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Digital Technology Use and Early Reading Abilities among Bilingual Children in Singapore

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  • Author(s): Haoning Mah, Grace (ORCID Haoning Mah, Grace (ORCID 0000-0003-4118-3280); Hu, Xiangqing (ORCID Hu, Xiangqing (ORCID 0000-0003-2050-2457); Yang, Weipeng (ORCID Yang, Weipeng (ORCID 0000-0002-8057-2863)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Policy Futures in Education. Feb 2021 19(2):242-258.
  • Publication Date:
    2021
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Research
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      17
    • Education Level:
      Elementary Education
      Grade 4
      Intermediate Grades
    • Subject Terms:
      Foreign Countries; Technology Uses in Education; Elementary School Students; Early Reading; Reading Ability; Bilingualism; Bilingual Education; Family Environment; Language Usage; Achievement Tests; International Assessment; Grade 4; Reading Tests; Reading Achievement; Reading Comprehension; Chinese; English; Electronic Learning; Educational Policy
    • Subject Terms:
      Singapore
    • Subject Terms:
      Progress in International Reading Literacy Study
    • Accession Number:
      10.1177/1478210320980575
    • ISSN:
      1478-2103
    • Abstract:
      Singapore has launched a bilingual education policy nationwide, which leads to three main home language environments amongst Chinese families, namely, Chinese dominant, Chinese-English bilingual families and English dominant families. However, little is known about the development of early reading abilities among Singapore children from these family backgrounds. Moreover, against the backdrop of technological advances in the digital age, how the use of digital technology may affect the development of early reading abilities remains understudied. In this study, 225 7-year-old Chinese Singaporean children with different home language environments were recruited from mainstream primary schools in Singapore to complete the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study reading comprehension tests and questionnaires. Evidence revealed that children's reading ability and digital technology use in Chinese varied across home language environments. Also, the use of digital technology in both English and Chinese positively predicted the reading abilities in both languages respectively for children from English dominant families. The results provide interesting insights into the role of bilingualism and digital technology use in the development of early reading abilities. In view of the results, we also discuss and put forward suggestions on online reading education policy.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2021
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1283586