This paper reviews "The School Achievement of Kindergarten Pupils for Whom English is a Second Language" by R.S. Rogers and E.N. Wright, a longitudinal study conducted within the Toronto school system. The paper examines how ESL students perform relative to their monolingual peers at entry level and over time, summarizing key findings about literacy, academic performance, and long-term outcomes. Contrary to deficit-focused assumptions, Rogers and Wright's data reveal that while bilingual children begin school at a disadvantage in literacy-related subjects, they surpass monolingual peers by third grade — a result attributed to the heightened cognitive effort required to master a second language.
"The School Achievement of Kindergarten Pupils for Whom English is a Second Language," by R.S. Rogers and E.N. Wright, presents a full study conducted within the Toronto school system to assess whether actual limitations are placed upon children who speak English as a second language. This detailed study employs a longitudinal design, offering a comparative analysis of how children perform at their entry level and beyond. The findings and research are, in several respects, quite startling.
Rogers' data show that when initially tested at the entry level — first grade — children who have English as their second language are far behind their classmates in all subjects other than mathematics. They lag significantly in all subject areas relating to literacy and comprehension of English. Tests conducted through pupil profile folders, teacher rating questionnaires, and standardized assessments confirm that children at the entry level who have English as their second language rank lowest within their class.
This finding is not entirely surprising, as prior research also confirms that non-native English speakers are most likely to struggle at the entry level. What distinguishes Rogers and Wright's study is what happens next.
The longitudinal component of the study reveals extremely startling results that have far eclipsed those of other recent studies. Within the test group, two-thirds of participants were monolingual — speaking only English — while one-third were bilingual, with English as their second language. Although the bilingual group performed worst at the entry level, by third grade those pupils who had English as their second language had completely overcome all performance barriers related to English fluency and literacy.
By the end of third grade, Rogers shows that bilingual children are in fact ahead of monolingual children in overall performance on subjects involving fluency and literacy. Rogers attributes this result to the greater degree of conscious assessment that bilingual students must undertake in order to master another language. This means they not only devote more attention to language learning, but are also more motivated to identify and correct their mistakes. While monolingual students may carry unexamined deficits in their native tongue — absorbed through their upbringing without scrutiny — bilingual children are not similarly constrained.
Because they must learn an entirely new language, bilingual children pay more specific attention to the mastery of vocabulary and other key indicators of future success in literary and reading comprehension. This heightened metalinguistic awareness appears to be a central driver of their eventual academic advantage.
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