L1 and L2 academic proficiencies are developmentally interdependent, so instruction in either language can build underlying academic ability¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1984 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on an ERIC document (a report, conference paper or thesis). It is kept because 2 design pages cite it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Older immigrant students (10-12 years old) whose L1 academic proficiency was well-established developed L2 academic proficiency more rapidly than younger immigrant students and attained higher L1 academic proficiency. → Rivera 1984

Evidence¶

Rivera 1984¶

Rivera, Charlene, Ed. (1984). Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement. Multilingual Matters 10. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED240882

q2 · i? · review · r2

Review of findings reported initially by Skutnabb-Kangas & Toukomaa (1976) and replicated in subsequent studies, as cited in Cummins' framework chapter. The pattern shows "developed L2 academic proficiency more rapidly than younger immigrant students". No effect size is printed.

"older immigrant students (10-12 years old), whose academic proficiency (e.g. literacy skills) in LI was well-established, developed L2 academic proficiency more rapidly than younger immigrant students"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic and Critical Literacy — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Preserving a bilingual student's heritage language supports rather than hinders English acquisition — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• L1 and L2 CALP are interdependent: strong promotion of L1 literacy in the early grades entails no adverse consequences for English — related
• Small-scale studies suggest age 15-16 with intermediate English proficiency (reading GE 5) is a good immigration age — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Older-arriving ESL learners transfer L1 knowledge efficiently, but learning slows once they outgrow their L1 — related
• Youngest-arriving ESL learners risk acquiring neither L1 nor L2 at the level school demands — related
• Children aged two to three acquire language more rapidly without teaching than college students taught by methods derived from older psychology — related