Variation in early decoding development in a post-colonial Caribbean context

Given the gap in knowledge on decoding development in post-colonial contexts, this longitudinal study examined Papiamento (Creole L1) and Dutch (post-colonial L2) decoding development from kindergarten to second grade of children in the Dutch Caribbean while considering order of initial decoding instruction (L1 or L2), kindergarten precursors (speech decoding, vocabulary, rapid naming, short-term memory, phonological awareness), and transfer effects. Results revealed that incase of L1 decoding instruction, the development of letter knowledge and decoding was higher in Papiamento and incase of L2 decoding instruction it was higher in Dutch. When instruction started in L1, Papiamento decoding development was statistically significantly predicted by phonological awareness and letter knowledge, and Dutch decoding development by letter knowledge only. When instruction started in L2, Dutch decoding development was statistically significantly predicted by phonological awareness, letter knowledge, short-term memory, and speech decoding, and Papiamento decoding development by letter knowledge and vocabulary. Transfer effects were found from the language of decoding instruction to the other language with L1 precursors contributing to the statistically significantly prediction of L2 but not the other way around. To conclude, the results reveal the pivotal role and benefit of including the L1 in early bilingual decoding development in a post-colonial context.