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Instructional Practices to Support Young Dual Language Learners

Fri, April 22, 11:30am to 1:00pm PDT (11:30am to 1:00pm PDT), Manchester Grand Hyatt, Floor: 2nd Level, Harbor Tower, Harbor Ballroom C

Abstract

Early learning programs draw on a variety of instructional practices to support DLLs in terms of the use of English and home language, and the use of general DLL strategies that are not language specific. This paper investigates how particular instructional practices relate to child outcomes in English and in Spanish. Specifically, we present estimates from multilevel regression analyses of how English and Spanish use and general strategies to support DLLs relate to child vocabulary and math skills in both English and the home language.

English and Spanish use, respectively, include both percentage of time spent instructing in that language, as well as frequency of use of specific instructional strategies (e.g., reading books, vocabulary instruction) in that language. General strategies include strategies that are not tied to a particular language (e.g., use of gestures to convey meaning, using an interactive schedule with pictures to help DLLs understand routines). These classroom practice measures are derived from an online survey administered to early learning teachers from mid-May 2020 through mid-July 2020. The measures are representative of the total classroom experience and include data from multiple teacher respondents for each classroom; typically, we averaged responses across the teachers in a classroom to arrive at a classroom-level measure. All analyses controlled for numerous child, family, and classroom characteristics, including children’s exposure to Spanish at home and their parents’ proficiency in both English and Spanish.

Initial findings show that the use of practices to incorporate Spanish into instruction was associated with higher scores on both vocabulary and math as assessed in Spanish, among preschoolers from Spanish language backgrounds; there were no effects on skills assessed in English. Exposure to English, meanwhile, was positively related to English vocabulary outcomes, but negatively related to Spanish vocabulary outcomes. Finally, we did not find a significant relationship between general strategies to support DLLs from Spanish language backgrounds and any of the child outcomes.

These findings offer evidence that for DLLs from Spanish language backgrounds, home language use in the classroom promotes home language development, and at the same time, does not detract from English skills. On the other hand, the more English used in the classroom by teachers, the less facility children have in their home language.

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