ABSTRACT

The present study examined the effect of children’s enrollment in U.S. dual-language immersion (DLI) programs in first grade on English development across five years, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011) database. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups of DLI and non-DLI students based on students’ kindergarten reading performance and a series of student-, family-, and school-level characteristics. Growth curve models demonstrate that first-grade DLI enrollment had a positive effect on children’s English reading growth from Grade 1 to 5. Children who enrolled in DLI experienced greater improvements by Grade 5. We also found that first-grade teacher judgment was related to children’s initial reading performance but not their reading growth. Implications related to DLI programs, teacher practices, and bilingual educational policies are discussed.

摘要

本研究使用 2011 年幼稚园班幼儿纵向研究 (ECLS-K:2011) 数据库，研究了一年级儿童参加美国双语浸入式 (DLI) 课程对五年英语发展的影响。根据学生的幼儿园阅读表现以及一系列学生、家庭和学校层面的特征，使用倾向得分匹配来创建可比较的 DLI 和非 DLI 学生组。增长曲线模型表明，一年级 DLI 入学对 1 至 5 年级儿童的英语阅读增长有积极影响。参加 DLI 的孩子在 5 年级时有更大的进步。我们还发现，一年级教师的判断与孩子的英语阅读能力有关。最初的阅读表现，但不是他们的阅读增长。