Peer Effects on Low-Income DLL Children’s English and Spanish Vocabulary

• In Event: 3-090 - Teacher and Peer Language Use in ECE and Dual Language Learner Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Early childhood settings may present DLL children with their first formal exposure to learning English (Figueras-Daniel & Barnett, 2013), as well as, a consistent group of mostly English-speaking peers with whom they spend many hours a day. Despite an emerging body of evidence documenting peer effects—the effects of peers’ skills on children’s development (Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2012; Henry & Rickman, 2007; Justice et al., 2011; Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2014; Yudron et al., 2014), relatively little is known about peer effects for DLLs. Access to English- or Spanish-speaking peers may benefit DLL children’s language skills in addition to other classroom instructional supports. This study examined the extent to which peers’ functioning in English and Spanish was related to children’s English and Spanish vocabulary development while accounting for classroom factors that might also promote children’s language proficiency.

Methods
Participants. A total of 542 children in 53 classrooms across 12 Head Start sites were included in this sample. The sample was racially/ethnically diverse (see Table 1); the largest percentage was Hispanic (45%), followed by African-American/non-Hispanic (38%), European-American/non-Hispanic (10%), or another race (8%).

Measures. Children’s Spanish expressive and receptive language skills, and English receptive skills, were measured using English and Spanish versions of the Preschool Language Scale –Version 4 (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002). Assessments were administered when children attained 24 and 36 months of age or in the fall of their entry into preschool, whichever came first, and spring of subsequent years. Children with at least two data points were retained for this study.

Peer skills. We calculated peer skills as class-mean scores using fall data for Spanish and English vocabulary without including the target child’s scores.

Covariates. Covariates relating to children (baseline language, race/ethnicity, age, gender), families (maternal education), classrooms (quality/quantity of experiences), and sites (dummy variables distinguishing 12 sites) were included.

Results
Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was employed to account for nesting of children in classrooms and classrooms within centers. HLM analyses examined associations of spring Spanish receptive, Spanish expressive, and English receptive language scores with peer language skills in English and in Spanish, while controlling for covariates and language of classroom instruction (i.e., whether teachers used only English, predominantly English, or a combination of English and Spanish (>20%)). Peer Spanish language skills were positively related to children’s spring Spanish receptive and expressive language skills (see Table 2). No association between peer language skill and children’s English language skills was found. Teacher language was not associated with children’s Spanish skills over and above peer Spanish abilities.

Discussion
This study highlights the important role that peers play in Spanish-English DLL children’s vocabulary development. Although previous research considers the importance of language of instruction to DLL outcomes (Farver, et al., 2009; Solari et al., 2011; Collier & Thomas, 2004), relatively little research has considered the effect that peers have on DLL children’s vocabulary learning. Findings highlight important language learning opportunities that peers bring to DLL children in ECE settings.

Group Authors

Educare Learning Network (ELN) Investigative Team

Authors

• Gary Bingham, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author

• Sandra L. Soliday Hong, UNC Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Noreen Yazejian, UNC Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Peg Burchinal, University of North Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author