Examination of Educators’ Beliefs about Spanish-speaking Emergent Bilingual Learners and Their Practices: A Mixed Method Study

• In Event: Better Together: Delving into Multiple Methodologies to Assess DLL Children and Their Classroom Contexts

Abstract

Emergent bilingual learners(EBLLs) are the fastest-growing group of children in the United States (Child Trends, 2019). The unprecedented diversity of children enrolled in early childhood education (ECE) programs has made cultural and linguistic competence a central concern in efforts to provide high-quality ECE. High-quality ECE instruction for EBLLs requires educators to intentionally develop their English language skills while supporting their home language skills (Castro et al., 2011). However, it is likely not enough to provide a high level of EBLL-specific instruction if educators' beliefs do not align with the literature on the best practices and the current knowledge base about EBLL development. Educators should consider EBLLs’ diverse needs, explicitly attending to their language differences and the use of Spanish in the classroom (NASEM, 2017). Yet, the beliefs of ECE educators working with EBLLs and whether they are related to the instructional practices experienced by individual EBLLs in ECE classrooms are not well known. This mixed-method study seeks to address this gap, by examining the association between educators’ beliefs about EBLLs and their practices with EBLLs.
Participants were EBLL children and educators from 17 ECE classrooms within six programs in historically under-served NYC communities during the 2020-2021 school year (see Table 1 for full demographics). Participating children(n=71) were Latinx from low-/no income families that spoke Spanish-only or Spanish and English at home (100%). Participating educators(n=20) were primarily Latinx(89%). Semi-structured interviews(45 minutes–1 hour) were conducted with lead teachers in participating classrooms. Qualitative interviews explored teachers’ beliefs about supporting EBLLs learning and probed into teachers’ different strategies and practices when working with EBLLs in their classrooms. To characterize teachers’ use of practices, this study collected data using the Language Environment Analysis(LENA) system, which combined daylong audio-recorder and automated algorithmic analysis (Xu et al., 2009). All participating EBLLs wore the LENA device two days in a row at three different time points throughout the ECE year (October-December; January-March; April-May). Eight 5-minute clips were systematically sampled from the audio recordings and transcribed. Research assistants coded educators’ practices using the DUALLS measure (Rojas, Yoshikawa, & Melzi, 2020).
Preliminary results from the interviews revealed that educators reported implementing four categories of practices with EBLLs, including: (1) using general teaching practices (e.g., questions); (2) speaking in Spanish or English; (3) leveraging non-verbal strategies (e.g., labels); and (4) scaffolding peer interactions. Educators also revealed that while they did not want EBLLs to forget Spanish, they often emphasized English over Spanish given sociopolitical factors, such as parents’ fears about their child learning English, educators’ schooling and immigration experiences, and beliefs about what was valued by the educational system and society. Preliminary findings from the audio-recordings suggested the following: (a) most strategies used by educators are in English (70 % in English versus 33% in Spanish); and (b) educators use more elaborative strategies(compared to didactic strategies with EBLLs). Further analysis will include an intra-method analysis, including joint display, to present the overall interpretation of the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and reported practices, and EBLLs actual experiences in the ECE classroom.

Authors

• Natalia Rojas, New York University School of Medicine
  Presenting Author

• Kiara Diaz-Gutierrez, New York University

• Adamary Felipe, New York University

• Susam Ramos Deulofeutt, New York University

• Tina Qin, New York University