scholarly journals Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies (PostPrint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea A.N. MacLeod ◽  
Rabia Sabah Meziane ◽  
Diane Pesco
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Teacher Reports ◽  
Stimulation Group

ince 2015, more than 58,000 Syrian refugees have settled in Canada and, at the time of the 2016 national census, more than a fifth had settled in the province of Quebec. The rising numbers of refugees and the risks associated with families’ forced displacement have underscored the need to better understand and support the language of refugee children. The article reports on the oral language of three Syrian children ages five and six years, drawing on data from parent interviews, teacher reports, measures of the children’s language, and observations of their language use in a dual-language stimulation group, StimuLER. By triangulating this data, we were able to develop a rich and realistic portrait of each child’s language abilities. For these three boys, we observed that the home language was vulnerable to delays and weaknesses, and that learning the language of school was a drawn-out process. We also documented that parents and teachers had difficulties communicating with one another, and thus had difficulty meeting the educational needs of these children. We conclude that to foster resiliency in these children who are refugees, schools must find a way to build bridges with the parents to support the children’s language learning in both the language of school and at home.

scholarly journals Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1329-1349
Author(s):  
Andrea A. N. MacLeod ◽  
Rabia Sabah Meziane ◽  
Diane Pesco
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Teacher Reports ◽  
Stimulation Group

AbstractSince 2015, more than 58,000 Syrian refugees have settled in Canada and, at the time of the 2016 national census, more than a fifth had settled in the province of Quebec. The rising numbers of refugees and the risks associated with families’ forced displacement have underscored the need to better understand and support the language of refugee children. The article reports on the oral language of three Syrian children ages five and six years, drawing on data from parent interviews, teacher reports, measures of the children’s language, and observations of their language use in a dual-language stimulation group, StimuLER. By triangulating this data, we were able to develop a rich and realistic portrait of each child’s language abilities. For these three boys, we observed that the home language was vulnerable to delays and weaknesses, and that learning the language of school was a drawn-out process. We also documented that parents and teachers had difficulties communicating with one another, and thus had difficulty meeting the educational needs of these children. We conclude that to foster resiliency in these children who are refugees, schools must find a way to build bridges with the parents to support the children’s language learning in both the language of school and at home.

The Applicability of Picturebooks to Teach English as a Foreign Language

2019 ◽  
pp. 93-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Fleta Guillén
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Mode Of Instruction ◽  
Picturebook Reading

Interactive shared picturebook reading with learners of different ages and levels has proven to be a prominent practice in all languages. The overall aim of the chapter is to explore the applicability of shared picturebook reading to teach English as a foreign language. Due to the affordances of the multimodality of picturebooks to develop language and content knowledge, this critical investigation seeks to integrate shared picturebook reading as a mode of instruction into the young learners' academic curriculum to promote oral language abilities and conceptual knowledge. In order to provide practical advice for educators of young learners, the chapter describes ways that picturebooks boost vocabulary, language learning, and conceptual knowledge in English L2. The chapter develops criteria to select picturebooks for subject-area instruction, paying attention to the picture-word dynamics.

scholarly journals Early bilingualism: children of immigrants in an English-language childcare center

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roma Chumak-Horbatsch
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Children Of Immigrants ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Childcare Center

Early bilingualism: children of immigrants in an English-language childcare center In this study, language views and home language practice of sixteen immigrant parents were documented and related to the dual language behaviors of their young children (ages 1:09 to 3;06) who were enrolled in a Toronto English-language childcare center. De Houwer's (1999) model of early bilingualism was applied to the minority language context and external factors were used to explain the short-lived active bilingualism of the younger children and the passive bilingualism of the preschoolers. Presenting mothers and fathers with separate questionnaires proved to be a valuable methodological tool, which revealed similar language thinking but different home language practice. Immigrant mothers were more committed to their children's L1 development than were fathers, a finding, which supports and extends the parental gender difference noted in earlier work (Gleason, 2005; Lyon, 1991; Lyon & Ellis, 1999). Negative effects of early L2 exposure on minority language children's incomplete L1, reported in earlier studies, were confirmed. A concrete outcome of the present study was the creation mylanguage.ca, a website intended to help immigrant parents understand their children's dual language learning. Even though the study presents a somewhat bleak picture of the continuation of L1, it concludes on an optimistic note, encouraging immigrant fathers to join forces with their L1-committed spouses and to help provide a nurturing L1 environment for their young children.

scholarly journals The Bilingual Home Language Boost Through the Lens of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Sheng ◽  
Danyang Wang ◽  
Caila Walsh ◽  
Leah Heisler ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Mandarin Language ◽  
Language Environment

Usage-based accounts of language acquisition suggest that bilingual language proficiency is dynamic and susceptible to changes in language use. The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented modifications in the language learning environment of developing bilinguals. Drawing on this unique opportunity, we analyzed existing data of two matched groups of Mandarin-English bilingual children (ages 4 to 8 years, n = 38), one tested before (pre-COVID group) and the other during (COVID group) the pandemic. The dataset comprises responses to a language environment questionnaire, and scores on a sentence comprehension task and a sentence recall task in the bilinguals’ two languages. Questionnaire data revealed a richer Mandarin language environment for children in the COVID group compared to peers in the pre-COVID group. On both comprehension and production tasks, the two groups performed comparably in English but the COVID group showed better performance in Mandarin than the pre-COVID group. Within the pre-COVID group, English was stronger than Mandarin in both comprehension and production. Within the COVID group, the two languages were balanced in comprehension and Mandarin was stronger than English in production. Moreover, language use variables were correlated with production performance in both languages. These patterns illustrate the intimate relationships between language use and bilingual language proficiency through the lens of COVID-19 induced language environment modification.

scholarly journals The bilingual home language boost through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Sheng ◽  
Danyang Wang ◽  
Caila Walsh ◽  
Leah Heisler ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Language Environment

Usage-based accounts of language acquisition suggest that bilingual language proficiency is dynamic and susceptible to changes in language use. The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented modifications in the language learning environment of developing bilinguals. Drawing on this unique opportunity, we analyzed existing data of two matched groups of Mandarin-English bilingual children (ages 4 to 8 years, n=40), one tested before (pre-COVID group) and the other after (COVID group) the pandemic. The dataset comprises responses to a language environment questionnaire, and scores on a sentence comprehension task and a sentence recall task in the bilinguals’ two languages. Questionnaire data revealed that children in the COVID group read more in English but spoke less English with their mothers and friends compared to peers in the pre-COVID group. On the comprehension task, the two groups performed comparably in English but the COVID group showed better performance in Mandarin than the pre-COVID group. On the production task, the pre-COVID group showed better English performance than the COVID group, whereas the COVID group showed better Mandarin performance than the pre-COVID group. Within the pre-COVID group, English was stronger than Mandarin in both comprehension and production. Within the COVID group, the two languages were balanced in comprehension and Mandarin was stronger than English in production. Moreover, language use variables were correlated with production performance in both languages. These patterns illustrate the intimate relationships between language use and bilingual language proficiency through the lens of COVID-19 induced language environment modification.

scholarly journals Dual Language Profiles in Spanish-Speaking English Learners

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pumpki Lei Su ◽  
Raúl Rojas ◽  
Aquiles Iglesias
Keyword(s):  
Oral Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Language Profiles

Purpose: This study examined systematic within-group differences in a large-scale sample of school-aged Hispanic, Spanish-speaking children designated as English Learners (ELs) by their school district.Method: Data for this study include 847 Spanish-speaking ELs from kindergarten to third grade. Spanish and English narrative retell language samples were collected from all participants. Four oral language measures were calculated in Spanish and English, including the subordination index (SI), moving average type-token ratio (MATTR), words per minute (WPM), and Narrative Structure Scheme (NSS) using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcript (SALT). These eight measures were used in a latent profile analysis to identify dual language profiles. Results: The optimal model represents a four-profile solution, including a Spanish-dominant group (average Spanish, low English), an English-dominant group (low Spanish, average English), and two balanced groups (a balanced-average group and a balanced-high group). Additionally, participants displayed uneven performance across language domains and distinct patterns of unique strength or weakness in a specific domain in one of their two languages.Conclusions: Findings from this study demonstrated large within-group variability in both English and Spanish oral language abilities in school-aged Spanish-speaking ELs. The presence of an English-dominant group in this sample challenged a common assumption that ELs are more proficient in their home language compared to English. These findings emphasized the importance of assessing both languages in multiple domains to paint a representative picture of a bilingual child’s language abilities.

scholarly journals Portrait of early science education in majority dual language learner classrooms: Where do we start?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Rumper ◽  
Elizabeth Frechette ◽  
Elica Sharifnia ◽  
Daryl Greenfield ◽  
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Head Start ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Children's Home ◽  
Early Science Education ◽  
Engineering Practices ◽  
Multiple Domains

Despite the growing interest in early science education, there is much left to be explored, particularly in majority Dual Language Learning (DLL) classrooms. The current study examined 1) early science opportunities across classroom contexts in majority Spanish-English DLL Head Start classrooms, 2) the languages (i.e., English and Spanish) that teachers used to engage DLL children in science, 3) and how teachers’ discussion of scientific and engineering practices and disciplinary core ideas related to children’s academic outcomes. In a sample of 411 children (ages 3-5) from 34 Head Start classrooms, the current study found that teachers discussed and encouraged more practices during science lessons than circle time, dramatic play, and story time. There were no differences in teachers’ discussion of core ideas across contexts. Teachers used the same amount of English and Spanish to discuss practices and core ideas. Teaching physical science was associated with children’s science outcomes. Making observations and discussing life science were associated with children’s math outcomes. Teaching math, making observations, and developing and using models were related to children’s executive functioning. Findings from this study demonstrate that science opportunities occur across preschool classroom settings. Additionally, it provides evidence that teachers may be supporting DLL children’s home language while discussing science. Finally, results indicate that teaching science supports children’s academic performance in several outcomes. These findings have implications for DLL education policy as science may be a domain where teachers can support children’s home language and their learning across multiple domains.

Teacher feedback to support oral language learning for young dual language learners

2015 ◽  
Vol 185 (9) ◽  
pp. 1452-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Cheatham ◽  
Margarita Jimenez-Silva ◽  
Hyejin Park
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Teacher Feedback ◽  
Dual Language Learners

Tres formas: Shared reading practices with three types of Spanish and English dual-language learning preschoolers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Read ◽  
Paloma D. Contreras ◽  
Hector Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Children's Home

Shared book reading has positive impacts on language development, yet how it is navigated with young dual-language learning (DLL) children and are read to by adults with varying degrees of bilingual proficiency is less well understood. This study explored differences in shared reading practices among families raising Spanish/English emergent bilingual children. Primary caregivers (n=96) of DLLs between 2-5 years old participated in a survey accessible in either language. Respondents self-reported the primary language used in their homes and were categorized into three groups: Spanish primary language (SPL), English primary language (EPL), or both languages primary (BPL). Respondents answered questions about their own language proficiency, their children’s amount of exposure to English and Spanish, frequency of shared reading in each language, as well as questions about reading quality, parent and child language preferences during reading, and typical patterns of code-switching or translating between the two languages. Survey results indicated firstly that the reported household primary language corresponded to the language dominance experienced by the child, and that including a “both languages primary” category revealed meaningful differences between groups. Secondly, the results demonstrated that shared reading frequency in each language is impacted by household primary language, but that across language dominance groups there were not significant differences in the frequencies of use of dialogic reading strategies or language mixing. These findings illustrate the importance of contextualizing children’s home language environment in order to better understand their pre-literacy experiences. A clearer understanding of children’s home language dominance will aid early educators in building on DLL children’s strengths and meeting their needs in each language as they prepare for school entry.

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