The Benefits of Bilingual Peers: Examining Language Supportive Strategies Among Spanish-English-Speaking Emergent Bilingual Children and Their Peers (Poster 26)

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Emergent bilingual learners, or children learning two languages, are the fastest-growing group of children in the US, with the majority being exposed to Spanish at home. By providing opportunities for emergent bilinguals to develop social, cognitive, academic, and communicative skills, peer interactions primarily contribute to their learning. Crucially, for emergent bilingual learners, peer interactions may be their foremost opportunity to practice their English language skills while also strengthening their Spanish skills, an essential element of high-quality early childhood education (ECE). However, there is a dearth of research on the specific supportive language strategies or the practices that emergent bilinguals and their peers use to support and scaffold their learning. As such, the overarching goal of this study is to shed light on the supportive language strategies used by prekindergarten Spanish-English emergent bilinguals and their bilingual peers within naturalistic free-play context. A narrative case study approach of 70 Spanish-English emergent bilinguals in their classrooms is taken to determine the types of supportive language strategies utilized by peers. With such information, we can provide educators with the information and professional learning they need to create classrooms that promote collaborative peer learning. Results may also have implications for potential peer-mediation methods—approaches in which peers are trained to initiate and respond to other children — which are effective in supporting peer interactions.

Author

• Natalia Rojas, New York University