Literacy and wider academic achievement

Here you will find summaries of research papers that relate to literacy, foreign language learning and wider academic achievement. Each summary is worded to be reader-friendly, and covers no more than one side of A4. If you have any questions about the research, or would like to know more, please contact us, or the theme leader, Alison, at: amp1g09@soton.ac.uk

The relationship between literacy, foreign language learning and wider academic achievement

> FL instruction with literacy did not improve FL (oracy) outcomes compared to FL instruction with less literacy (Graham et al., 2014)

> There was a relationship between FL oracy and FL literacy outcomes after a teachingprogramme in which

French oracy was supported by systematic and explicit French literacy (Porter, 2014)

Can this be linked back to quality of pedagogy? Does it depend what kind of FL literacy teaching and learning is on offer?

See our related theme pages: pedagogy and teacher expertise and linguistic development and expectations.

Learning a FL has the potential to support achievement across the curriculum

Again, it’s a mixed picture but some research in the USA suggests that FL learning in elementary school (FLES) can slightly improve performance on some elementary education tests e.g Taylor-Wood, 2003).

> KS2 (Year 4) pupils showed potential cognitive benefits

Can the teaching and learning of a specific language facilitate the development of language learning aptitude and metalinguistic awareness? (Tellier & Roehr-Brackin, 2013).
Can young children’s metalinguistic awareness be enhanced to kick-start their ability for explicit learning, and result in improved L2 proficiency? (Tellier, 2015).

> Stakeholder interviews reported perceptions that FL learning could support learning and progression in English literacy, communication and knowledge about language (Cable et al., 2010: 49).