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Leveraging Home Languages to Promote Executive Functioning: An Examination of Influences and Outcomes

Description:
Previous research following a sample of immigrant Dominican and Mexican children from ages 2 to 5 identified four dual language profiles: a) Dual-language growth, b) English dominance, c) Spanish dominance, d) Change from Spanish to English dominance (Escobar, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017). The authors provide insight into possible environments that predispose children to belong to a particular group. Children in the dual-language growth group showed relatively even gains in both languages "likely reflecting strong support for the use of English and Spanish in their home environments" (Escobar, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017, p. 96). Children experiencing English dominance showed uneven gains with a greater increase in English scores as compared to Spanish scores "likely reflecting predominantly English inputs at home, despite the immigrant status of their parents" (Escobar, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017, p. 96). Children in the Spanish dominant groups produced uneven gains with a greater increase in Spanish scores as compared to English scores "most likely representing the types of language development seen in children of recently immigrated parents (Escobar, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017, p. 96). The final group showed gains in English production and a reduction in words produced in Spanish, displaying possible first language loss. "This profile of change is likely to be most common for many children of immigrant parents as they are increasingly exposed to English in the host country, particularly at school" (Escobar, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2017, p. 96). While these groups are informative, the method used to collect these data cannot feasibly be implemented on a large scale, or on a tight budget. The current project will test the effectiveness of using receptive language scores to achieve similar results. Additionally, research that shows that EF relates differently to relative "amounts" of bilingualism would be useful on many levels.
Resource Type:
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
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