ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Children’s oral language skills lay the foundation for later literacy and can be fostered through responsive conversations with teachers. However, such conversations are rare in preschool, particularly between teachers and dual language learners (DLLs), or students who speak a minoritized language at home. DLLs benefit when their home language is used and instruction is provided in small groups, but few studies have explored the degree to which preschool teachers code-switch, or alternate between languages within a single group context. This study draws on 10 transcribed video-recorded observations of Head Start preschool classrooms to describe five teachers’ flexible use of Spanish and English with their Spanish-English DLL students across whole and small group contexts. DLL students’ language use was examined to explore the role of group context and teacher code-switching in fostering DLLs’ participation in classroom conversations. While relative Spanish use varied widely, all teachers code-switched more frequently in small group than in whole group. The 25 DLL students spoke more, took longer turns, and used more Spanish in small group versus in whole group. Practice or Policy: Our results suggest that teacher code-switching and small group instruction create contexts that are conducive to DLLs’ participation in classroom conversations.

摘要

研究结果：儿童的口语技能为以后的识字打下基础，可以通过与老师的回应性对话来培养。然而，这种对话在学前班很少见，尤其是在教师和双语学习者 (DLL) 之间，或者在家里说少数民族语言的学生之间。当使用他们的母语并以小组形式提供教学时，DLLs 会受益，但很少有研究探讨学前教师语码转换的程度，或在单个组上下文中切换语言。本研究利用 10 段对 Head Start 学前班课堂的转录视频记录的观察，来描述五位教师在整个和小组环境中与他们的西班牙语-英语 DLL 学生灵活使用西班牙语和英语的情况。对 DLL 学生的语言使用进行了检查，以探索小组背景和教师语码转换在促进 DLL 参与课堂对话中的作用。虽然相对西班牙语的使用差异很大，但所有教师在小组中的代码转换比在整个小组中更频繁。与整个小组相比，25 名 DLL 学生在小组中说得更多，轮流时间更长，使用的西班牙语更多。实践或政策：我们的结果表明，教师语码转换和小组教学创造了有利于 DLL 参与课堂对话的情境。