Language Minority Learners' Home Language Use Is Dynamic (original) (raw)
Related papers
Internal and External Factors That Support Children's Minority First Language and English
Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 2018
Sequential bilingual children in the United States often speak 2 languages that have different social statuses (minority-majority) and separate contexts for learning (home-school). Thus, distinct factors may support the development of each language. This study examined which child internal and external factors were related to vocabulary skills in a minority language versus English. Participants included 69 children, aged 5-8 years, who lived in Southern California, spoke Vietnamese as the home language, and received school instruction in English. All participants had at least 1 foreign-born parent, and most mothers reported limited English proficiency. Parents completed a telephone survey, and children completed measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary in each language. Using correlations and stepwise regression, we examined predictors of vocabulary skills in each language that were internal to the child (age, gender, analytical reasoning, phonological memory) or that pertain...
2012
On average, children from low socioeconomic status (SES) homes and children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken have language development trajectories that are different from those of children from middle-class, monolingual English-speaking homes. Children from low-SES and language minority homes have unique linguistic strengths, but many reach school age with lower levels of English language skill than do middle-class, monolingual children. Because early differences in English oral language skill have consequences for academic achievement, low levels of English language skill constitute a deficit for children about to enter school in the United States. Declaring all developmental trajectories to be equally valid would not change the robust relation between English oral language skills and academic achievement and would not help children with poor English skills to be successful in school. Remedies aimed at supporting the development of the English skills required for academic success need not and should not entail devaluing or diminishing children's other language skills.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Children from low-SES (socioeconomic status) and minority language immigrant families are at risk of vocabulary difficulties due to the less varied and complex language in the home environment. Children are less likely to be involved in home language activities (HLA) in interaction with adults in low-SES than in higher-SES families. However, few studies have investigated the HLA variability among low-SES, minority language bilingual immigrant families. This longitudinal study analyzes the frequency and duration of HLA and their predictive roles for expressive vocabulary acquisition in 70 equivalent low-SES monolingual and bilingual toddlers from minority contexts. HLA and vocabulary were assessed at 24 and 30 months in the majority language (Italian) and in total (majority+minority language) using parent and teacher reports. The frequency and duration of HLA in interaction with adults in total, but not in the majority language, at 24 months were similar for the two groups. These act...
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2019
The number of dual-language learners (DLLs) from low-income backgrounds who attend early education programs in the U.S. is rapidly increasing, leading to a need for research that examines the effects of classroom practices, including whether teachers speak English or the home language, on DLL children's school readiness. This issue was examined in Educare, an expanded Early Head Start/Head Start program for low-income children that ensures children receive high-quality early education and care. Analyses of 1961 DLL Educare children across 16 sites were conducted to compare the acquisition of language skills in English and Spanish among children in classrooms in which teachers used English and little or no Spanish, English with some Spanish, and both English and Spanish. Findings indicated that DLL children in all groups showed gains in language skills in both English and Spanish, but that DLL children from classrooms with both English and Spanish instruction had significantly higher Spanish auditory comprehension scores than other children. Findings from this study have implications for practice, highlighting the value of all 3 types of classrooms for English-language growth and the additional value of English/Spanish instruction for Spanish language growth.
Early Home Language Use and Later Vocabulary Development
This longitudinal study examined the association between early patterns of home language use (age 4.5 years) and vocabulary growth (ages 4.5 to 12 years) in English and Spanish for 180 Spanish-speaking language minority learners followed from ages 4.5 to 12 years. Standardized measures of vocabulary were administered to children from ages 4.5 to 12 years, and home language use was assessed via parent survey at study entry. Three predominant home language use patterns were identified: mostly Spanish, equal amounts of Spanish and English, and mostly English. Individual growth modeling results demonstrated initial English vocabulary differences between the three language groups, with the mostly English group outperforming the other two language groups. However, the rate of growth for the equal amounts and mostly Spanish groups surpassed that of the mostly English group; by age 12 years, the gaps among the 3 groups had narrowed, but participants’ vocabulary skills remained below national norms. In contrast, students’ patterns of Spanish vocabulary growth did not vary, resulting in parallel but widening gaps through age 12 years. Results suggest that early Spanish use in language minority learners’ homes, in and of itself, does not interfere with the development of English vocabulary. However, despite their English instructional context, all learners’ vocabulary knowledge was below average and the gap compared with national norms persisted.
Early Education and Development, 2015
Research Findings-This study explored the relations between Spanish-English dual language learner (DLL) children's home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish-English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz and the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother-child reading at home influenced children's Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children's performance on English oral language measures. Practice or Policy-The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs' language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children's language abilities are discussed. Over the past decade, dual language learners (DLLs) have been the fastest growing student population in U.S. schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004, 2010). In early childhood education, the enrollment of DLLs is also striking. Currently, DLLs make up approximately 30% of Head Start students, with 80% of those children coming from Spanish-speaking homes (Mathematica Policy Research Institute, 2010). Spanish-English DLLs are a heterogeneous group of children whose varied experiences with their two languages impact their abilities in those languages. Some of these children learn two languages from birth, others may be exposed to English before school, and still others may not be exposed to English until they enter school. These differences in language exposure contribute to the wide variations in the Spanish and English language abilities found within CONTACT Kandia Lewis
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Using nationally representative data from the ECLS-B, we examined children's outcomes and growth from 9 to 65 months as a function of language used in the home at 24 months (English only n = 7300; English and another language n = 1500; other language only n = 400). We also examined whether demographic variables moderated the effects of DLL status in predicting child outcomes. Results revealed substantial variation within the DLL population within and across language groups in immigration status, heritage country, child outcomes, and family socioeconomic risk. DLL status was associated with differential outcomes, gains over time, and processes in complex ways. Maternal birth outside of the U.S., child gender, and parental education moderated relations between home language and child outcomes. Use of the heritage language at home served as a protective factor for children of immigrant families for a few outcomes. Gender and parental education were more strongly associated with child outcomes among English-speaking households than among DLLs.
The home language environment of monolingual and bilingual children and their language proficiency
Applied Psycholinguistics, 2010
This study investigated the relationships between home language learning activities and vocabulary in a sample of monolingual native Dutch (n = 58) and bilingual immigrant Moroccan-Dutch (n = 46) and Turkish-Dutch (n = 55) 3-year-olds, speaking Tarifit-Berber, a nonscripted language, and Turkish as their first language (L1), respectively. Despite equal domain general cognitive abilities, Dutch children scored higher than the bilingual children on a L1 vocabulary test, and Moroccan-Dutch children had higher second language (L2) vocabulary skills compared to Turkish-Dutch children. Multigroup analyses revealed strong impact on both L1 and L2 skills of language specific input in literate and oral activities. Finally, indications were found of positive cross-language transfer from L1 to L2 as well as competition between L1 and L2 input.