Heterogeneity in Multilingual Children: Language Skills and Experiences, Home Literacy Environment, and Learning Contexts

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Multilingual children show diverse learning patterns across their two languages, yet research capturing this heterogeneity across multiple language domains and contexts remains limited. This symposium includes four studies revealing heterogeneity within multilingual children populations across home and school contexts. Four studies demonstrate how person-centered approaches uncover meaningful subgroups often masked by variable-centered analyses. The presentations examine: (1) language and reading experience profiles of Spanish-English emergent bilinguals in dual language immersion programs, (2) instructional time allocation patterns in classrooms serving multilingual children, (3) foundational literacy skill profiles across English and Spanish, and (4) home literacy practice patterns among Spanish-speaking families. Collectively, these studies challenge assumptions of homogeneity within multilingual populations and highlight the importance of recognizing diverse pathways in bilingual development.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction / Division C - Section 1a: Literacy

Chair

• Ye Shen, Johns Hopkins University

Papers

• Profiles of Language and Reading Experiences of Spanish-English Emergent Bilinguals in Dual Language Immersion Programs - Becky H. Huang, The Ohio State University; Ye Shen, Johns Hopkins University

• Literacy Instructional Time and Content Coverage: Variation by Multilingual Learner Composition in Elementary Classrooms - Jackie E. Relyea, North Carolina State University; Michael J. Kieffer, New York University

• Student Profiles of Foundational Literacy Skill Abilities in English and Spanish - Carlin Conner, University of Virginia; Sarah Wellberg, University of Virginia; Veronica Mellado De La Cruz, University of Virginia; Emily J. Solari, University of Virginia; James Soland, University of Virginia; Marcela Courtade Carlock, University of Virginia

• Bilingual Home Literacy Profiles and their Associations with Language and Literacy Skills - Marc Goodrich, Texas A&M University; Jiali Wang, University of California - Irvine; Rhea Pai, Texas A&M University; Lisa Fitton, Florida State University

Session Organizer

• Ye Shen, Johns Hopkins University

Discussant

• Patrick Proctor, Boston College