A Multilingual Perspective on Reading—Investigating Strategies of Irish Students Learning French

Abstract

Our aim here is to investigate reading in a foreign language from a multilingual perspective. Much research has focused on first- and second-language reading, especially the important role played by strategy deployment in helping readers to make meaning from texts in different languages. Less emphasis has been placed, however, on how bilinguals approach reading in a new language and how they harness their bilingual experience when reading in this new language. We thus investigate strategy deployment by pupils from English- and Irish-medium schools in Ireland who learn French. We compare patterns of strategy deployment in reading in Irish and French and put forward examples where experience with reading in Irish potentially benefits foreign language reading. Findings point towards the need to foster use of previous language experience through strategy instruction as part of a move towards greater recognition of the role of multilingual language experience at different levels of education.