A Probe into Lexical Depth: What is the Direction of Transfer for L1 Literacy and L2 Development?

Abstract

This paper examines the intersection between heritage language (HL) learning and the development of English and Farsi deep lexical knowledge. The study compares two groups of Farsi-English bilingual children with different HL educational backgrounds and a group of English-only children by testing their paradigmatic-syntagmatic knowledge of words. A statistical analysis of the children's deep lexical knowledge was conducted in light of their HL literacy experience, second language (English) schooling, and length of residence. The findings revealed that longer length of residence and L2 schooling correlates with better performance on the L2 measures of lexical depth, whereas longer residence in the home country and first language (L1) formal schooling do not correlate with better performance on the Farsi measures. The study concluded that, in the long term, the learning of a heritage language, in combination with L2 academic instruction is more effective to the cross-lingual transfer of academic skills.

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