Recent studies indicate increased migration within and into the EU over the past decade (EC, 2020). Children from minority and migrant families show weaker literacy development in the instructional language when it differs from the home language (Dixon et al., 2024), potentially leading to lower or slower academic achievement (Volante et al., 2019). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses highlight the context-specific nature of language use (Nag et al., 2024). This research builds on the Home Language and Literacy Environment framework (Nag et al., 2019), examining home language use alongside socioeconomic status, cultural differences, attitudes, and classroom composition, using PIRLS2021 and PISA2022 data from 23 EU countries and Norway. The research question was: what are the main factors differentiating students whose home and instruction languages are the same (native speakers) from those whose home and instruction languages are different (non-native speakers)? Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression equations the authors of this study analyzed OECD PISA and IEA PIRLS student questionnaires and PIRLS home questionnaire. Based on the student/parent responses on home language use, samples from both studies were divided into four subgroups with 10% or less, 10%-20%, 20%-30%, and 30% or more non-native language speaking students in the classroom (in case of PIRLS) or school (in case of PISA). By comparing the first and the fourth groups in both studies, researchers found significant differences in reading achievement for both - native and non-native language speakers, i.e., if native language speakers learned in the classroom/school with more than 30% non-native speaking students, they had lower achievement in reading than their peers that were learning with 10% or less non-native speaking students, the same was true about non-native language speakers. In logistic regression models, significant factors differed between countries of comparison, but on average non-native language speakers were absent from school more often, were bullied more often, learned in more disruptive classrooms, had less feelings of belonging to school, and had lower confidence in their reading ability. These students came from less advanced families with parents who like to read less. If a non-native language speaker was demonstrating low performance in the PIRLS 2021 test, then confidence in reading was the strongest predictor followed by SES. This research highlights the importance of classroom composition in student achievement distribution as well as emphasizes the importance of student confidence in reading especially if students' home language is different from the language of instruction.

Dixon, L. Q., Kim, H., Dayani, A., Guo, W., Kuo, L. J., Eslami, Z., & Chen, Z. (2024). The relationship of home language and literacy practices to biliteracy development among immigrant bilingual children: A review of studies from 2014 to 2023. Literacy. European Commission (EC) (2020). Foresight. Migration in Europe. Accessed at: https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/foresight/topic/increasing-significance-migration/migration-worldwide_en Nag, S., Vagh, S. B., Dulay, K. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2019). Home language, school language and children's literacy attainments: A systematic review of evidence from low‐and middle‐income countries. Review of Education, 7(1), 91-150. Nag, S., Vagh, S. B., Dulay, K. M., Snowling, M., Donolato, E., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2024). Home learning environments and children’s language and literacy skills: A meta-analytic review of studies conducted in low-and middle-income countries. Psychological Bulletin, 150(2), 132. Volante, L., Klinger, D. A., Siegel, M., & Yahia, L. (2019). Raising the achievement of immigrant students: Towards a multi-layered framework for enhanced student outcomes. Policy Futures in Education, 17(8), 1037-1056.