A comparison of reading vocabulary and reading comprehension skills between bilingual and monolingual Czech-American students

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate whether reading achievement differed between bilingual and monolingual students of the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades in several Texas schools where the Czech-American culture is significant. It included seven communities in which 282 students were found to be of a Czech-American background and of this number, 63 were identified as being bilingual. Bilingualism was determined by the ability to answer structured questions presented in the Czech language. Responses could be in either Czech or English. The selected bilinguals and monolinguals were then compared in the factors of sex, chronological age, grade level, reading vocabulary scores, reading comprehension scores, total reading scores, socio-economic status, and intelligence scores. School records were inspected to determine the variables of sex, age, grade, and intelligence scores. To ascertain the level of the three reading variables and socio-economic-status, two instruments were used: the Cooperative Inter-American Reading Test and the Socio-Economic-Status Questionnaire. These were administered during the school year of 1973-1974. Analyses were performed upon the scores of demographic and reading variables for students in the selected categories in order to secure answers to the following five research questions: (1) Is there a significant difference in vocabulary scores between the bilinguals and monolinguals? (2) Is there a significant difference in reading comprehension scores between the bilinguals and monolinguals? (3) Is there a significant difference in total reading scores between the bilinguals and monolinguals? (4) Is sex a significant factor in total reading scores of the bilingual and monolingual groups at the three grade levels in this study? (5) Is there a significant correlation between total reading achievement and socio-economic-status?..