scholarly journals Performance of Low-Income Dual Language Learners Attending English-Only Schools on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Fourth Edition, Spanish

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Barragan ◽  
Anny Castilla-Earls ◽  
Lourdes Martinez-Nieto ◽  
M. Adelaida Restrepo ◽  
Shelley Gray
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Clinical Evaluation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Fourth Edition ◽  
English Only

Classroom Language Contexts as Predictors of Latinx Preschool Dual Language Learners’ School Readiness

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria C. Limlingan ◽  
Christine M. McWayne ◽  
Elizabeth A. Sanders ◽  
Michael L. López
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Classroom Language

The present study examined the relations between teacher-child interactions, teachers’ Spanish use, classroom linguistic composition, and the school readiness skills of low-income, Latinx, Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs), controlling for home and teacher background characteristics, with a national probability sample of Head Start children (i.e., from the Family and Child Experiences Survey [FACES, 2009]). Findings revealed that Head Start classrooms with higher concentrations of DLLs had teachers who reported lower average levels of children’s cooperative behavior. In addition, DLL students in classrooms where teachers used more Spanish for instruction and demonstrated more emotionally supportive teacher-child interactions were found to have higher average scores on measures of approaches to learning. Implications and directions for future research related to classroom language contexts are discussed.

Using Language-Specific and Bilingual Measures to Explore Lexical–Grammatical Links in Young Latino Dual-Language Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido ◽  
Lucía I. Méndez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Grammatical Skills ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Semantic Skills

Purpose This study examined the nature of the relation between language-specific vocabulary and conceptual lexical–semantic skills with grammatical abilities within and across languages in preschool Latino dual language learners (DLLs). Method Sixty-one typically developing, Spanish–English speaking DLLs from preschools serving low-income families participated in the study. Lexical, semantic, and grammar skills were assessed toward the end of the fall in both Spanish and English using normative and researcher-developed assessment instruments. Hierarchical linear regressions using baseline cross-sectional data were completed to determine the association of language-specific vocabulary and bilingual lexical and semantic abilities to grammatical skills measured by sentence repetition tasks in Spanish and English both within and across languages. Results Results from the study revealed that a considerable percentage of the variance in the grammatical ability of these Latino DLL preschoolers in both Spanish and English was explained by lexical variables in the same language (54% in English and 16% in Spanish). In the strong language (Spanish), bilingual semantic skills also played a role, explaining an additional 8% of the variance. Conceptual vocabulary was a significant predictor of English grammar in the model that excluded the language-specific vocabulary measures. Conclusions These findings suggest that grammatical skills in the Latino preschoolers examined in the study are strongly related to language-specific measures of vocabulary. In contrast, no evidence supporting the relation between vocabulary and grammar skills across languages was observed. Findings from this study provide insight into the impact of bilingual lexical–semantic knowledge on the grammatical skills of dual-language preschool children developing language abilities in their 2 languages. Clinical implications are also discussed.

The Efficacy of a Vocabulary Intervention for Dual-Language Learners With Language Impairment

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 748-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Adelaida Restrepo ◽  
Gareth P. Morgan ◽  
Marilyn S. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Dialogic Reading ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Mathematics Intervention ◽  
Vocabulary Intervention ◽  
English Only ◽  
Hands On

Purpose In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a Spanish–English versus English-only vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners (DLLs) with language impairment compared to mathematics intervention groups and typically developing controls with no intervention. Further, in this study the authors also examined whether the language of instruction affected English, Spanish, and conceptual vocabulary differentially. Method The authors randomly assigned 202 preschool DLLs with language impairment to 1 of 4 conditions: bilingual vocabulary, English-only vocabulary, bilingual mathematics, or English-only mathematics. Fifty-four DLLs with typical development received no intervention. The vocabulary intervention consisted of a 12-week small-group dialogic reading and hands-on vocabulary instruction of 45 words. Postintervention group differences and linear growth rates were examined in conceptual, English, and Spanish receptive and expressive vocabulary for the 45 treatment words. Results Results indicate that the bilingual vocabulary intervention facilitated receptive and expressive Spanish and conceptual vocabulary gains in DLLs with language impairment compared with the English vocabulary intervention, mathematics intervention, and no-intervention groups. The English-only vocabulary intervention differed significantly from the mathematics condition and no-intervention groups on all measures but did not differ from the bilingual vocabulary intervention. Vocabulary growth rates postintervention slowed considerably. Results support the idea that bilingual interventions support native- and second-language vocabulary development. Conclusion English-only intervention supports only English. Use of repeated dialogic reading and hands-on activities facilitates vocabulary acquisition.

Relations between vocabulary and executive functions in Spanish–English dual language learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
VRINDA KALIA ◽  
M. PAULA DANERI ◽  
MAKEBA PARRAMORE WILBOURN
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Dual Language Immersion ◽  
English Only

The role of dual language exposure in children's cognitive development continues to be debated. The majority of the research with bilingual children in the US has been conducted with children becoming literate in onlyoneof their languages. Dual language learners who are becoming literate in both their languages are acutely understudied. We compared dual language learners (n = 61) in a Spanish–English dual language immersion program to monolingual English speaking children (n = 55) who were in a traditional English only school. Children (kindergarten to 3rdgrade) completed standardized vocabulary tasks and two measures of executive functions. Despite having significantly smaller English vocabularies, the dual language learners outperformed the monolingual children on the executive function measures. Implications for our understanding of the relations between oral language development and executive function in bilingual children are discussed.

Moved by Reading in a Spanish-Speaking, Dual Language Learner Population

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 582-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Adams ◽  
Arthur M. Glenberg ◽  
Ma Adelaida Restrepo
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Support Intervention ◽  
English Only ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Physical Manipulation

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an English-only version and a Spanish-support version of an embodied reading comprehension intervention (Moved by Reading) consisting of 3 stages (physical manipulation, imagined manipulation, and transfer) for Spanish–English dual language learners. Method Sixty-one dual language learners in Arizona were randomly assigned to 4 groups (Spanish-support control, Spanish-support intervention, English-only control, and English-only intervention). Analyses of variance were used to compare control and intervention groups and to compare groups according to the language of the intervention. Results Children in the Spanish-support intervention group significantly outperformed both control groups during the physical manipulation stage, whereas children in the English-only intervention group outperformed both control groups in the imagined manipulation stage, but there was little transfer to a new, unrelated text. Conclusions The Moved by Reading intervention, in both its English-only and Spanish-support versions, improved performance on comprehension questions, but in different stages of the intervention. The Spanish-support version of the intervention was most effective in the physical manipulation stage, whereas the English-only version was more effective in the imagined manipulation stage. Neither version was effective in producing significant transfer effects.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency, Parenting Styles, and Socioemotional Adjustment of Young Dual Language Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 896-914
Author(s):  
Sara Chung ◽  
Qing Zhou ◽  
Catherine Anicama ◽  
Carol Rivera ◽  
Yuuko Uchikoshi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Parenting Styles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Immigrant Families ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Socioemotional Adjustment ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Cultural Orientations

Dual language learners (DLLs) make up 32% of all children in the United States. Past research showed that proficiency in a heritage language (HL) was associated with better psychological adjustment in school-aged children and adolescents, but the associations of HL and English (EL) proficiency with preschool-aged DLLs’ socioemotional adjustment remain understudied. This study included a sample of low-income Mexican and Chinese immigrant families with preschool-aged DLLs ( N = 90). Children’s HL and EL proficiencies were assessed using language tests. Parents rated their own cultural orientations, parenting styles, and children’s socioemotional adjustment. Children’s expressed anger/frustration and sadness were observed from an emotion-evoking task. Path analyses were conducted to test (a) the unique relations of children’s HL and EL proficiency and parents’ American and heritage cultural orientations to parenting styles, and (b) the relations of parenting styles to children’s adjustment. Results showed that children’s expressive HL proficiency and parents’ American and heritage cultural orientations were positively associated with authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with children’s lower externalizing problems and higher prosocial behaviors. Children’s expressive EL was negatively associated with parents’ use of authoritarian parenting, and both expressive and receptive HL were negatively associated with children’s expressed sadness. These results indicate that children’s HL development and parents’ host and heritage cultural orientations are associated with socioemotional benefits for young DLLs growing up in low-income immigrant families.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document