Effects of Spanish vocabulary knowledge on the English word knowledge and listening comprehension of bilingual students

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of L1 (i.e. Spanish) receptive vocabulary on both expressive and receptive knowledge of target vocabulary words taught through L2 (i.e. English) instruction and intervention. Participants were Bilingual US kindergarten students determined to be at-risk based on English receptive vocabulary. To determine student vocabulary level in Spanish, we administered a receptive Spanish vocabulary assessment. Students were grouped into matched clusters within classrooms. Clusters were randomly assigned to receive whole group vocabulary instruction only in L2 (i.e. the control group, n = 172) or whole group plus small group vocabulary instruction in L2 (i.e. the treatment group, n = 179). Findings indicated that bilingual students with high receptive vocabulary knowledge in Spanish significantly outperformed bilingual students with low receptive vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. Effects of Spanish vocabulary knowledge were maintained one year later, at the end of first grade, as measured by a researcher developed expressive vocabulary measure in English. We did not find an interaction effect between condition and student level of Spanish receptive vocabulary. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual students
• language acquisition
• mother tongue
• second language acquisition
• language learning
• language maintenance
• vocabulary
• Spanish
• English
• listening comprehension

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Grant No. R324110135, titled Early Vocabulary Instruction and Intervention funded by the US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences to the University of Connecticut. The views expressed within this article are those of the authors and do not represent those of IES or the USDOE.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grant Number. R324110135, titled Early Vocabulary Instruction and Intervention funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education to the University of Connecticut.

Notes on contributors

Doris Luft Baker

Doris Luft Baker, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests are the development and evaluation of instructional tools and assessments, with and without the use of technology, in English and in Spanish designed to improve and monitor the academic performance of English learners, bilingual students, and Spanish monolingual students.

Betsy D. McCoach

Betsy D. McCoach, Ph.D. is professor of Research Methods, Measurement, and Evaluation in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Dr. McCoach has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, including Instrument Design in the Affective Domain and Multilevel Modeling of Educational Data. Dr. McCoach founded the Modern Modeling Methods conference, held annually at UCONN. Dr. McCoach is co-Principal Investigator for the National Center for Research on Gifted Education and has served as Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, and/or research methodologist for several other federally-funded research projects/grants. Dr. McCoach's research interests include multilevel modeling, longitudinal modeling, instrument design, latent variable modeling, and gifted education.

Sharon Ware

Sharon Ware, PhD. is an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Director of the Literacy Internship Program in the School of Sciences, Arts, Business, and Education at the University of Saint Joseph. Her research interests focus on beginning reading instruction, teacher professional development in foundational reading skills, and vocabulary instruction and intervention within multi-tiered systems of support.

Michael D. Coyne

Michael D. Coyne, PhD. is a Professor of Special Education in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, and Co-Director of the Center for Behavioral Education and Research. His research focuses on beginning reading and vocabulary instruction and intervention, multitiered systems of support, school-based experimental research, and effective practices for students with learning disabilities.

Susan M. Rattan

Susan M. Rattan, PhD. is an assistant professor of School Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education at Duquesne University. Her research interests include academic assessment and intervention, particularly in the areas of early reading and vocabulary, and multi-tiered systems of support.