The role of social ties in the English reading comprehension of multilingual elementary students

This study examines whether and how two types of
social relationships–and how multiple languages are used in those
relationships–are associated with reading comprehension for multilingual
students in Grades 4 and 5. Prior research has identified students who like to
hang out together and students who seek out each other for classwork as salient
relationships for academic and social development, but with little research on
how these relationships support literacy skills for multilingual students.
Using a sample of students (N = 249;
51% female; 48% Chinese-English bilingual) screened for a randomized controlled
trial, we examine whether the degree of hang-out ties (i.e., the number of
students who a focal student likes to hang out with) and classwork ties (i.e.,
the number of students who a focal student prefers to work on classwork with)
are associated with reading comprehension directly and indirectly via their
English word recognition skills and language comprehension. Furthermore, we
examine whether the proportion of multiple language hang-out and classwork ties
are also directly or indirectly associated with reading comprehension. Across
path models, none of the social tie measures had direct, unique associations
with reading comprehension. However, the number of classwork ties, and the
proportion of multiple language hang-out ties and classwork ties, were both
negatively, indirectly associated with reading comprehension via language
comprehension in separate models. These findings indicate that students who use
more of a non-English language in their relationships may need more
opportunities to interact with more English-proficient peers.