A Multilevel Model of Hispanic Kindergarteners’ English Oral Language Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Linguistic Diversity and Language Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting Hispanic kindergarten children’s English oral language development scores (OLDS), using the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) approach. Data from this study were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), which included 1940 Hispanic children across 460 schools. The results suggest that Hispanic children’s English OLDS were significantly influenced by child-level factors, such as children’s family socioeconomic status, levels of social interaction and the language spoken to the child by the mother, as well as school-level factors such as percent of minority students, percentage of Hispanic/Latino teachers, receiving Title I funding, and percentage of Hispanic students at the school.

Authors

• Tingting Xu, Stephen F. Austin State University

• Jennifer Riggie, The Ohio State University - Columbus