Poster #89 - Classroom Support of Dual Language Learners' Language Development: Understanding Teachers’ Attitudes and Actions

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

The majority of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in the U.S. come from Spanish-speaking homes. Latino DLLs disproportionately come from low-income homes, making them at risk for academic underachievement. Encouraging findings suggest that early education may help reduce achievement gaps for at-risk Latino children (Gormley & Gayer, 2005). However, there is still little consensus on the best practices that contribute to optimal early education experiences for Dual Language Learners (DLLs) (Buysse, Pesiner-Feinberg, Paez, Hammer, & Knowles, 2014). It is therefore critical to identify and understand the factors that influence DLLs’ experiences in early education to better serve this population.
One factor that has gained increasing attention is teachers’ attitudes about DLL language development (Garrity & Guerra, 2015; Pappamihiel, 2007, Rizzuto, 2017). Research examining teachers’ attitudes about support of both languages for DLLs find that teachers with more positive attitudes better support DLL learning (i.e. provide hands-on experiences, context-rich instruction, etc.; Garrity & Guerra, 2015; Rizzuto, 2017).
Relatedly, teachers’ incorporation of the home language (L1) in the classroom has emerged as an important factor to consider. Prior studies have indicated that DLLs perform better on measures of math, language, and social emotional skills when teachers use L1 (Burchinal et al., 2012; Chang et al., 2007; García & Kleifgen, 2010). Additionally, evidence suggests that intentional use of strategies to support English acquisition for DLLs (in both English and L1) can promote learning (e.g. Farver, Lonigan, & Eppe, 2009). Additionally, few studies (if any) have related those attitudes to the quality of teacher-child interactions (which is positively related to school readiness for DLLs; Downer et al., 2012). This could potentially highlight how teachers’ beliefs about DLLs may influence provision of high quality early education.
To address these gaps, this study: 1) examined how teachers’ attitudes about DLLs’ language development related to their support of English and Spanish in the classroom; and 2) examined how teachers’ attitudes relate to quality of teacher-child interactions. We hypothesized that teachers who demonstrate more positive attitudes about DLL language development would exhibit higher levels of English and Spanish support and have higher ratings of teacher-child interactions.
Participants included Head Start teachers from 38 classrooms serving mostly Spanish-English DLLs. Classroom Assessment of Supports for Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (CASEBA) was used to assess support for language development in Spanish and English (Freedson, Figueras-Daniel, & Frede, 2014) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) was used to measure global classroom quality (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008; See Table 1). In addition, teachers were asked a series of interview questions about DLL language development and attitudes on language use in the classroom.
More positive attitudes and beliefs about DLL language development predicted English Support and Spanish Support when controlling for teacher’s English proficiency and Spanish proficiency, respectively (See Figure 1). Additionally, more positive attitudes and beliefs about DLL language development predicted higher Instructional Support. There were no relationships between teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about DLL language development and Emotional Support or Classroom Organization.
Implications of this work will be discussed.

Authors

• Brooke Rumper, University of Miami
  Presenting Author

• Lisa White, American Institutes for Research (AIR)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Daryl Greenfield, University of Miami
  Non-Presenting Author