Cross-linguistic Transfer for Biliteracy Bibliography

Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.
San Diego State University

Al-Rickaby, A. (2023). The survival of contrastive analysis hypothesis: A look under the hood. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(1), 1-7.

Ardila, A., García, K., García, M., Mejía, J., & Vado, G. (2017). Writing and reading knowledge of Spanish/English second-generation bilinguals. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 30, 387-400.

August, D., Calderón, M., & Carlo, M. (2002). Transfer of skills from Spanish to English: A study of young learners (ED-98-CO-0071).

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on language-minority children and youth. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ballinger, S., Lau, S. M. C., & Lacassee, C. Q. (2020). Cross-linguistic pedagogy: Harnessing transfer in the classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 76(4), 265-27.

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2018). Concept-oriented analysis: A reflection on one approach to studying interlanguage development. In A. Gudmestad & A. Edmonds (Eds.), Critical reflections on data in second language acquisition (pp. 171-195). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R. D., Robin L. , & Wilkinson, L. C. (2015). Bilingual spelling patterns in middle school: Is it more than transfer? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(1), 73-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2013.878304

Barros, S., Domke, L. M., Symons, C., & Ponzio, C. (2020). Challenging monolingual ways of looking at multilingualism: Insights for curriculum development in teacher preparation. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1753196

Beeman, K., & Urow, C. (2013). Teaching for biliteracy: Strengthening bridges between languages. Caslon Publishing.

Berens, M., Kovelman, I., & Petitto, L. A. (2013). Should bilingual children learn reading in two languages at the same time or in sequence. Bilingual Research Journal, 36, 35-60.

Bernhardt, E. B., & Kamil, M. L. (1995). Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: Consolidating the Linguistic Threshold and the Linguistic Interdependence hypotheses. Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 15-34.

Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy and cognition. Cambridge University Press.

Bialystok, E., Luk, G., & Kwan, E. (2005). Bilingualism, biliteracy and learning to read: Interactions among languages and writing systems. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(1), 43-61.

Bosma, E., Bakker, A., Zenger, L., & Blom, E. (2023). Supporting the development of the bilingual lexicon through translanguaging: A realist review integrating psycholinguistics with educational sciences. . European Journal of Psychology of Education, 38, 225-247.

Branum-Martin, L., Tao, S., & Garnat, S. (2015). Bilingual phonological awareness: Reexamining the evidence for relations within and across languages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(11), 111-125.

Bravo Valdivieso, L. (2002). La conciencia fonologíca como una zona de desarrollo próximo para el aprendizaje inicial de la lectura [The phonological awareness as a zone of proximal development for the intitial learning of reading]. Estudios Pedagógicos, 28, 165-202.

Butvilofsky, S., Escamilla, K., & Hopewell, S. (2023). Biliterate writing from the start: The Literacy Squared Approach to aset-based writing instruction. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

Camps, A. (2015). Metalinguistic activity in language learning. In T. Ribas, X. Fontich, & O. Guasch (Eds.), Grammar at School: Research on Metalinguistic Activity in Language Education (pp. 25-41). Peter Lang S.A.

Cárdenas-Hagan, E., Carlson, C. D., & Pollard-Durodola, S. D. (2007). The cross-linguistic transfer of early literacy skills: The role of initial L1 and L2 skills and language of instruction. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, July, 249-259.

Carton, A. S. (1971). Inferencing: A process in using and learning language. In P. Pimsleur & T. Quinn (Eds.), The psychology of second language learning (pp. 45-58). Cambridge University Press.

Chung, S.C., Chen X., & Geva, E. (2019). Deconstructing and reconstructing cross-language transfer in bilingual reading development: An interactive framework. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 50, 149-161.

Cummins, J. (2005, September 23). Teaching for cross-language transfer in dual language education: Possibilities and pitfalls TESOL Symposium on Dual Language Education: Teaching and Learning in Two Languages, Istanbul, Turkey.

Cummins, J. (2017). Teaching for transfer in multilingual school contexts. In O. García , A. M. Lin, & S. May (Eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education, Encyclopedia of language and education. Springer International Publishing.

Day, S. B., & Goldstone, R. L. (2012). The import of knowledge export: Connecting findings and theories of transfer of learning. Educational Psychologist, 47(5), 153-176.

De Angelis, G., Jessner, U., & Kresic, M. (Eds.). (2015). Crosslinguistic influence and crosslinguistic interaction in multilingual language learning. Bloomsbury.

De Groot, A. M. B. (2010). Language and cognition in bilinguals and multilinguals: An introduction. Taylor & Francis Group.

Dewitz, P., & Graves, M. F. (2014). Teaching for transfer in the Common Core era. The Reading Teacher, 68(2), 149-158.

Dijkstra, T., & van Heuven, W. J. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5(3), 175-197. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728902003012

Dorta-Duque de Reyes, S. (2025). The dynamics of cross-linguistic instruction: Strategies for building biliteracy. Benchmark Education Company.

Dufour, R., & Kroll, J. F. (1993). Matching words to concepts in two languages: A test of the concept mediation model of bilingual representation. Memory & Cognition, 23(2), 166-180.

Durgunoglu, A. Y. (2002). Cross-linguistic transfer in literacy development and implications for language learners. Annals of Dyslexia, 52, 189-204.

Durgunoglu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(3), 453-465.

Escamilla, K., Hopewell, S., Butvilofsky, S., Sparrow, W., Soltero-González, L., Ruiz-Figueroa, O., & Escamilla, M. (2013). Biliteracy from the start: Literacy Squared in action. Caslon Publishing.

Feinauer, E., Hall-Kenyon, K., & Davison, K. C. (2012). Cross-language transfer of early literacy skills: An examination of young learners in two-way bilingual immersion elementary school. Reading Psychology, 34, 436-460.

Galloway, E. P., Uccelli, P., & Aguilar, G. B., Christopher D. (2020). Exploring the cross-linguistic contribution of Spanish and English academic language skills to English text comprehension for middle-grade dual language learners. AERA Open, 6(1), 1-20.

García, G. E., & Godines, H. (2017). A window into bilingual reading: The bilingual reading practices of fourth-grade, Mexican American children who are emergent bilinguals. Journal of Literacy Research, 49(2), 273-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X17703727

Gass, S. (1984). Language transfer and universal grammatical relations. Language Learning, 34(2), 115-132.

Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (Eds.). (1993). Language transfer in language learning (2d ed.). John Benjamins.

Genesee, F., Geva, E., Dressler, C., & Kamil, M. L. (2006). Synthesis: Cross-Linguistic relationships. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing literacy in second-language learners (pp. 153-174). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Goodrich, J. M. L., Christopher J., Farver, JoAnn M. . (2013). Do early literacy skills in children’s first language promote development of skill in their second language? An experimental evaluation of transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 414-426.

Gottardo, A., Javier, C., Farnia, F., Mak, L., & Geva, E. (2016). Bidirectional cross-linguistic relations of first and second language skills in reading comprehension of Spanish-speaking English learners. In E. Zaretsky & M. Schwartz (Eds.), Cross-linguistic Transfer in Reading in Multilingual Contexts (pp. 65-92). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Harrison, G. L., Goegan, L. D., Jalbert, R., McManus, K., Sinclair, K., & Spurling, J. (2016). Predictors of spelling and writing skills in first- and second-language learners. Reading & Writing, 29, 69.

Haskell, R. (2001). Transfer of learning: Cognition, instruction, and reasoning. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Hofer, B. (2015). On the dynamics of early multilingualism: A psycholinguistic study (Vol. 13). De Gruyter, Inc.

Hudelson, S. (1982). An introductory examination of children’s invented spelling in Spanish. NABE Journal, 6(2 & 3), 53-67.

Hwang, J. K., Mancilla-Martínez, J., McClain, J. B., Oh, M. H., & Flores, I. (2020). Spanish-speaking English learners’ English language and literacy skills: The predictive role of conceptually scored vocabulary. Applied Linguistics, 41, 1-24.

Jakobovits, L. A. (1969). Second language learning and transfer theory: A theoretical assessment. Language Learning, 19(12), 55-86.

Jamal, N. I., Piche, A. W., Napoliello, E. M., Perfetti, C. A., & Guinevere, F. E. (2012). Neural basis of single-word reading in Spanish-English bilinguals. Human Brain Mapping, 33, 235-245.

Jarvis, S. (2000). Semantic and conceptual transfer. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3(1), 19-21.

Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2012). Direct and indirect roles of morphological awareness in the English reading comprehension of native English, Spanish, Filipino and Vietnamese speakers. Language Learning, 62(4), 1170-1204.

Ke, S., Miller, R. T., Zhang, D., & Koda, K. (2021). Crosslinguistic sharing of morphological awareness in biliteracy development: A systematic review and meta-analysis of correlations coefficients. Language Learning, 71(1), 8-54.

Ke, S. E., Zhang, D., & Koda, K. (2023). Metalinguistic awareness in second language reading development. Cambridge University Press.

Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2012). Direct and indirect roles of morphological awareness in the English reading comprehension of native English, Spanish, Filipino and Vietnamese speakers. Language Learning, 62(4), 1170-1204.

Koda, K. (2008). Impacts of prior literacy experience on second language learning to read. In K. Koda & A. M. Zehler (Eds.), (pp. 68-96). New York, NY: Routledge.

Koda, K. (1994). Second language reading research: Problems and possibilities. Applied Psycholinguistics, 15(1994), 1-29.

Koda, K. (1997). Orthographic knowledge in L2 lexical processing: A cross-linguistic perspective. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 35-54). Cambridge University Press.

Kroll, J. F., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Understanding the consequences of bilingualism for language processing and cognition. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 1-21. https://doi.org/doi:10.1080/20445911.2013.799170

Kuo, L. j., Ramírez, G., de Marin, S., Kim, T.J., & Unal-gezer, M. (2017). Bilingualism and morphological awareness: A study with children from general education and Spanish-English dual language programs. Educational Psychology, 37(2), 94-111.

Kuo, L. J., & Anderson, R. C. (2010). Beyond cross-language transfer: Reconceptualizing the impact of early bilingualism on phonological awareness. Scientific Studies of Reading, 14(4), 365-385.

Lallier, M. C., Manuel. (2018). Cross-linguistic transfer in bilinguals reading in two alphabetic orthographies: The grain size accommodation hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 25(1), 386-401.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2013). Transfer of learning transformed. Language Learning, 63(1), 197-129.

Leider, C. M., Proctor, C. P., Silverman, R. D., & Harring, J. R. (2013). Examining the role of vocabulary depth, cross-linguistic transfer, and types of reading measures on the reading comprehension of Latino bilinguals in elementary school. Reading & Writing, 26(9), 1459-1485.

Llombart-Huesca, A. (2022). Default grapheme and language transfer in the spelling of /s/ in Spanish heritage language learners. Heritage Language Journal, 19(2022), 1-27.

Lubliner, S., & Hiebert, E. H. (2011). An analysis of English–Spanish cognates as a source of general academic language. Bilingual Research Journal, 34, 76–93.

Lui, Y., Cheong, C. M., Wai Ng, R. H., & Tse, S. K. (2024). The role of L1 self-efficacy in L2 reading comprehension: An exploration of L1-L2 cross-linguistic transfer. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 27(7), 883-897. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2023.2290478

MacSwan, J. (2017). A multilingual perspective on translanguaging. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 167-201.

Marks, R. A., Labotka, D., Xin, S., Nickerson, N., Zhang, K., Eggleston, R. L., Yu, C.-L., Uchikoshi, Y., Hoeft, F., & Kovelman, I. (2022). Morphological awareness and its role in early word reading in English monolinguals, Spanish-English, and Chinese-English simultaneous bilingual. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000517

Major, R. C. (2008). Transfer in second language phonology: A review. In E. J. G. Hansen & M. L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and language acquisition (pp. 63-94). John Benjamins Publishing Co.

Melby-Lervag, M., & Lervag, A. (2011). Cross-linguistic transfer or oral language, decoding, phonological awareness and reading comprehension: A meta-analysis of the correlational evidence. Journal of Research in Reading, 34(1), 114-135.

Molina García, M. J. (2002). Las bases literarias de la comprensión lectora. Publicaciones, 32, 85-103.

Montrul, S. (2012). El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. Wiley & Sons.

Moore, F. B., & Marzano, R. J. (1979). Common errors of Spanish speakers learning English. Research in the Teaching of English, 13(2), 161-167.

Mora, J.K. (2001). Learning to spell in two languages: Orthographic transfer in a transitional Spanish/English bilingual program. In P. Dreyer (Ed.), Raising Scores, Raising Questions: Claremont Reading Conference 65th Yearbook (pp. 64-84). Claremont, CA: Claremont Graduate University.

Mora, J.K. (2016). Spanish language pedagogy for biliteracy programs. San Diego, CA: Montezuma Publishing.

Mora, J. K. (2026). Spanish language pedagogy for biliteracy programs (Second ed.). Montezuma Publishing.

Mora, J. K., & Dorta-Duque de Reyes, S. (2025). Teach for transfer of learning. Language Magazine, May, 40-44.

Mora, J. K., & Dorta-Duque de Reyes, S. (In press). Biliteracy and cross-cultural teaching: A framework for standards-based transfer instruction in dual language programs. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Morett, L. M., & MacWhinney, B. (2012). Syntactic transfer in English-speaking Spanish learners. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 16(1), 132-151. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000107

Nagy, W. E., García, G. E., Durgunoglu, A. Y., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Spanish-English bilingual students’ use of cognates in English reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 25(3), 241-259.

 Odlin, T. (1996). On the recognition of transfer errors. Language Awareness, 5(3&4), 166-178.

Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Padrón, Y. N. (1992). The effect of strategy instruction on bilingual students’ cognitive strategy use in reading. Bilingual Research Journal, 16(3-4), 35-51.

Paradis, J., & Soto-Corominas, A. (2022). Cross-linguistic influence and code-switching. In B. A. Goldstein (Ed.), Bilingual language development and disorders in Spanish-English speakers (Third ed., pp. 95-118). Brookes Publishing.

Pasquarella, A., Chen, X., & Gottardo, A. (2015). Cross-language transfer of word reading accuracy and word reading fluency in Spanish-English and Chinese/English bilinguals: Script-universal and script-specific processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 96-110.

Pea, R. D. (1987). Socializing the knowledge transfer problem. International Journal of Educational Research, 11, 639-663.

Perkins, D. N., & Salomon, G. (2012). Knowledge to go: A motivational and dispositional view of transfer. Educational Psychologist, 47(3), 248-258.

Perkins, K., & Zhang, L. J. (2024). The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning: From contrastive analysis to contemporary neuroimaging. RELC Journal, 55(1), 162-178.

Proctor, C. P., August, D., & Snow, C. (2010). The Interdependence Continuum: A perspective on the nature of Spanish-English bilingual reading comprehension. Bilingual Research Journal, 33(1), 5-20.

Ramírez, A., & Larrea-García, J. A. (2015, November 4-7). A descriptive framework for integrating fluency, comprehension, and cognate awareness for emergent to advanced bilinguals. 20th Annual La Cosecha Dual Language Conference, Albuquerque, NM.

Ramírez, G., Chen, X., & Geva, E. (2010). Morphological awareness in Spanish-speaking English language learners: Within and cross-language effects on word reading. Reading & Writing, 23, 337-358.

Ramón Torrijos, M. M. (2009). Effects of cross-linguistic influences on second language acquisition: A corpus-based study of semantic transfer in written production. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas, 4(1), 147-159.

Raynolds, L. B., & Uhry, J. K. (2010). The invented spellings of non-Spanish phonemes by Spanish-English bilingual and English monolingual kindergarteners. Reading & Writing, 23, 495-513.

Raynolds, L. B., Uhry, J. K., & Brunner, J. (2013). Vowel representations in the invented spellings of Spanish-English bilingual kindergarteners. Reading & Writing, 26, 647-664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9380-9

Reder, F., Marec-Breton, N. G., Jean-Emile, & Demont, E. (2013). Second-language learners’ advantage in metalinguistic awareness: A question of languages’ characteristics. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 686-702.

Riccio, C. A., Amado, A., Jiménez, S., Hasbrouk, J. E., & Imhoff, B. (2001). Cross-linguistic transfer of phonological processing: Development of a measure of phonological processing in Spanish. Bilingual Research Journal, 25(4), 417-437.

Rolla, A., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. E. (2006). The role of language of instruction and vocabulary in English in the English phonological awareness of Spanish-English bilingual children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 229-246.

Saiegh-Haddad, E. (2019). What is phonological awareness in L2? Journal of Neurolinguistics, 50, 17-27.

Salomon, G., & Perkins, D. N. (1989). Rocky roads to transfer: Rethinking mechanisms of a neglected phenomenon. Educational Psychologist, 24(2), 113-142.

Sharwood Smith, M. (2021). The cognitive status of metalinguistic knowledge in speakers of one or more languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 24, 185-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728920000371

Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 129-158.

Schroter, P., & Schroeder, S. (2016). Orthographic processing in balanced bilingual children: Cross-language evidence from cognates and false friends. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141, 239-246. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.09.005

Serrano, R. (2011). From metalinguistic instruction to metalinguistic knowledge, and from metalinguistic knowledge to performance in error correction and oral production tasks. Language Awareness, 20(1), 1-16.

Simons, P. R. J. (1999). Transfer of learning: Paradoxes for Learners. International Journal of Educational Research, 31, 577-589.

Skehan, P. (2008). Interlanguage and language transfer. In B. Spolsky & F. M. Hult (Eds.), The handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 411-423). Blackwell Publishing.

Soltero-González, L., Escamilla, K., & Hopewell, S. (2012). Changing teachers’ perceptions about the writing abilities of emerging bilingual students: Towards a holistic bilingual perspective on writing assessment. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(1), 71-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.604712

Soltero-González, L., Sparrow, W., Butvilofsky, S., Escamilla, K., & Hopewell, S. (2016). Effects of a paired literacy program on emerging bilingual children’s biliteracy outcomes in third grade. Journal of Literacy Research, 48(1), 80-104.

Song, L. (2012). On the variability of interlanguage. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(4), 778-783.

Sun-Alperin, M. K. W., Min. (2011). Cross-language transfer of phonological and orthgraphic processing skills from Spanish L1 to English L2. Reading & Writing, 24, 591-614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9221-7

Talalakina, E. (2015). Fostering positive transfer through metalinguistic awareness: A case for parallel instruction of synonyms in L1 and L2. Journal of Language and Education, 1(4), 74-80.

Thibeault, J., & Matheson, T. (2020). The cross-linguistic reading strategies used by elementary students in French immersion as they engage with dual-language children’s books. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 76(4), 375-394.

Thonis, E. (1983). The English-Spanish Connection. Compton, CA: Santillana.

Traxler, M. J. (2023). Introduction to psycholinguistics (Second ed.). Wiley Blackwell.

van Heuven, W., & Dijkstra, T. (2010). Language comprehension in the bilingual brain: fMRI and ERP support for psycholinguistic models. Brain Research Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresrev.2010.03.002

Velasco, P., & García, O. (2014). Translanguaging and the writing of bilingual learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 37(1), 6-23.

Verhoeven, L., Perfetti, C. & Pugh, K. (2019). Cross-linguistic perspectives on second language reading. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 50, 1-6.

Volet, S. (1999). Learning across cultures: Appropriateness of knowledge transfer. International Journal of Educational Research, 31, 625-643.

Wong, B., Yin, B., & O’Brien, B. (2016). Neurolinguistics: Structure, function, and connectivity in the bilingual brain. BioMed Research International, Article ID 7069274, 22. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7069274

Yi Lo, Y. (2015). A glimpse into the effectiveness of L2-content cross-curricular collaboration in content-based instruction programmes. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(4), 443-462.

Yu, L., & Odlin, T. (Eds.). (2016). New perspectives on transfer in second language learning. Multilingual Matters.

Zaretsky, E., & Schwartz, A. I. (Eds.). (2016). Cross-linguistic transfer in reading in multilingual contexts. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Zhang, D., Koda, K., & Leong, C. K. (2016). Morphological awareness and bilingual word learning: A longitudinal structural equation modeling study. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 29, 383-407.

Zhang, K., Sun, X., Flores-Gaona, Z., Yu, C.-L., Eggleston, R. L., Nickerson, N., Caruso, V. C., Tardif, T., & Kovelman, I. (2025). Cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual children’s phonological and morphological awareness skills: A longitudinal perspective. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 28(2), 327-342.