Parent and teacher rating of bilingual language proficiency and language development concerns

Abstract

Educators of young children, including speech-language pathologists, are often uncertain as how to effectively work with children from diverse backgrounds because they do not know enough about cultural and linguistic diversity and its impact on language development. The current study helps to address this gap by examining the validity of parent and teacher report in determining language proficiency and language ability in prekindergarten and kindergarten age children from Spanish-English bilingual backgrounds. Parents and teachers rated child language proficiency and ability in Spanish and English. Results indicate that teachers and parents were reliable informants on English language proficiency, but only the parents reliably rated children’s Spanish proficiency. Both teacher and parent report were significantly correlated to child language ability. Teachers’ ratings of ability correlated with morphosyntax performance while parents’ ratings correlated with their child’s broad language performance. For clinical and educational decision making, we emphasize the importance of understanding bilingual children’s language use across languages and contexts by incorporating both parent and teacher observations.

Examining Similarities and Differences Among Parent–Teacher Reports of Spanish–English Productive Vocabulary

“…A limited number of studies have examined the accuracy of teacher report in estimating bilingual children's language (Bedore et al, 2011;Gutiérrez-Clellen & Kreiter, 2003;Vagh et al, 2009). For example, Bedore and colleagues (2011) examined the relation between parent and teacher ratings and the observed language ability of 4-to 5-year-old SpanishEnglish bilingual children (N = 549).…”

“…In school, children interact consistently with teachers in different contexts, so the same language behaviors demonstrated in school may not be observed by parents in the home as a result of contextspecific activities and experiences. Whereas parents can provide information about language behaviors observed in the home or personal contexts, teacher reports may assist in determining bilingual children's language status and contextual or language-specific vocabulary not used in the home (Bedore et al, 2011;Gutiérrez-Clellen & Kreiter, 2003;Vagh et al, 2009).…”

“…For this reason, the present study examines similarities and differences between parents' and teachers' reports of bilingual productive vocabulary and the nature of the potential discrepancies (i.e., familiarly with child, language, or particular lexical items). These discrepancies have not been examined extensively, yet the practical significance is clear (Bedore et al, 2011;De Houwer et al, 2005;Vagh et al, 2009): If multiple informants are going to report on children's bilingual vocabulary, it is necessary to better understand potential similarities and differences that may be observed across reports.…”

“…For child language researchers, reports from multiple informants have offered insight into various aspects of language development of monolingual (Bornstein, Putnick, & De Houwer, 2006;De Houwer, Bornstein, & Leach, 2005;Lee, Chiu, van Hasselt, & Tong, 2009) and bilingual (Bedore, Peña, Joyner, & Macken, 2011;Gutiérrez-Clellen & Kreiter, 2003;Vagh, Pan, & Mancilla-Martinez, 2009) children. In studies of young bilingual children, multiple informants have demonstrated the potential to shed light on children's word use across different contexts and languages (Bedore et al, 2011). This information may not otherwise be available through assessment methods such as case histories and direct assessments such as standardized norm-referenced tests.…”

Initial consonant deletion in bilingual Spanish–English-speaking children with speech sound disorders

“…Parents provided language input and output information based on a detailed parent interview (e.g., Bedore, Peña, Joyner, & Macken, 2011). Caregivers were asked to estimate, on a given weekday, how many hours their child heard Spanish, spoke Spanish, heard English, and spoke English in the home and at school.…”