DEVELOPING LANGUAGE/LITERACY IN SPANISH SPEAKING CHILDRE

University Of Houston, Houston TX

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Abstract

The objective of Project II is to evaluate the growth and development of skills related to oral language proficiency, literacy, and literacy-related skills in children who spear Spanish as their initial and primary language. We propose a 4-year longitudinal investigation of a large sample (n=1,440) of English-language learners from 144 classrooms enrolled in kindergarten and followed through grade 3. These children will be sampled from 3 geographic units (urban Texas, border Texas, urban California) and will be obtained from classrooms representative of 4 types of bilingual instruction programs: (1) English language immersion, in which predominantly English instruction begins in Grade 1; 92) early exit, in which English-language instruction begins after Grade 1, but before Grade 4; (3) late exit, in which instruction is done predominantly in English after Grade 3; and (4) dual language, in which a balance of English and Spanish language instruction is maintained beyond Grade 3. Three Specific Aims will be addressed: (1) reading precursors addresses the development of precursor skills to literacy skills, including oral language proficiency and specific literacy-related skills (e.g., phonological awareness); (2) growth and development addresses the developmental trajectories and co-development of oral language proficiency, literacy, and literacy-related skills; and (3) early identification uses assessments of precursor cells in kindergarten to identify English-language learners who are at risk for problems in literacy development as a basis for early intervention programs. Altogether, Project II addresses the need identified in the RFA for programmatic research efforts addressing the normative language, reading, and writing development among English-language learners. It will address important gaps in the knowledge base concerning the development of oracy and literacy in English-language learners and ultimately help provide the basis for prevention and early prevention efforts in this rapidly growing population.