In recent years, student bodies have become increasingly linguistically, socially and culturally diverse in most (western) European countries. In many of them the academic participation and achievement of students with migration backgrounds remains significantly lower compared to autochthonous students, regardless of their socio-economic status (OECD 2016). In Germany, disparities in reading achievement in German correspond to more than one year of learning disadvantage for migrant students (Stanat et al, 2010, p.220). Competences in the majority language have been identified to play an important role for achievement in many different domains (Kempert et al, 2016), because they are necessary for understanding classroom instructions and are vital to successfully pass examinations (Gogolin, 2009). Factors that influence (majority) language acquisition and proficiency, such as exposure, support, motivation or identity largely depend on the social embeddedness of a person (e.g. Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Chiswick & Miller, 2007). In this context, the present contribution aims at gaining further insight into the relationship between migrant students’ performance in the majority language (German) and exposure to the majority language within peer contexts.

Although the influence of peers is known to grow stronger during adolescence, its role for language achievement requires further investigation. Early childhood studies have shown that the language achievement of children is positively related to their peers’ language abilities (e.g. Mashburn et al, 2009; Licandro & Lüdtke, 2013). Some studies indicate that adolescents likewise profit from exposure to the majority language: Migrant students that have more native speaking peers or spend more time speaking the majority language are more likely to improve their majority language skills (Carhill et al, 2008; Beisenherz, 2006). A study by Hannover et al (2013) shows that a frequent use of German (the majority language) with schoolmates and friends has a small but significant positive effect on migrant students’ reading performance in German. Similarly, analyses of international PISA data by Agirdag and Vanlaar (2018) indicate that speaking the majority language with peers in school contexts is associated with a higher achievement in reading. Yet, this overall effect could not be replicated for all participating countries separately (see ibid.). Further, the research on effects of the ethnic or linguistic composition of classrooms (and schools) on educational success is inconclusive and the results of existing studies are difficult to compare due to a large variety of operationalizations being used (for an overview see Kristen & Olczyk, 2013). Despite the fact that the influence of language exposure to the majority language within peer contexts needs further clarification, a limitation of previous research concerns the focus on language use with schoolmates. The possibility that influence on language achievement might be exerted by significant others, e.g. best friends and not schoolmates per se, is largely neglected.

Considering previous research, the present contribution addresses the following questions: 1) Does the extent to which migrant students speak German with best friends relate to higher reading scores in German? 2) Do literacy activities with best friends impact reading achievement? 3) Is the exposure to the heritage language within the wider circle of friends negatively associated with reading performance in German? 4) Is there a difference in the effects between German language use with best friends compared to schoolmates?

Data used for the analysis of this contribution is derived from the research project “Multilingual Development: A Longitudinal Perspective” carried out with monolingual German, German-Turkish and German-Russian speaking students in public schools in Germany. The survey included, inter alia, standardized assessments of the participants’ reading comprehension in German (LGVT), their cognitive abilities (KFT), as well as information on migration, language background, language use and socio-economic background. Further, a peer network questionnaire gathered information about each participant’s three best friends (including language use and literacy activities) as well as language exposure and usage within the wider peer group. The subsample from the second wave of data collection used for this contribution consists of 612 students from grades eight and ten (50 % each) with German-Turkish (59 %) and German-Russian (41 %) language backgrounds. The proportion of female students was 63% and mean age was 14.6 years. To determine the effects of German language exposure within peer networks on reading comprehension in German, multivariate linear regression analyses were applied. For each of the respondents’ three best friends, language use was coded 1) if only other languages than German are spoken 2) if German and other languages are used or 3) if German is used exclusively. The mean score for language use with best friends was computed. Due to a non-normal distribution, a dummy variable indicating whether German was used (almost) exclusively was generated by median split (M = 2.7). For the same reason, language use with schoolmates (ranging from 1 “heritage language only” to 5 ”German only”) was dichotomized through performing a median split. Having at least one best with whom books are discussed on a regular basis was used as an indicator for literacy activities with best friends. The proportion of participants’ friends (beyond best friends) sharing the same heritage language measured exposure to the respondents’ heritage language within the wider peer group. The regression models further included control variables that affect reading comprehension, i.e. gender, grade, language background, cognitive abilities, school track, socio-economic background (hisei) and language use with parents. In order to find out if the effects of language use with best friends and schoolmates on reading achievement differ, the regression models first included the variable language use with best friends, which was subsequently replaced by the predictor language use with schoolmates.

The extent to which students with a minority language background used German with their best friends was significantly related to their reading achievement in German: If German was used more exclusively with the three best friends, their achievement in reading comprehension was higher. Further, findings indicate that the quality of language input matters, as literacy activities with friends showed a positive impact on reading achievement. Although effect sizes for language use and literacy activities with best friends are rather small, the effects remain significant even after controlling for other predictors of reading achievement. Language use with parents on the other hand was not related to reading achievement. Rerunning the analysis exchanging language use with best friends for language use with schoolmates revealed a positive effect of speaking no other language than German with schoolmates on reading achievement; but this effect turned insignificant after controlling for socio-economic background, school track and cognitive abilities. The same is true for the proportion of the respondents´ friends within the wider peer group sharing the same minority language: A negative effect of exposure to the heritage language within the peer group turned insignificant after entering further control variables. It is therefore likely that the effects of language use with schoolmates and exposure to the heritage language in peer contexts is a result of within-school segregation. As the analyses are based on cross-sectional data, they do not allow for conclusions about the causality of the relationships. However, the findings suggest that language exposure per se does not predict reading achievement in the instruction language. Yet, close friendship to people with whom German is the primary means of communication and literacy activities within these relationships seem to be positively related to reading comprehension, irrespective of individual, familial and school context factors.

Agirdag, O. & Vanlaar, G. (2013). Does more exposure to the language of instruction lead to higher academic achievement? A cross-national examination. International Journal of Bilingualism, 22(1), 123-137. Beisenherz, G. (2006). Sprache und Integration. Zu Unterschieden der Sprachverwendung ausländischer Grundschulkinder in Familie und Gleichaltrigengruppe. In Christian Alt (Ed.), Kinderleben - Integration durch Sprache? Bedingungen des Aufwachsens von türkischen, russlanddeutschen und deutschen Kindern (first ed., pp. 39–69). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Carhill, A.; Suarez-Orozco, C.; Paez, M. (2008). Explaining english language proficiency among adolescent immigrant students. In: American Educational Research Journal 45 (4), 1155–1179. Chiswick, B.; Miller, P. (2007). Modeling immigrants´ language skills. Discussion Paper No. 2974, Institute for the Study of Labor: Bonn. Gogolin, I. (2009). Zweisprachigkeit und die Entwicklung bildungssprachlicher Fähigkeiten. In: Gogolin, I.; Neumann,U. (Ersg.): Streitfall Zweisprachigkeit. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, S. 263-280. Hannover, B.; Morf, C. C.; Neuhaus, J.; Rau, M.; Wolfgramm, C. & Zander-Musić, L. (2013). How immigrant adolescents’ self-views in school and family context relate to academic success in Germany. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43, 175-189. Kempert, S., Edele, A., Rauch, D., Wolf, K. M., Paetsch, J., Darsow, A., Maluch, J., & Stanat, P. (2016). Die Rolle der Sprache für zuwanderungsbezogene Ungleichheiten im Bildungserfolg. In C. Diehl, C. Hunkler, & C. Kristen (Eds.), Ethnische Ungleichheiten im Bildungsverlauf (pp. 157–242). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Licandro, U.; Lüdtke, U. (2013). Peer-Interaktionen. Sprachbildung in der und durch die Gruppe. Nifbe-Themenheft Nr. 15. Osnabrück: Niedersächsisches Institut für frühkindliche Bildung und Entwicklung e.V. Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Mashburn, A. J., Justice, L. M., Downer, J. T., & Pianta, R. C. (2009). Peer effects on children’s language achievement during pre-kindergarten. Child Development, 80, 686-702. OECD (2016). PISA 2015 Ergebnisse (Band I): Exzellenz und Chancengerechtigkeit in der Bildung. PISA, W. Bertelsmann Verlag, Germany. DOI 10.3278/6004573w. Stanat, P. Rauch, D. & Segeritz, M. (2010). Schülerinnen und Schüler mit Migrationshintergrund. In Klieme, E.; Artelt, C.; Hartig, J.; Jude, N.; Köller, O.; Prenzel, M.; Schneider, W. & Stanat, P. (Eds.). PISA 2009. Bilanz nach einem Jahrzehnt. Münster: Waxmann, 200-230. Kristen, C., & Olczyk, M. (2013). Ethnische Einbettung und Bildungserfolg. In R. Becker, A. Schulze (Eds.), Bildungskontexte (pp. 353-404). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien.