German reading, spelling, and other literacy-related skills in multilinguals with varying heritage languages

Abstract We examine effects of multilingualism on literacy acquisition in German, in two large-scale datasets with primary school children. First, we assess if there are overall differences in written language skills, after accounting for social factors and oral language skills. Second, we investigate whether heritage language characteristics (language distance from German, different scripts) and children’s heritage language skills (literate versus not literate in the heritage language) affect German literacy. In the first dataset ( N >3,000; 59 multilingual), we find a multilingual disadvantage in reading, which is most pronounced for children whose heritage language is written in a different script and who have been in Germany for a relatively short time. In the second dataset ( N >30,000; 141 multilingual), we find no differences in reading once oral language skills are controlled for, and a multilingual advantage for spelling. We find no effects of the heritage language characteristics or multiliteracy on literacy in German.