Spanish-Speaking Parents' Language and Literacy Practices and Preschool Children's Spanish-English Vocabulary Performance

• In Event: Promoting Outcomes in Young Latino Children Through a Positive Development Framework

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between Latino parents’ language and literacy practices and their preschool children’s end-of-year vocabulary achievement, in English and conceptually in Spanish and English.

Theoretical Framework: A robust body of theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that first language proficiency provides a foundation for second language learning without hindering second language acquisition (e.g., Cummins, 1979; Winsler, Díaz, Espinosa & Rodríguez, 1999). Although bilinguals receive input in two languages, the amount of exposure to each language and children’s own use of each language varies widely. Further, the setting (e.g., home vs. school) can play a role in priming bilinguals toward a more monolingual or bilingual language mode (Grosjean, 1989), underscoring the need to attend to children’s home language and literacy environments in understanding their vocabulary development. Given that bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one, we consider children’s vocabulary outcomes not only in the preschool language of instruction (English), but also conceptually —we utilize measures designed for and normed on Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S. that allow students to respond in Spanish or in English.

Method: Participants (N = 30, 20 females) were preschoolers from the west coast region of the U.S. All children came from Spanish-speaking, immigrant, low-income homes. Parents completed a demographic and language use questionnaire in winter, and children were directly assessed on early literacy skills (winter only) and vocabulary (winter and spring). We used correlational analysis to examine the relationships between the variables and multiple regression analyses to assess the influence of parents’ language and literacy practices and early literacy skills on children’s vocabulary outcomes at the end of the preschool year.

Data sources:

Winter Variables
Parent demographic and language use questionnaire
English and Spanish-English conceptual vocabulary (Receptive and Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-4: Spanish-Bilingual Edition; Martin, 2013)
English and Spanish early literacy skills (Get Ready to Read; Whitehurst and Lonigan, 2001)

Spring Variables
English and Spanish-English conceptual vocabulary

Results: The vast majority (87%) of parents reported that they wanted their children to be Spanish-English bilingual, even though parents themselves spoke and read mostly in Spanish.
Mothers’ reading frequency was positively associated with spring English expressive vocabulary (r = 0.395, p = 0.046). Further, language mothers typically read in was positively correlated with both spring English (r = 0.540, p = 0.002) and Spanish-English conceptual expressive vocabulary. The language mothers read in (t = 2.294, p = 0.033) predicted children’s spring English expressive vocabulary. Additionally, home language use (t = 2.756, p = 0.013) and children’s Spanish early literacy skills (t = 3.049, p = 0.007) predicted spring Spanish expressive vocabulary.

Significance: Despite the growing population of bilingual learners in the U.S., research on their language and literacy development remains scarce (Hammer et al., 2014). This study sheds light on the relationship among Spanish-speaking, immigrant parents’ language and literacy practices, and preschool children’s vocabulary outcomes. Results of this study contribute to a growing body of research that affirms the role that children’s home language and literacy environment plays in supporting their vocabulary achievement.

Authors

• Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• Israel Flores, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College