The studies reviewed indicate that children transfer a variety of component skills from their first to their second language, including phonological awareness, word reading, word knowledge, and comprehension strategies. Teachers should also be aware that transferring these skills from one language to another sometimes produces errors in English, such as when children spell English words according to first-language rules (., spelling the English word “ham” as “jam”). Knowing the strengths children bring to the process as a result of their first language, as well as the difficulties they may encounter and errors they may make when.
