Young Latino children of immigrants typically speak primarily Spanish at home and are exposed to varying amounts of English. As a result, they often enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in each language. The current study investigated family background, language use at home and early childhood settings as predictors of Spanish and English language proficiencies among Latino dual language children (N = 228). Findings demonstrated divergent sets of predictors were associated with either Spanish or English proficiencies at kindergarten and second grade. Sociocultural variables (parent origin, gender, home language use, home literacy practices, and language use in early childhood settings) predicted children's Spanish proficiency, while socioeconomic variables (poverty, and maternal and paternal education) predicted children's English proficiency, with little to no overlap in these predictions. These results suggest that different supports are required for proficiency in Spanish and in English, highlighting the importance of sociocultural and socioeconomic factors.

中文翻译：

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社会经济和社会文化预测因素对拉丁裔移民儿童西班牙语和英语熟练程度的作用


移民的拉丁裔儿童通常在家里主要讲西班牙语，并接触不同程度的英语。因此，他们进入学校时通常对每种语言都有广泛的熟练程度。目前的研究调查了家庭背景、家庭语言使用和幼儿环境作为拉丁裔双语儿童西班牙语和英语语言能力的预测因素 (N = 228)。研究结果表明，不同的预测因素与幼儿园和二年级的西班牙语或英语熟练程度相关。社会文化变量（父母出身、性别、家庭语言使用、家庭识字实践和幼儿环境中的语言使用）预测儿童的西班牙语熟练程度，而社会经济变量（贫困、母亲和父亲教育）预测儿童的英语熟练程度，但几乎没有预测作用。这些预测有重叠。这些结果表明，西班牙语和英语的熟练程度需要不同的支持，凸显了社会文化和社会经济因素的重要性。