Poster #112 - Relations between Spanish-English DLLs’ Performance on the Bilingual Assessment of Phonological Sensitivity (BAPS) and Vocabulary

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Language, Communication

Integrative Statement

Nearly 75% of Spanish-English (S-E) Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in the US read below basic levels in 4th grade (NCES, 2015). Therefore, it is essential that S-E DLLs at risk for reading difficulties are identified early. Two of the best and earliest predictors of reading outcomes in both monolingual English speakers and S-E DLLs are phonological sensitivity and vocabulary. Phonological sensitivity begins to develop in preschool and is essential for learning to decode and encode words for reading and spelling (e.g., Anthony et al., 2007). It is a unidimensional construct that develops along a continuum from awareness of larger to smaller linguistic units and from implicit to explicit awareness. Vocabulary, also important for literacy development, reflects children’s language experience and conceptual knowledge; and is hypothesized to drive the development of phonological sensitivity (Metsala & Walley, 1998). This study’s purpose twofold: 1) to examine the performance of young S-E DLLs on the Bilingual Assessment of Phonological Sensitivity (BAPS), a newly developed assessment instrument that assesses phonological sensitivity across the developmental continuum in both Spanish and English, and 2) to examine the relation between children’s phonological sensitivity and vocabulary in each language was examined.

Method: 138 Latino DLLs (74 females) who were part of a larger study with an aim to develop the BAPS were included in the present investigation. Children were selected from the larger participant pool if they had completed the BAPS and PreLAS 2000 (Duncan & DeAvila, 1998) in both Spanish and English. Participants ranged in age from 3;6 – 5;11 years. All were from Spanish-speaking homes and were spoken to in English at school and/or at home. 62% of mothers reported using mostly or all Spanish when communicating with their child and 20% reported speaking equal amounts of Spanish and English.
Trained bilingual assistants administered the BAPS and the PreLAS 2000 Art Show subtest to the children in Spanish and English. Assessments were administered in each language on separate days and language testing order was counterbalanced. Analyses were performed to determine the difficulty of the subtests in each language using WINSTEPS Rasch analysis (Linacre, 2018) and correlations between vocabulary and phonological sensitivity scores were examined within and across languages.
Results: Analyses indicated that both the English and Spanish BAPS tests were reliable (.96 and .89 respectively). In both English and Spanish, receptive tasks were generally easier than production tasks. Blending matching, rhyme matching and segmenting syllables subtests were easiest in both languages. Rhyme production and phoneme level production tasks were the most difficult subtests in both languages. PreLas raw scores in English and Spanish averaged 7.88 (SD=2.57) and 6.66 (SD=3.31) respectively. English and Spanish PreLas scores were correlated (r=.17; p=.04); however, there was no correlation between English and Spanish BAPS scores. Children’s PreLas vocabulary scores were not correlated with their BAPS scores within or across languages.
Discussion: Results of the investigation as they pertain to S-E DLL phonological development and the relation of phonological sensitivity to vocabulary will be discussed.

Authors

• Shelley E. Scarpino, Bloomsburg University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Goodwin, Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carol Scheffner Hammer, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bethany Keffala, Teachers College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ryan P. Bowles, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joanna Hokenson, Teachers College Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author