A Cross-Linguistic Examination of Heterogeneous Reading Profiles of Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Students

Abstract

Research with English monolinguals has identified key subskills of reading comprehension that can differentiate subgroups of readers. There remains a dearth of research examining these subskills in Spanish-speaking bilingual students, and few studies have identified subgroups of readers whose home language is Spanish. This study used latent profile analysis to identify three distinct reader profiles of Spanish-speaking bilingual students based on Spanish and English word reading and vocabulary measures and examined profile differences in Spanish and English reading comprehension. The profiles were primarily distinguished by Spanish measures and were labeled “balanced Spanish and English,” “average English/low Spanish expressive Language,” and “English dominant.” All three profiles scored significantly differently in Spanish reading comprehension. The balanced Spanish and English profile scored higher than the English-dominant profile in English reading comprehension. Implications for research and practice are discussed.