Early bilingualism predicts enhanced later foreign language learning in secondary school.

Abstract

Foreign language learning is generally not required in the United States, despite its link to various cognitive and social benefits later in life. Students who speak a home language different from the instructional language of school may experience unique benefits when learning additional languages in school. The present study examined whether students' early language status (monolingual, dual language learner [DLL], or bilingual) in Kindergarten predicts later foreign language course enrollment and performance in middle and high school. A total of 33,247 students (48% female, 59% Latino, 34% Black, 7% White/ Asian/other, 82% receiving free/reduced-price lunch) were assessed for school readiness at age 4 and prospectively followed through high school. Regression analyses predicted foreign language course enrollment and performance in middle or high school, with students' demographic, school readiness, and prior academic performance as covariates. Results show early language status significantly predicts later enrollment and performance in foreign language courses, even after controlling for student demographics, school readiness skills, and early academic achievement. Early bilinguals were more likely to take foreign language courses than DLLs, who enrolled in such courses more than monolingual students. The same pattern favoring bilinguals, then DLLs, then monolinguals was found for performance in foreign language courses. Early bilingualism is an important resource for young children that continues to offer benefits throughout schooling. Implications for heritage language maintenance, language learning, and bilingual education are discussed.

Factors predicting secondary school language course enrollment and performance among U.S. heritage speakers of Spanish

“…In the current sample, 65.8% of Spanish heritage students enrolled in some type of language courses in secondary school; within this group, around 62% enrolled in Spanish, 20% enrolled in other non-English language courses, and 18% enrolled in both types of language courses. Notably, the rate of general non-English language course enrollment is slightly higher in heritage students compared to the larger sample of students in the MSRP (n = 33,247, 59.4%), especially in the rate of Spanish enrollment (47.7% in full MSRP sample, 62% in the heritage student sample; Nguyen and Winsler, 2021). This is consistent with prior research suggesting that students who speak multiple languages may be more inclined to enroll in additional language courses at the secondary school level (Nguyen and Winsler, 2021).…”

“…While the examination of enrollment patterns cannot not tell us about their underlying motivations or motivational profiles (see Stewart-Strobelt and Chen, 2003;Thompson, 2017), such large-scale data would be useful for identifying "specific gateways for student enrollment, including policies regarding tracking, and school personnel that may make recommendations related to enrollment, such as guidance counselors, language teachers, and language department administrators" (Baggett, 2016, p. 175). With these gaps in mind, the current study takes a large-scale longitudinal approach drawing on data from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP; Winsler et al, 2008Winsler et al, , 2012Winsler et al, , 2014Serafini et al, 2020;Nguyen and Winsler, 2021). Previously, we examined foreign language learning and third language learning (L3) in the larger MSRP sample that included monolingual English students and students who spoke many other languages at home (N = 32,779; Nguyen and Winsler, 2021).…”

“…With these gaps in mind, the current study takes a large-scale longitudinal approach drawing on data from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP; Winsler et al, 2008Winsler et al, , 2012Winsler et al, , 2014Serafini et al, 2020;Nguyen and Winsler, 2021). Previously, we examined foreign language learning and third language learning (L3) in the larger MSRP sample that included monolingual English students and students who spoke many other languages at home (N = 32,779; Nguyen and Winsler, 2021). There, we found that 59.4% of all students enrolled in some type of non-English language course, and with 47.7% enrolled in Spanish, and 19.9% enrolled in other non-English language courses.…”

“…The sample in the current paper is drawn from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP; Winsler et al, 2008Winsler et al, , 2014Nguyen and Winsler, 2021). The MSRP is a cohort-sequential, longitudinal study that followed five cohorts of 4-year-old children from school entry until the end of high school.…”

“…Finally, students in our sample have sufficient access to non-English language courses in secondary school, with 92.5% of middle schools and 100% of high schools in the study offering Spanish (and other) language courses (Nguyen and Winsler, 2021).…”