Exploring bilingual pedagogies in dual language preschool classrooms
In this paper, we present an analysis of the language practices of four Spanish/English dual language (DL) preschool teachers, focusing on the ways in which the teachers mediate bilingual interactions with students and distribute Spanish and English across different classroom discourse functions. Findings reveal teachers' flexible and strategic use of each language to support children's developing bilingual competencies as well as to negotiate several communicative, academic, and management functions. Findings further illuminate the utility of bilingual speech/interaction as a communicative and academic resource and suggest that a strict language separation approach, as traditionally implemented in DL programs, may be at odds with the natural social interactions of bilinguals who draw on a number of communicative strategies, including codeswitching and tandem talk, to construct meaning. (author abstract)
Reports & Papers
Dual language learning: What does it take?: Head Start dual language report
An assessment of local practices and needs related to the care and education of dual language learners in Head Start programs, based on data collected from over 200 parents and Head Start staff in conference calls, meetings, and focus group sessions
Reports & Papers
Dual language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking preschool children
An examination of bilingual preschool children's oral language and emergent literacy skills as compared with the skills of a sample of monolingual, Spanish-speaking preschool children in Puerto Rico
Reports & Papers
Instruction in Spanish in pre-kindergarten classrooms and child outcomes for English language learners
An examination of the relationship between the language, reading, and math skills of English language learners and both the proportion of instruction in Spanish and observed quality of teacher-child interactions, based on data from 357 Spanish-speaking 4-year-old children who attended state-funded pre-kindergarten programs in 11 states
Reports & Papers
ELL preschoolers' English vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading
A study of the effect of the provision of rich definitions of inserted targeted vocabulary during storybook reading on preschooler English Language Learners' English vocabulary acquisition within a sample of 80 4- and 5-year-old children of immigrants whose native language is Portugese in 6 preschool classrooms
Reports & Papers
Supporting teachers in assessing the language and literacy skills of preschool English language learners
An 8 week action research project to pilot the Desired Results Developmental Profile-Revised 2 (DRDP-R2) assessment as a measure of the development and improvement of language skills of 212 preschool and kindergarten children, predominantly English language learners, based on field notes, document analysis, classroom observations and interviews with administrators, teachers, and experts
Reports & Papers
Identity texts and literacy development among preschool English language learners: Enhancing learning opportunities for children at risk for learning disabilities
A description and evaluation of the implementation of the Early Authors Program (EAP), an early language intervention designed to aid in the development of emergent literacy skills of bilingual preschool children at risk for learning disabilities
Reports & Papers
Effects of a professional development program on classroom practices and outcomes for Latino dual language learners
A randomized, controlled study on the effects of the Nuestros Ninos
professional development program on classroom practices and child outcomes related to language development and early literacy skills in both English and Spanish for 55 teachers and 193 Latino dual language learners enrolled in the North Carolina More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program
Reports & Papers
Report to Congress on dual language learners in Head Start and Early Head Start programs
A study that examines: the characteristics of dual language learner Head Start and Early Head Start children and their families; the services they receive; the qualifications of staff that serve them; the languages that staff use to communicate with them; and dual language learner children's developmental progress, based on Head Start Program Information Report data, Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2006 (FACES 2006) data, and Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES) data
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A comparison of difficulty levels of vocabulary in first grade basal readers for preschool dual language learners and monolingual English learners
A comparison between dual language and monolingual English learners' knowledge of vocabulary and level of general vocabulary knowledge, based on data from 238 children in preschools in a metropolitan area of the northeastern United States
Reports & Papers
Who will teach our children?: Building a qualified early childhood workforce to teach English-language learners
A study of the education, certifications, and professional development interests of teachers in state-funded early childhood programs in Illinois with regards to increasing demands and mandates for the provision of services to English language learners, based on survey responses from 307 program staff members
Reports & Papers
Effective early literacy skill development for young Spanish-speaking English language learners: An experimental study of two methods
An investigation of the effect of the Literacy Express Preschool Curriculum on the acquisition of emergent literacy skills by Spanish-speaking preschool children, based on a study of three groups of English language learners (ELL) from 10 Head Start classrooms in California where 32 children received the regular curriculum, 31 children received the intervention in English-only, and 31 children received the intervention in Spanish transitioning to English
Reports & Papers
Unique effects of a family literacy program on the early reading development of English language learners
A study of the impact of the Family Literacy lunch time intervention on the early English reading development of speakers of English as a first language and English language learners, based on a linguistically and culturally diverse sample of 132 kindergarten children and their parents in Canada
Reports & Papers
Teachers, families, and communities supporting English language learners in inclusive pre-kindergartens: An evaluation of a professional development model
An examination of teachers' self-assessments of their beliefs and practices in the support of English language learners and their families in their inclusive pre-kindergartens after three interactive training sessions and on-site classroom coaching visits with 24 teachers and 24 teacher assistants
Reports & Papers
A case study examination of culturally relevant pedagogical practices for English-language learners in a pre-kindergarten classroom setting
A qualitative study of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in a prekindergarten classroom for English-language learners and an investigation of the ways 2 teachers promote academic success, cultural competence and critical consciousness, based on documentation from and observations of a classroom in Georgia
Reports & Papers
The effect of afterschool program participation on English language acquisition
An analysis of predictors of after school program participation and a second study of the relationship between after school program participation and the English language development of English language learners, based on data from first through seventh graders in one elementary school district and a large after school program provider in Redwood City, California
Reports & Papers
Exploration of how Spanish and English noneliciting questions affect the novel vocabulary acquisition of Hispanic dual language learners enrolled in Head Start
A study of the extent to which both Spanish and English non-eliciting questions and noneliciting labels differentially impact upon novel vocabulary acquisition of dual language learning children, based on data from 54 children enrolled in dual language-learning, English-Spanish, Head Start classrooms
Reports & Papers
Observations of teacher-child interactions in classrooms serving Latinos and dual language learners: Applicability of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in diverse settings
A test of the validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) for the prediction of academic outcomes and the measurement of social interactions in classrooms with varying compositions of English only and dual language learners, based on a secondary analysis of data collected in 721 prekindergarten classrooms in 11 states
Reports & Papers
Vocabulary development of English-language and English-only learners in kindergarten
A comparison of the progress made by two groups of kindergarten students, English only speakers, or bilingual students, when exposed to the same methods of vocabulary instruction in three different types of classrooms-- mainstream, two-way bilingual, and structured immersion
Reports & Papers
Assessing the role of book reading practices in Indian bilingual children's English language and literacy development
An examination of the impact of Indian bilingual parents’ book reading practices on the development of their children’s English oral language, narrative, and literacy skills, testing the skills of 24 bilingual children from two preschools in Bangalore, India
Reports & Papers
Instructional practices that support ELL children in Los Angeles Universal Preschool classrooms
A study to identify instructional practices that support young English-language learner (ELL) children and to examine the practices' prevalence in Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) classrooms, based on a literature review, questionnaires sent to 1,000 LAUP teachers, and observations of 124 LAUP classrooms
Reports & Papers
Prediction of first-grade reading in Spanish-speaking English-language learners
A longitudinal study of English as a Second Language kindergarteners investigating cross-language transfer abilities of variables that are strong predictors of later reading skills in native English speakers
Reports & Papers
The effects of multimedia-enhanced instruction on the vocabulary of English-language learners and non-English-language learners inpre-Kindergarten through second grade
A comparison of the effects of traditional and multimedia-enhanced read-aloud vocabulary instruction on 85 English Language Learning or Non-Enlgish Language Learning children prekindergarten through second grade
Reports & Papers
The effect of extending the pre-kindergarten school day on literacy and language development for English language learners
A study of the relationship between extended-day bilingual preschool participation and both language and reading levels as well as reading gains in both Spanish and English of 41 bilingual prekindergarten children and a second study of the relationship of extended-day bilingual preschool participation and both receptive and expressive language skills at the end of prekindergarten for 121 children in a large suburban school district in Texas
Reports & Papers
A longitudinal study of the social and academic competence of economically disadvantaged bilingual preschool children
A profile of cognitive, psychosocial, and cultural-linguistic characteristics to create profiles of 207 Hispanic American children in Central New Jersey, an investigation of the correlation between children's social competence profiles and both later academic achievement and English language proficiency
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