Spanish and early English development in young dual language learners: A preliminary study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe ongoing Spanish and early English development in young dual language learners (DLLs) in the context of standardized measures and language sample measures. Participants were eight DLLs (M age in months = 44.4) attending preschool. Data were collected at four time points over the school year. Child outcome measures were composite and raw scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2 (Spanish and English), and language sample measures of lexical and grammatical development. Median standard scores in Spanish at school entry (Time 1) were not substantially different from scores in May (Time 4); however, an increase in verb use was observed. Children's English receptive, content, and structure standardized and raw scores in May were higher than at school entry. Children's performance was highly variable across measures and languages. Findings provide a starting point for future research on language development of young Spanish–English DLLs and helpful considerations for speech-language pathologists and educators who assess DLLs.

Keywords:

• Dual language learners
• Bilingual
• Spanish
• Typical
• Language development

Acknowledgments

We thank the children, families and Head Start preschool teachers for their participation in this study. This work was funded through U.S. Department of Education Leadership Training Grant, #H325D060009.