Reading Language of Bilingual Children and Its Characteristics

Abstract

Abstract Our contribution focuses on the issue of reading children in a bilingual setting, and the control of two languages is natural to them. In spoken language, children express themselves almost flawlessly, but the problem arises when they begin to read. One language is better, easier to understand, more natural. Our contribution is of a research character. Through an interview with a selected sample of children, we try to uncover the phenomena and patterns that occur when reading bilingual children. The article also deals with the reading habits of pupils from the bilingual environment, pupils’ reading and book relations. We find out which language learners prefer more when reading books, and how their parents have influenced their language preferences and what reader’s interests children have in their early childhood. Children of disease in research are deliberately chosen to meet the requirements of the research goal. We chose four children attending the first grade of elementary school. Each of these children has a second language (English, Norwegian, Belgian and French) besides the Slovak language. Research data was collected through individual interviews with these children. Through this research, we have also sought to identify the importance of reading in the lives of contemporary children.