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ABSTRACT
Students’ attitudes in first-grade dual language immersion (DLI) classes were compared with those of similar students in mainstream English classes. Results for the sample of 81 Latinx students indicated that for attitudes toward activities in Spanish, including reading and speaking in public and with relatives, both ELLs and non-ELLs in DLI had more positive attitudes, often at statistically significant levels and with strong effect sizes. Program placement predicted student attitude on some variables even with parent and demographic variables factored out. There were also significant advantages for DLI on measures of multiculturalism. The findings indicated that attitudinal differences previously found for students at higher grades in DLI can emerge by the end of the first grade. The study also compared responses from parent questionnaires for the two programs and found significant differences, with more Spanish spoken at home and more interest in Spanish reading among DLI parents.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Rebecca Castro, principal of the school site during the course of the research, for allowing us access to the site.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Nicholas Block
Nicholas Block has been Associate Professor of Education since 2014 at Biola University, in southern California. Previously he had over 25 years of experience at various grade levels and in distinct settings, including transitional bilingual, DLI, mainstream English, and SEI. Aside from DLI other research concerns include vocabulary development and teachers' spirituality.
Lorena Vidaurre
Lorena Vidaurre has served as full-time faculty and Director of Early Childhood Education since 2010 at Biola University, in southern California. Prior to that she had extensive experience in early elementary grades in transitional bilingual programs. Other research interests include language and literacy development among emerging bilinguals and family engagement.