| This research examines the strategic reading processes of eight bilingual Hispanic children who are good English readers. For comparative purposes, a smaller sample of good monolingual Anglo readers and of poor bilingual Hispanic readers is also included. The major objective of this study was to answer the question of how bilingualism and biliteracy affect metacognition. Data were gathered using unprompted and prompted think alouds, interviews, a measure of prior knowledge, and passage recalls. Preliminary analysis resulted in the identification of nineteen cognitive and metacognitive strategies that were used and/or identified by the student participants.;The good bilingual readers were much more likely to verbalize their difficulties with unknown English vocabulary than were the monolingual readers. However, unlike the poor bilingual readers, they were more successful in resolving their vocabulary problems. Their approach to English narrative text was characterized by their determination to comprehend, their flexibility in using strategies, and their accuracy in making sense of the text; whereas their approach to English expository text was characterized by their use of relevant prior knowledge, their identification of new information, and their ability to combine new with old information. The good monolingual readers did not verbalize their thinking as much as the good bilingual readers. However, they also demonstrated determination to comprehend, were flexible in their use of strategies, and more often than not they were accurate in making sense of text. These readers were especially adept at integrating relevant prior knowledge into their ongoing meaning construction.;Both samples of bilingual readers had greater difficulty with Spanish expository text than they did with Spanish narrative text or English narrative and/or expository text. The qualities of determination, flexibility, and accuracy again characterized the good bilingual students' reading of Spanish narrative text. Bilingual strategies, such as searching for cognates, translating, transferring knowledge learned in one language to another, and using code-switching in the protocols to discuss the text were more evident in their approach to Spanish expository text. The poor bilingual readers, by and large, did not utilize these strategies and were less successful in their comprehension. The data from this study suggest that good bilingual readers possess strategic reading knowledge that is qualitatively different from that of other readers. |
