Refugee Displacement and Migration Impact Cross‐Linguistic Transfer Between Arabic and English: Insights From Syrian Refugees

ABSTRACT The role of migration experiences on first language (L1) and second language (L2) literacy and cross‐linguistic transfer in refugee foreign language learners has recently received attention, but remains empirically underspecified. We investigated (1) migration‐related ecological predictors of L1 reading; (2) within‐ and across‐language predictors of reading; and (3) migration‐related ecological moderators of cross‐linguistic transfer from L1 phonological awareness (PA) to L2 reading. Our sample included 81 Syrian refugees between 9 and 18 years old who resettled in Canada. Displacement in an Arabic‐speaking country, shorter displacement durations, and older ages of L2 acquisition (L2 AoA) were associated with better L1 reading. Cross‐linguistic transfer of PA to reading was overall greater in the L2‐L1 direction, and migration experiences associated with better L1 reading were also associated with greater transfer in the L1‐L2 direction. These findings highlight the need to understand refugees' biliteracy in the context of their migration experiences.