that digital reading interventions have the potential to support early childhood development, while stressing that engagement with the intervention is critical in realizing potential positive outcomes. The findings suggest that access and usage barriers should be considered when designing interventions and that behavioral nudges may serve to increase engagement.

Purpose:Many children in Majority World contexts are not meeting reading milestones, partly because many learn to read in a new language of instruction (LoI). Targeted instruction may improve reading outcomes, yet impacts may be limited for children who do not speak the LoI. This study examined how home language experience related to children’s language and reading skills after two years of reading instruction, and within a targeted instruction program delivered in French (PEC), in multilingual communities.Method:Children (N = 1050, girls = 506; Age M = 10.77, SD = 2.08) in this study were monolingual or bilingual/multilingual (with/without French [the LoI]) at home. We examined their language and reading skills and how home language experience moderated outcomes within PEC.Results:Bilinguals/multilinguals had overall better French language and reading skills compared to monolinguals especially when they spoke the LoI at home, but even when they did not. Bilingual/multilingual experience may therefore benefit language and reading development even when it does not include the LoI. Importantly, home language experience did not moderate the impact of PEC on language and reading. Conclusion:Targeted instruction programs demonstrate potential to provide equitable education in multilingual Majority World contexts, but a bilingual/multilingual component may be needed to improve reading outcomes further.

Children throughout the world attend school and learn to read in a language of instruction (LoI) other than the language(s) they speak at home, which is one factor contributing to poor reading outcomes. Understanding reading development in multilingual, Majority World contexts is important for improving reading skills globally. In a linguistically diverse sample of children in rural Côte d’Ivoire, we examined how home language experience (monolingual, regional bilingual [two Ivorian languages], French bilingual [French + Ivorian language], French multilingual [French + two Ivorian languages]) relates to children’s (N = 1335) language and reading skills. Bilingual children (French and regional) outperformed monolingual children on French language tasks, suggesting bilingual experience benefits language skills regardless of whether it includes the LoI (French). However, this language advantage did not extend to reading; there were no differences in reading scores between groups and all children leveraged phonological awareness for reading regardless of their home language experience. The findings suggest that bilingual/multilingual education programs, and reading instruction that strengthens language skills, may support reading outcomes in multilingual, Majority World contexts.

Background: Bilingualism and biliteracy impact the development of phonological awareness and reading. However, existing research is Indo‐European‐centric, limiting our understanding of reading development in diverse linguistic environments. Method: Addressing this gap, this study examined the relation between phonological awareness and reading in monolingual and bilingual/biliterate children in Uzbekistan, where both Uzbek and Russian are widely spoken. One hundred two Uzbek–Russian bilingual and 98 Uzbek monolingual (6–10 years; Grades 1–4) children in Uzbekistan completed phonological awareness and reading tasks. All children attended a bilingual school; however, the language of instruction was primarily Uzbek for Uzbek children and Russian for Uzbek–Russian bilinguals. Results: Overall, children demonstrated stronger reading skills in their respective language of instruction; however, bilingual children showed stronger reading skills than monolinguals, despite being instructed in their second language. This suggests that bilingual children demonstrate a reading advantage when tested in instructional languages, but not in non‐instructional languages. Bilinguals' phonological awareness significantly predicted cross‐linguistic reading performance, specifically from the instructional language (Russian) to the non‐instructional language (Uzbek). Conclusion: Phonological awareness is a significant cross‐linguistic predictor of reading skills, even when the languages have overlapping but competing orthographies, providing support for interactive cross‐linguistic transfer in reading.

Bilingualism and biliteracy significantly influence the development of phonological awareness and reading. However, existing research is Indo-European-centric, limiting our understanding of reading development in diverse linguistic environments. Addressing this gap, this study examined the relation between phonological awareness and reading in monolingual and bilingual/biliterate children in Uzbekistan, where both Uzbek and Russian are widely spoken. 102 Uzbek-Russian bilingual and 98 Uzbek monolingual (6-10 years; grades 1-4) children in Uzbekistan completed phonological awareness and reading tasks. All children attended a bilingual school however, the language of instruction was primarily Uzbek for Uzbek children and Russian for Uzbek-Russian bilinguals. Overall, children demonstrated stronger reading skills in their respective language of instruction, however bilingual children showed stronger reading skills than monolinguals, despite being instructed in their second language. This suggests that bilingual children demonstrate a reading advantage when tested in instructional languages, but not in non-instructional languages. Bilinguals’ phonological awareness significantly predicted cross-linguistic reading performance, specifically from the instructional language (Russian) to the noninstructional language (Uzbek), even when the languages have overlapping but competing orthographies, providing support for interactive cross-linguistic transfer in reading.

Literacy and numeracy are correlated throughout development, however, our understanding of this relation is limited. We explored the predictors of literacy and numeracy covariance (i.e., shared fluency between literacy and numeracy) in children (N = 1167, girls = 563) in rural Côte d'Ivoire, with specific focus on how developmental timing of instruction may relate to covariance. Many Ivorian children experience late enrollment and grade repetition, leading to variation in age-for-grade; participants were between grades 1 to 6, but their ages ranged from 5 to 15 (M = 9.19, SD = 2.07). Phonological awareness, numerical magnitude, ordinality, working memory, and inhibitory control were cognitive predictors of covariance. Age-for-grade was negatively related to covariance suggesting that covariance is related to timing of instruction.

Technology‐based remote research methods are increasingly widespread, including learning assessments in child development and education research. However, little is known about whether technology‐based remote assessments remain as valid and reliable as in‐person assessments. We developed a low‐cost phone‐based language and literacy assessment for primary‐school children in low‐resource communities in rural Côte d'Ivoire using voice calls and SMS. We compared the reliability and validity of this phone‐based assessment to an established in‐person assessment. A total of 685 5th grade children completed language (phonological awareness, vocabulary, language comprehension) and literacy (letter, word, pseudoword, passage reading, and comprehension) tasks in‐person and by phone. Reliability (internal consistency) and predictive validity were high across in‐person and phone‐based tasks. Children's performance across in‐person and phone‐based assessments was moderately to strongly correlated. Phonological awareness and vocabulary skills measured in‐person and by phone significantly predicted in‐person and phone‐based letter, word, and pseudoword reading. Oral language and decoding skills measured in‐person and by phone significantly predicted in‐person and phone‐based passage reading and comprehension. Our phone‐based assessment was a reliable and valid measure of language and reading and feasible for low‐resource settings. Low‐cost technologies offer significant potential to measure children's learning remotely, increasing the inclusion of remote and low‐resource populations in education research.