Mixed-Dominance Bilinguals on the Spanish–English Continuum in Head Start Classrooms

• In Event: 49.053 - Critical Conversations in Dual Language Education

Abstract

A growing number of US-born bilingual children defy easy categorization as English language learners or fluent English speakers when they begin formal schooling, yet no instructional category exists to describe their specific strengths and needs. We used home language questionnaires and language-flexible testing with 55 Head Start students and their parents to describe a third group: mixed dominance bilinguals. We found that students who used a more balanced mix of Spanish and English at home performed differently on oral language and cognitive measures compared to students who used mostly English or mostly Spanish at home. A finer-grained approach to describing students’ language backgrounds is called for to better serve children on the continuum between two languages.

Authors

• Sarah Huckabay Surrain, Harvard University

• Sibylla Leon Guerrero, Harvard University

• Sara Ashley Smith, California State University - Hayward

• Gigi Luk, Harvard Graduate School of Education