ABSTRACT

Research Findings: We examined the amount of preschool lead/assistant teachers’ English/Spanish language use and relations between quality of teacher-child interactions, and Dual Language Learners’ (DLLs) English/Spanish bilingual vocabulary in 31 English-medium Head Start classrooms. Measures in this study included (a) children’s conceptual English/Spanish bilingual receptive and expressive vocabulary, (b) classroom quality via systematic observation, (c) video coding of the amount of utterances of teacher Spanish use in classrooms, and (d) a set of child- and teacher-level covariates. Results showed that Spanish was used much less than English by both teachers and DLLs. DLLs spoke more Spanish than teachers and directed most Spanish to peers. For high levels of Emotional Support, teachers’ Spanish use was significantly negatively associated with English/Spanish bilingual expressive and receptive vocabulary. For low levels of Emotional Support and high levels of Instructional Support, higher amounts of teachers’ Spanish use were significantly positively associated with higher levels of children’s English/Spanish bilingual expressive and receptive vocabulary. Practice or Policy: Emotionally-supportive practices may enable monolingual teachers to facilitate their DLLs’ learning through creating relationships that may counteract strain from language barriers. Spanish instruction provides a supportive effect for DLLs and may contribute to closing English language and literacy disparities between DLLs and English-speaking peers.

摘要

研究成果：我们在 31 个以英语为媒介的启蒙课堂中检查了学前班主任/助理教师使用英语/西班牙语的数量以及师生互动质量与双语学习者 (DLL) 的英语/西班牙语双语词汇之间的关系。本研究中的措施包括 (a) 儿童的概念性英语/西班牙语双语接受和表达词汇，(b) 通过系统观察的课堂质量，(c) 教师在课堂上使用西班牙语的话语量的视频编码，以及 (d) a一组儿童和教师级别的协变量。结果表明，教师和 DLL 对西班牙语的使用远少于英语。DLL 讲的西班牙语比老师多，而且大多数西班牙语都是教给同龄人的。对于高水平的情感支持，教师的西班牙语使用与英语/西班牙语双语表达和接受词汇显着负相关。对于低水平的情感支持和高水平的教学支持，教师更多地使用西班牙语与更高水平的儿童英语/西班牙语双语表达和接受词汇显着正相关。实践或政策：情感支持实践可以使单语教师通过建立可能抵消语言障碍压力的关系来促进他们的 DLL 学习。西班牙语教学为 DLL 提供了支持作用，并可能有助于缩小 DLL 与讲英语的同龄人之间的英语语言和读写能力差距。