READING COMPREHENSION AMONG PONTIAN GREEK STUDENTS FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION DURING UPPER ELEMENTARY YEARS
Abstract
Reading comprehension skills are viewed as essential not only to academic learning, but also to life-long learning. This study assessed reading comprehension among Pontian Greek elementary students from the Former Soviet Union (Greek FSU-Pontians), one the largest minority groups found in Greek schools frequently identified as demonstrating low academic performance. By assessing Greek FSU-Pontian students' reading comprehension, one potential contributing factor influencing their low academic performance was investigated. A matched sample of 188 students attending the highest three years of Greek elementary school participated: 94 Greek FSU-Pontian students (47 boys, 47 girls) and 94 Greek classmates (47 boys, 47 girls). Youth were assessed using a Greek language acquisition competence test that included two subtests of reading comprehension. Results indicated that these Greek FSU-Pontian students perform similarly to their Greek counterparts on standardized reading comprehension assessments and their proficiency with the Modern Greek language is comparable to native Greek-speaking peers. Implications for the future research are presented.
Keywords
FSU-Pontian students, bilingualism, diglossia, reading comprehension
How to Cite
Michalopoulou, L. E. & Schaefer, B. A., (2015) “READING COMPREHENSION AMONG PONTIAN GREEK STUDENTS FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION DURING UPPER ELEMENTARY YEARS”, Journal of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching 22, 47-61.
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