Effects of early education programs and practices on the development and learning of dual language learners: A review of the literature

This article describes the results of a comprehensive review of the research literature from 2000 to 2011 evaluating the effects of early care and education practices on the developmental outcomes of dual language learners (DLLs) from birth through 5 years of age. Across 25 studies that met inclusion criteria, study samples consisted primarily of Latino or Spanish-speaking children 3–5 years of age enrolled in center-based programs. The analysis focused on features of the early education programs and practices (intensity and language of instruction) and research methods (sampling, research designs) in relation to child outcomes for the various types of research interventions evaluated in these studies (center-based programs, professional development, curricula, and instructional strategies). On the basis of a few large-scale scientifically sound studies, the review found at least some evidence to suggest that DLLs benefitted from attending widely available, well regulated programs such as Head Start and public pre-k, particularly with respect to improving language and literacy skills. However, because the extant research has not systematically accounted for the separate effects of language of instruction versus type of intervention, very little can be concluded about how these factors contribute to the positive main effects of these interventions.     

Beating the Odds: A Longitudinal Investigation of Low-Income Dual-Language and Monolingual Children's English Language and Literacy Performance

Research Findings: The current study reports on the results of a longitudinal investigation of the language and early literacy development of a sample of dual-language learners (DLLs) and monolingual English speakers from low-income families who received an Early Reading First intervention during their Head Start preschool year. A total of 62 children who entered and remained in the same school district were followed from kindergarten through 2nd grade. The results indicate that both the DLLs and monolingual English speakers in the study showed similar developmental trajectories on receptive vocabulary, story recall, decoding, and letter and word identification from preschool through the 2nd grade. Furthermore, at the end of 2nd grade, the 2 groups' vocabulary, story recall, reading fluency, decoding, and letter and word identification performances were similar and within the normal range for children their age. Practice or Policy: The study's findings suggest that a strong preschool language and literacy program can reduce the English language gap between DLLs and monolingual English speakers from low-income families.     

Literacy practices in Mexican immigrant homes

Abstract

Despite a well-established body of literature focusing on school-based Spanish and English bilingualism of Latino children in the United States, the biliteracy development and literacy practices at home have received little attention by the educational research community. Addressing this gap is important because educators can then use the knowledge related to home language and literacy resources to inform the school curricula and better serve the needs of a linguistically and culturally diverse student population. We contribute to this endeavor by exploring two Mexican immigrant families and their language and literacy practices in their home milieu. Findings from this study suggest that family interactions, as well as the more general home context, are crucial factors in supporting children's development of both oral language and literacy in Spanish and English. An important and recurrent observation is the scaffolding that parents use in Spanish as part of their literacy practices. In addition, children act as agents in their own learning of Spanish, and in making connections to their knowledge of English     

Peer Effects on Early Language Development in Dual Language Learners

This study investigated the vocabulary development of children (N = 547) from linguistically and socioeconomically diverse classrooms in Germany from age 3 in preschool to age 7 in Grade 1. The results showed that for dual language learners (DLLs, n = 107) growth rates in their German majority language skills varied over classrooms. Compared to monolingual children, DLLs improved faster in classrooms with higher peer-level skills in the majority language than DLLs in classrooms with lower peer-level skills (controlling for socioeconomic status and classroom quality). DLLs showed stronger growth dynamics than monolingual children during later preschool stages. The findings highlight the role of preschool peers in DLLs’ acquisition of the majority language before entering elementary school.     

The impact of HeadsUp! Reading on early childhood educators’ literacy practices and preschool children's literacy skills

This study evaluated the effects of HeadsUp! Reading (HUR), a professional development literacy workshop series, with and without supplementary mentoring on early childhood educators’ (ECEs) practices and its subsequent effect on preschool children's literacy skills. ECEs who served children in high poverty communities participated in a 15-week satellite broadcast training series. Pre- and post-assessments were completed for both the control and intervention groups. Participants in HUR and HUR + mentoring significantly exceeded the control ECEs on the quality of their classroom environments. Children's literacy skills improved more in the HUR classrooms than in control classrooms. Mentoring did not enhance preschool children's literacy skills more than HUR alone. The treatment was equally effective for Spanish- and English-speaking children. Early childhood educator participation in HeadsUp! Reading can enhance the effectiveness of classroom literacy practices and has subsequent benefits on language and literacy skills of preschool children from poverty backgrounds. These findings further support the crucial role of high quality programs for the development of children's literacy skills.     

Bidirectionality in Self‐Regulation and Expressive Vocabulary: Comparisons Between Monolingual and Dual Language Learners in Preschool

Significant differences in language and self‐regulation skills exist among children when they enter formal schooling. Contributing to these language differences is a growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) in the United States. Given evidence linking self‐regulatory processes and language development, this study explored bidirectional associations between English expressive vocabulary and self‐regulation skills for monolingual English and DLL preschool children (N = 250) from mixed‐income families in Los Angeles. Across three time points, findings provide initial support for bidirectionality between these developing skills for both monolinguals and DLLs. Results provide strong empirical support for vocabulary serving as a leading indicator of self‐regulation skills in preschool. Findings also suggest that early self‐regulation skills play a particularly important role for vocabulary development.     

Censoring Freedom: Community-Based Professional Development and the Politics of Profanity

The lack of strong literacy skills and practices among students is perhaps the clearest indicator that the education system continues to leave millions of children behind. To advance the reading, writing, and speaking skills of middle and high school students, this study examines a professional development model that brought trained community-based poets into the classroom to conduct weekly writing workshops. Over the course of two years, poet-mentor educators worked alongside 30 English Language Arts and Special Education teachers, reaching over 800 students. When the literacy program entered its second year, issues of propriety and language usages unveiled deep rifts between who students were as individuals and who educators wanted them to be as learners. The literature on multiple literacies and cultural relevancy helped frame the professional development within a larger movement to bring student voices and experiences into the curriculum (e.g., Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995; Mahiri, 1998a, 1998b), but even this scholarship does not address the contentious interplay between student self-expression, conformity, and academic achievement. So what happens when students' poetry embodies inner-city street vernacular and volatile subject matter that offends teachers? To address this concern, my research analyzes how to use spoken word poetry as a form of critical literacy development and empowerment within the confines of school.     

Development of academic language comprehension of German monolinguals and dual language learners

Acquiring academic language proficiency is considered especially challenging for dual language learners (DLLs), yet research on potential differences in the development of academic language skills of DLLs and their monolingual peers is scarce. Based on a repeated-measures design with two starting cohorts, the present study examines the development of academic language comprehension of German monolinguals and DLLs from Grade 2 to 3 and from Grade 3 to 4 (initial N = 560; M_age = 8.87 years, SD_age = .73). When controlling for students’ gender, socioeconomic and educational family background as well as general language skills, German monolinguals showed larger learning gains in academic language comprehension than DLLs from Grade 2 to 3, but not from Grade 3 to 4.     

Impact of an Early Reading First program on the language and literacy achievement of children from diverse language backgrounds

This study used an age-cutoff regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of a well-resourced Early Reading First prekindergarten program designed to foster the language and literacy development of 4-year-old children from low-income homes. A special challenge for the application of the language-rich curriculum and professional development package implemented in this study was the presence of a large proportion of ELL children in essentially English-speaking classrooms. We, therefore, sought to determine whether the program was effective for improving English language and literacy outcomes for English-language learners as well as native English speakers. There were large and significant differences between treatment and control groups on literacy outcomes for all students. On the literacy tasks, ELL students in the treatment groups performed nearly as well or better than non-ELL students at the beginning of kindergarten, and reached national norms on standardized tests. There were also significant program impacts on some language outcomes for all students. ELL students who received the intervention significantly outperformed ELL students in the control groups on English receptive and expressive vocabulary. On the more complex oral comprehension skills, preschool did not have a significant impact for ELL students. Intervention effects on receptive vocabulary and oral comprehension for native speakers were found only for the third cohort and were not found for expressive vocabulary. These results provide evidence that, given material supports, coaching, professional development, and the use of a language and literacy-focused curriculum, prekindergarten classrooms can enable low-SES children from diverse language backgrounds to enter kindergarten with literacy skills at or near national norms and can significantly impact some language skills. While non-native speakers of English continued to score lower on language measures than their native-speaking peers, results show that 1 year of preschool can put all children on a positive trajectory for long-term success in school.     

Teacher Professional Growth on Assessment Literacy: A Case Study of Prevocational Geography Education in the Netherlands

Abstract

Teachers should have the necessary assessment knowledge and skills to contribute to students’ learning. This study provides insight into how a professional development program for teachers contributed to the achievement of higher mastery levels of assessment literacy. This study used Xu and Brown's TALiP (Teacher Assessment Literacy in Practice) framework to achieve these higher levels. To evaluate the extent to which teachers demonstrated professional growth regarding their assessment literacy, teachers’ practices were evaluated through a content analysis of summative assessments. Potential changes in teachers’ knowledge, skills, and beliefs were measured through questionnaires and interviews. The outcomes showed that reflection on educational goals and on teachers’ beliefs, collaborative practice, and peer feedback played an important role in fostering higher mastery levels in assessment literacy. The outcomes of this study support the value of the TALiP framework and support the idea that professional growth could be fostered via diverse growth pathways.     

Low-income Latino mothers’ booksharing styles and children's emergent literacy development

Booksharing is often considered one of the most important activities parents can do to promote young children's early literacy skills. However, there is relatively little research on the style and nature of booksharing in Latino homes. This study examined the relation between maternal booksharing styles and low-income Latino children's subsequent language and literacy development. Eighty Latino Head Start four-year-old children and their mothers were audiotaped while they shared a wordless children's picture book together in their home. Six months later, children's emergent literacy ability was assessed. Results of a cluster analysis identified three types of maternal booksharing styles which had differential predictive power over children's literacy longitudinally. Results are discussed in terms of improving culturally appropriate research, practice and policy for early childhood and family literacy programming designed to meet the needs of young Latino children and their parents.     

Using education assistants to help pave the road to literacy: Supporting oral language,letter-sound knowledge and phonemic awareness in the pre-primary year

Children with weak oral language skills are at risk of experiencing difficulty with early literacy acquisition. Intensive small group intervention during the pre-primary year has the potential to improve children's success in developing emergent literacy skills. Education assistants are a potentially powerful resource for supporting students at educational risk. In this study, education assistants at four schools were trained to provide a daily half-hour emergent literacy program to pre-primary students with low oral language skills. The program focused on developing phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge and vocabulary using both explicit and in-context (embedded) learning activities. The students undertaking the program made significant gains on early language and literacy measures. Case studies are presented that illustrate the strengths and limitations of the intervention for children and schools.     

Native Mexican Parents’ Beliefs About Children’s Literacy and Language Development: A Mixed-Methods Study

Research Findings. This study examined Mexican caretaker roles, beliefs, and practices around their child’s language and literacy development. Twenty-six parents in three preschools representing three socioeconomic strata located in Querétaro City, México completed questionnaires and participated in focus groups. We used convergent parallel mixed methods to analyze and compare parent questionnaire quantitative data and qualitative focus group data with a grounded theory approach to identify focus group discussion themes. Four themes were emerged: (a) Goals and expectations regarding reading and socioemotional development, (b) Perceptions and beliefs about children’s oral and written language, (c) Caretaker’s perceived role in children’s language and literacy development, and (d) Home and community learning-related resources and practices. Findings highlighted that Mexican parents highly value supporting their children’s education both socioemotionally and through engagement in literacy routines—evidence of duality in the educacíón value among native Mexican families. These literacy routines were complementary and responsive to teacher classroom instruction. Practice or Policy. Understanding how Latino families instantiate literacy practices to respond to American schooling expectations may be a way to address home-school discontinuities that often reflect lack of familiarity with the U.S. educational system.     

Story Nights: an apprenticeship into literacy through bilingual story reading

This article documents an extended Mexican family’s social practices surrounding literacy as they engage with bilingual children’s literature in a unique context that draws from both home and school without the pressures of curriculum mandates. The research is situated within the southeastern United States where English-dominant practices permeate the school and community. Sociocultural and third space theories provide a framework for understanding the complexities surrounding language use and literacy development. Findings indicate the new space, Story Nights, provides for the development of connections to Mexican culture and a notion of community-based literacy learning. The author makes recommendations for classroom teachers, teacher education programs, and educational policy to be more inclusive of Latino/Latina English learners.     

Self-reported knowledge on literacy of Israeli speech-language pathologists and special education teachers

The promotion of literacy skills is considered a cornerstone in the work of special education teachers (SETs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The present study examined the self-reported literacy knowledge of Israeli 67 SETs and 72 SLPs along three dimensions: development, assessment and intervention, and emergent literacy. Participants in both groups completed an individually delivered Likert-based survey. The main findings indicated positive correlations between development, assessment, and emergent literacy in both groups and no differences in their knowledge about emergent literacy. In contrast, SLPs reported lack of knowledge in literacy development, assessment and intervention, compared to SETs. The relationship between language modalities - reading, writing, oral language – seems to determine the role of each profession in literacy. Furthermore, the perception of written language as a modality or as a style of discourse was not conclusive in both groups. Therefore, policy makers and training programs should continue to deepen the training of professional staffs, especially by encouraging and training SLPs to address written language. Furthermore, the demarcation of the field of linguistic literacy of each profession is not evident in practice and needs to be discussed and coordinated to achieve true and optimal inter-professional cooperation.     

Associations of Home and Classroom Environments with Head Start Children's Code-Related and Oral Language Skills

This study used data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 4-year-old cohort to examine associations among family characteristics, home and classroom environments, and the emergent literacy skills of Head Start children. Results from hierarchical linear models suggest that both family and classroom contexts play a unique and interactive role in supporting Head Start children's development of different sets of emergent literacy skills. Parental warmth was positively related to children's oral language skills (i.e., receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge), and teachers' educational level and the quality of instructional support in the classroom were significantly associated with children's code-related skills (i.e., letter-name and letter-sound knowledge). Further, high-quality instructional support in the classroom buffered the negative influence of low maternal education on children's oral language skills. Interventions focusing on enhancing the quality of parent-child interactions, in addition to professional development for teachers designed to improve the quality of instructional support, may contribute to promoting the development of emergent literacy skills of young children from low-income families.     

Implementation of a Course Focused on Language and Literacy Within Teacher–Child Interactions: Instructor and Student Perspectives Across Three Institutions of Higher Education

Research suggests that teachers' interactions with preschool-age children have a significant influence on what children learn and the skills they develop. Additional research is needed to systematically determine the types of professional development that can help teachers learn effective teaching practices. This study is part of a larger effort to document the impact of a professional development model in which teachers learn how to implement effective teaching practices operationalized using the CLASS observation measure. A course developed by the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) was implemented in three higher education teacher preparation programs. This article describes the process of implementing the course and documents instructor and student perspectives on course delivery, content, and their learning. Results suggest that professional development in the form of a standardized course may be an effective means for presenting content related to language and literacy instruction within the context of information about effective teaching practices. Data from the study also indicate challenges associated with delivering a standardized course within multiple institutions of higher education.