ИСТИНА

This research determines how the family language and bilingual surroundings influence the abilities to read and write in both languages, as well as whether and how the skills are interrelated. The study aimed to measure written language proficiency at the first stage of literacy, after the alphabetization has been completed. Participants came from Finnish- or Russian-speaking or bilingual families and may have attended bilingual kindergartens before entering school (and the control groups from Finnish and Russian homes). They were exposed to both languages as vehicles for literacy for two years during their education. Finnish and Russian, being typologically different and using different script systems (Roman vs. Cyrillic) and writing books (manuscript vs. cursive) in addition to various transcription principles, impose certain difficulties. The matched samples of Russian- vs. Finnish-dominant bilinguals performed a series of tasks under more or less controlled conditions. The speed of reading and the quality of writing were examined. The results mirror the variability in the amount of language input students have received and in the use of either language in families and society. There were fewer errors in the Finnish than in the Russian texts; the Russian orthography is more opaque than the Finnish writing rules. The accuracy rate of the writing is higher in Russian cursive than in Finnish hand printing letters. The family literacy practices influence the results of double-literacy acquisition.