Early Language and Reading Development of Bilingual Preschoolers From Low-Income Families

Abstract

Learning to read is a complex process and a number of factors affect a child's success in beginning reading. This complexity increases when a child's home language differs from that of the school and when the child comes from a home with limited economic resources. This article discusses factors that have been shown to contribute to children's success in early reading, namely -phonological awareness, letter-word identification, oral language, and the home literacy environment. Preliminary evidence suggests that bilingual children from low-income backgrounds initially perform poorly on phonological awareness and letter identification tasks, but appear to acquire these abilities quickly in kindergarten once these abilities are emphasized in early reading instruction. In addition, the findings show that bilingual preschoolers' receptive language abilities in English and Spanish positively impact their early letter-word identification abilities at the end of kindergarten. A positive relationship between bilingual preschoolers' home literacy environment and early reading outcomes has not been found to date. Educational implications for serving young, bilingual children from programs such as Head Start are discussed.

A Study of Home Emergent Literacy Experiences of Young Latino English Learners

“…While there are some studies on second language learning in the school setting, there is less research on bilingual children's home literacy environments and its interaction with reading and language experiences (Hammer and Miccio 2006). In fact, Reardon and Galindo (2006) suggest that different literacy practices among families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds may lead to qualitatively different patterns of language development among young ELs.…”

Enhancing Young Hispanic Dual Language Learners' Achievement: Exploring Strategies and Addressing Challenges

“…DLL preschoolers' vocabulary and phonological skills are predictive of their emergent literacy skills in the early primary grades (Davison, Hammer, & Lawrence, 2011;Dickinson et al, 2004;Hammer, Lawrence, & Miccio, 2007;Hammer & Miccio, 2006;L. M. López & Greenfield, 2004;Páez & Rinaldi, 2006;Rinaldi & Páez, 2008).…”

“…However, research focusing specifically on best instructional practices to support young DLLs' emergent literacy development, particularly for children in low-income families, is not yet robust, either Snow, 2008). Yet this small research base, as well as syntheses of studies focused on K-12 students, suggests several promising strategies for enhancing young DLLs' emergent literacy.DLL preschoolers' vocabulary and phonological skills are predictive of their emergent literacy skills in the early primary grades (Davison, Hammer, & Lawrence, 2011;Dickinson et al, 2004;Hammer, Lawrence, & Miccio, 2007;Hammer & Miccio, 2006;L. M. López & Greenfield, 2004;Páez & Rinaldi, 2006;Rinaldi & Páez, 2008).…”

Exploration of How Spanish and English Noneliciting Questions Affect the Novel Vocabulary Acquisition of Hispanic Dual Language Learners Enrolled in Head Start

“…Simply having Spanishspeaking children also acquire English before primary school does not necessarily result in linguistic parity as DLLs' knowledge and usage of language is qualitatively different from their English-only and Spanish-only counterparts (Hammer and Miccio 2006).…”