Making Meaning in Three Languages: How Does a Young ELL Student Do it.

The development of effective English reading skills is fundamental to ELL students’ success in the American classroom. Concurrently, possessing reading skills in their native languages is essential for maintaining native culture. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how a young tri-lingual student read and interpreted texts in three languages (English, Russian, and Ukrainian). During the study, a variety of issues the student experienced when reading in different languages was documented. The study also examined strategies the student developed to successfully read in three languages. The findings revealed that reading in multiple languages is a complex mutually influential process. Comprehension was the most challenging area for Maria in all three languages. She also experienced issues with decoding and interpretation in different languages but for different reasons. Maria developed a set of strategies to deal with the issues in all three languages and created multiple multilingual intertextual links between the texts she was reading to succeed in the process. The presentation concludes that to be a successful reader, it is important for ELL learners to make connections between L1 and L2 concepts, discuss them with L1 and/or L2 speakers, and relate to L1/L2 social and cultural knowledge