Bilingualism and Schooling Environments

Abstract

Eight bilingual mothers and their ten children (ages 2–3 years) participating in a co-op preschool were observed over a 28 week period with respect to their use of Spanish and English. Observations were conducted during instruction and freeplay periods on a daily basis. For the first 19 weeks of the observation, no difference in English production for mothers across settings was observed. Children’s English production was higher than mothers’ in both settings, and was higher in freeplay than during instruction periods. Spanish production by mothers was higher during instruction settings; Spanish production by children was lower than English in each setting and was almost nonexistent during freeplay. During the last nine weeks of the observation, a simple experimental Spanish language immersion procedure was implemented during freeplay. (This procedure was implemented twice so as to evaluate its effect, experimentally.) Children’s Spanish increased substantially in freeplay during the immersion manipulations. Results are discussed in terms of bilingual education curriculum.