¿Read Conmigo?: The Effect of Code-switching Storybooks on Dual-Language Learners’ Retention of New Vocabulary

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Storybooks provide opportunities for children to encounter new words in context and build vocabulary. Storybooks intended for dual-language learners (DLLs) can come in two types – immersive monolingual second language (L2) books, or an emerging style of “code–switching” books written predominantly in a child’s dominant language (L1), but highlighting target vocabulary in L2. In this study we investigated how book type affects vocabulary retention. Both English (ELL) and Spanish (SLL) learning 2– to 5–year–olds heard researcher–designed stories that introduced novel animal names in L2 – one formatted monolingually in L2, and one code-switching from L1 to L2. Children’s new word retention was then tested with simple picture identification tasks. The findings demonstrated that both SLL and ELL participants had comparable novel word retention after each book type, but there was an interaction of age and storybook type, such that older children, regardless of primary language or typical L2 exposure were more likely to experience a novel word retention boost from the code–switching book. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that matching the best book type to an individual learner depends on understanding the learner’s developmental stages in both L1 and L2.

Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by a Provost Research Fellowship and the DeNardo Science Scholars program at Santa Clara University. We would like to thank Dr. Rose Marie Beebe (Professor of Spanish) and Maria Serna (Bilingual Childcare Worker) for their assistance in editing the books created for the study. We are also indebted to the many children and parents who freely volunteered to participate in this study and the partnership of Kids on Campus Child Development Center, San Jose Public Libraries, Let’s Play in Spanish preschool, Grail Family Services, and SOMOS Mayfair. We would also like to acknowledge the help and feedback received from research colleagues in the Read Lab, in particular Anisha Agarwal, Raquel Hernandez, Maria Munoz Yepez and Hector Martinez.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In this study, “exposure” to a language only includes time that the child had the opportunity to interact using the language (i.e., exposure does not include simply overhearing speech between adults, listening to songs, or watching t.v. programs in L2). This was clarified to the parents who reported on these amounts.