Text quality evaluation of children’s Russian/English dual-language books

Dual-language books have been gaining popularity in both home and school settings. The books are entirely written in two languages and may be used to support bilingual children’s literacy development. In this study, researchers evaluated 18 Russian/ English dual-language books from one elementary school library in Calgary, Canada. The study evaluated the books in accordance with such as text appearance, language effects, book information, translation accuracy, and culture. The findings of the study revealed that the quality of the texts was not equal, and the majority of the presented texts in English were of higher quality than those that were in Russian. The books did not fully harness the potential of dual-language books, which should aim to equally represent both languages instead of favouring one. The study highlights the need to maintain a balanced presentation of both languages and to seek the views of educators, parents, and children to develop high-quality dual-language books.