Predicting reading comprehension in Creole Papiamento and Dutch in a post-colonial context

In post-colonial contexts, children usually learn to read in a language other than their mother tongue, usually a creole. To understand this process, we examined the early Creole Papiamento (L1) and Dutch (L2) reading skills of 128 Caribbean children, by investigating the impact of instructional order, first Papiamento then Dutch (Papiamento group), and vice versa (Dutch group), and cognitive and linguistic predictors on grade 2 reading comprehension. This investigation also explored linguistic interdependence. Results showed no significant influence of instructional order on Papiamento reading comprehension with both linguistic and cognitive measures predicting reading performance. The Dutch group outperformed the Papiamento group on Dutch reading comprehension and were predicted by both linguistic and cognitive precursors. Reading comprehension in Papiamento and Dutch were found to be interdependent, influenced by instruction language, especially in the Dutch group. This underlines the crucial role of L1 in shaping reading comprehension in both L1 and L2.