The relative importance of English versus Spanish language skills for low-income Latino English language learners' early language and literacy development

The association between monolingual children's early language abilities and their later reading performance is well established. However, for English language learners, the pattern of associations between early language skills and later literacy is much less well understood for English language...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early child development and care 2017-04, Vol.187 (3-4), p.727-743
Main Authors: Sonnenschein, Susan, Metzger, Shari R., Dowling, Rebecca, Baker, Linda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement Tests
Child Language
Classrooms
Comprehension
Correlation
Early Intervention
Emergent Literacy
English (Second Language)
English as a second language learning
English language
English Language Learners
Expressive Language
Family Environment
Graphemes
Hispanic Americans
Interviews
language and early literacy development
Language proficiency
Language Skills
Language Usage
Latin American cultural groups
Literacy
Literacy skills
Low Income Groups
Monolingualism
Multiple Regression Analysis
Native language acquisition
Only children
Parent Attitudes
Phonological Awareness
Predictor Variables
Preschool Children
preschoolers
Questionnaires
Receptive Language
Socialization
Spanish language
Spanish Speaking
Student Records
Vocabulary
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Summary:The association between monolingual children's early language abilities and their later reading performance is well established. However, for English language learners, the pattern of associations between early language skills and later literacy is much less well understood for English language learners. This study examined language predictors of preschool, low-income Latino English language learners' (N = 112) spring vocabulary and literacy skills. Only children's English language skills at the start of preschool, not Spanish or conceptual vocabulary (child received credit for knowledge of word in either English or Spanish), were significant predictors of subsequent vocabulary and literacy scores. In addition, vocabulary and language comprehension together accounted for more variance in spring performance than vocabulary alone. Finally, data from a small subset of parents (N = 21) suggested that the children's Spanish skills were being maintained through activities at home. Discussion focuses on the application of findings to assessment and practice in the preschool classrooms.
ISSN:0300-4430
1476-8275
DOI:10.1080/03004430.2016.1219854