Editing Language transfer (section)

== Literacy development ==
Language transfer is often referred to as ''cross-language transfer'', the ability to use skills acquired in one language and to use those skills to facilitate learning of a new language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Man |last2=Cooc |first2=North |last3=Sheng |first3=Li |date=2017-10-02 |title=An investigation of cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: a meta-analysis |journal=Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=15 |doi=10.1186/s40862-017-0036-9 |s2cid=44047677 |issn=2363-5169|doi-access=free }}</ref> Cross-language transfer has been researched and analyzed by many scholars over the years, but the focus on cross-language transfer in literacy research expanded in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chung |first1=Sheila Cira |last2=Chen |first2=Xi |last3=Geva |first3=Esther |date=2019-05-01 |title=Deconstructing and reconstructing cross-language transfer in bilingual reading development: An interactive framework |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0911604417300532 |journal=Journal of Neurolinguistics |series=Cross-linguistic perspectives on second language reading |volume=50 |pages=149–161 |doi=10.1016/j.jneuroling.2018.01.003 |s2cid=53199706 |issn=0911-6044|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is a topic that has been gaining lots of interest from scholars due to the increasing number of bilingual and multilingual people, especially students, around the world. In the USA alone, English Language Learners (ELL) account for over 10% of the students enrolled in public schools.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Department of Education |first=Office of English Language Acquisition |date=August 2022 |title=English Learners: Demographic Trends |url=https://ncela.ed.gov/files/fast_facts/ELDemographics_20220805_508.pdf |access-date=October 11, 2022 |website=National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition}}</ref>

The linguistic interdependence hypothesis claims that language transfer can occur from L1 ([[first language]]) to L2 ([[second language]]), but there first must be a level of proficiency in L1 literacy skills for the skills to transfer over into L2.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Feinauer |first1=Erika |last2=Hall-Kenyon |first2=Kendra M. |last3=Davison |first3=Kimberlee C. |date=2013-09-01 |title=Cross-Language Transfer of Early Literacy Skills: An Examination of Young Learners in a Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Elementary School |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2012.658142 |journal=Reading Psychology |volume=34 |issue=5 |pages=436–460 |doi=10.1080/02702711.2012.658142 |s2cid=144416837 |issn=0270-2711|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In other words, there must be some prior knowledge of literacy skills in L1 to assist with acquiring literacy skills in  L2. The acquisition of L2 literacy skills can be facilitated and gained with greater ease by having more time, access, and experience with L1 literary skills.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Abbasian |first1=Reza |last2=Hadian |first2=Bahram |last3=Vaez-Dalili |first3=Mehdi |date=2020-12-01 |title=Exploring the interplay between Iranian EFL learners' first language (L1) literacy resources and their performance on L2 receptive skills |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0059-5 |journal=Current Psychology |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=1900–1909 |doi=10.1007/s12144-018-0059-5 |s2cid=149920398 |issn=1936-4733|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Over time, through formal exposure and practice with literacy skills, L2 learners have been able to catch up with their monolingual peers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Babayigit |first=Selma |date=2014 |title=The role of oral language skills in reading and listening comprehension of text: a comparison of monolingual (L1) and bilingual (L2) speakers of English language |journal=Journal of Research in Reading |volume=37 |issue=S1 |pages=S22–S47|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9817.2012.01538.x |url=http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/17856/1/jrir1538_2012.pdf }}</ref> However, literacy skills acquired in L2 can also be used to assist with literacy skills in L1 because cross-language transfer is bidirectional.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Young-Suk Grace |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED602694 |title=Cross-Language Transfer of Reading Skills: An Empirical Investigation of Bidirectionality and the Influence of Instructional Environments |last2=Piper |first2=Benjamin |date=2019 |volume=32 |pages=839–871 }}</ref>

Most studies have indicated that literacy cross-language transfer can occur regardless of the L1 and the L2 languages, but Chung et al. (2012<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chuang |first1=Hui-Kai |last2=Joshi |first2=R.Malatesha |last3=Dixon |first3=L. Quentin |date=March 2012 |title=Cross-Language Transfer of Reading Ability: Evidence From Taiwanese Ninth-Grade Adolescents |journal=Journal of Literacy Research |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=97–119|doi=10.1177/1086296X11431157 |s2cid=144558088|doi-access=free }}</ref>) state that cross-language transfer is less likely to occur when the languages do not share similar orthography systems. For example, using literacy skills acquired in English may be accessed and used with more ease in Spanish because English and Spanish follow similar orthography (they use letters). Whereas, using literacy skills acquired in English to facilitate ease of learning Korean would be more difficult because those languages do not follow a similar orthography system (English uses the [[English alphabet]], and Korean uses the [[Korean alphabet]]).

Cross-language transfer can also occur with deaf bilinguals who use sign language and read written words.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yuanbo |last2=Du |first2=Menglin |last3=Yu |first3=Keke |last4=Shen |first4=Guangyin |last5=Deng |first5=Ting |last6=Wang |first6=Ruiming |date=2022-09-01 |title=Bi-directional cross-language activation in Chinese Sign Language (CSL)-Chinese bimodal bilinguals |journal=Acta Psychologica |volume=229 |pages=103693 |doi=10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103693 |pmid=35933798 |s2cid=251358752 |issn=0001-6918|doi-access=free }}</ref> People may think that both American Sign Language (ASL) and English are the same language, but they are not. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders  ''“ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order"''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Sign Language |url=https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=NIDCD |date=29 October 2021 }}</ref> Because sign languages are considered to be their own language, most deaf people are considered to be bilingual because they speak in one language (sign language) and read in other (English, Spanish, Arabic, etc.). It should also be noted that not all sign languages are the same. The sign languages are American Sign Language (ASL), Mexican Sign Language (LSM), British Sign Language (BSL), Spanish Sign Language (LSE), and [[List of sign languages|many more]].