Beginning Kindergartners’ Language Proficiency in English and Spanish

• In Event: Evaluating a Statewide Community-Based Initiative to Enhance School Readiness: A Kindergarten Profile

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
This presentation will discuss findings from the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-4) that was administered in both English and Spanish. The PLS has two domains: (a) Auditory Comprehension which measures basic vocabulary and concepts as well as knowledge of grammatical markers (i.e., past tense, plural); and (b) Expressive Communication which assesses abilities in object naming and understanding related concepts, quantity, and pre-literacy skills (e.g., phonological awareness, and storytelling). The PLS is normed with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.

Perspectives or theoretical framework (Please see symposium overview)

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
Data was collected from 773 children taking the English version and 122 children taking the Spanish version of the PLS-4.

Results/Conclusions
Results. English language proficiency scores for Auditory Comprehension, Expressive Communication, and Total Score Scores across all groups were predominantly average with approximately 1 out of 4 children being above average. Less than 8% of the sample was below average in either domain or total score.
While 122 children were assessed with the Spanish PLS, administration difficulties with this test resulted in only 68 cases being used in the present analyses. Findings indicated that nearly 80% of children scored in the average range, and about 1 out of 10 children scored above average on Expressive Communication and Total Score. The largest percentage (18.8%) of below average scores occurred in Auditory Comprehension. The primary comparison with children assessed in English was that more Spanish-speaking children scored in the average range and below average range on the Spanish PLS with lower percentages of above average scores occurring.
Conclusions. As indicated by Gutiérrez et al. (2010), assessing dual language learners has many complications. We realized this as even bilingual data collectors had many more difficulties administering the Spanish PLS vs. the English for a variety of reasons, both related to test administration procedures and interacting with the children who often code switched into English to answer questions. While it has been recommended (cf. Meisels & Fenichel, 1996) to administer instruments in the languages which bilingual children speak, primarily due to the large sample size and time of the battery administration in the classroom, we could not practically do this. Thus, we view the results in Spanish as very preliminary and needed much more detailed analysis.

Author

• Kathy Nakagawa, Arizona State University