Peer Effects on Early Language Development in Dual Language Learners

Schmerse, Daniel

doi:10.1111/cdev.13588

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regarding classroom language contexts, our findings first demonstrated that the influence of peer language skills robustly predicted children's language growth. The findings were consistent with previous studies (e.g., Garcia, 2018;Palermo et al, 2014;Schmerse, 2021) showing that DLLs experienced more language growth when they had greater opportunities to interact with more skilled peers. After controlling for the positive main effect of peer language skills, the proportion of EBs but not FBs in the classroom positively predicted children's language development.…”

Section: Influence Of Classroom Language Contextssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…For DLLs, however, the effect of peer language skills is not conclusive. For instance, Schmerse (2021) showed that preschool DLLs’ second language (L2) vocabulary growth was greater in classrooms with higher levels of peer skills over three years in socioeconomically and linguistically diverse classrooms where German was the dominant language. Similarly, Garcia (2021) found that 3- and 4-year-old Spanish-English-speaking DLLs experienced more growth in English receptive vocabulary when their classmates had higher English receptive vocabulary skills within the preschool classrooms.…”

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The influence of classroom language contexts on dual language learners’ language development.

Lin¹,

Jing²,

Lu³

et al. 2023

Journal of Educational Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this study was to examine how classroom language contexts characterized by peer language skills and proportions of dual language learners (DLL) influenced English language development for DLL and non-DLL children. Participants were 2,131 children from 135 classrooms across preschool through Grade 3. Children were classified into fluent bilinguals (FBs, 12%), emergent bilinguals (EBs, 13%), and non-DLL (or English monolinguals [EMs], 75%). Over an academic year, FBs experienced similar growth in expressive vocabulary compared to EMs, both of which showed more growth than EBs, suggesting a bilingual advantage. Peer language skills and DLL composition were positively associated with DLLs' and non-DLLs' language development. Although having more EBs in the classroom lowered peer language skills, the overall influence that proportion of EBs had on children's language development remained positive. These findings shed light on the heterogeneity of DLLs and the complex social process of learning underlying linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms. Educational Impact and Implications StatementThe primary interest of this study was examining the extent to which dual language learners (DLL) and their English monolingual (EM) peers develop their English language skills in the early grades (preschool to Grade 3) under classroom language contexts varying in the degree of cultural and linguistic diversity. We assessed 2,679 children's language skills two times during an academic year. Based on teachers' and parents' reports of the primary home language and English language proficiency, about 12% of the children were classified as fluent bilinguals (DLLs who attained fluent English language proficiency), 13% as emergent bilinguals (EBs; DLLs who have not yet attained fluent English language proficiency), and the rest as EMs. Our findings documented differential language development for subgroups of DLLs and indicated the benefits of interacting with fluent and EB peers in the classroom for the language growth of both DLLs and non-DLLs. This study underscores the importance for educators and policymakers to create linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms as schools continue to grow increasingly diverse.

show abstract

Section: Influence Of Classroom Language Contextssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of classroom language contexts on dual language learners’ language development.

Lin¹,

Jing²,

Lu³

et al. 2023

Journal of Educational Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, students whose classmates had, on average, higher language proficiency concerning general academic vocabulary and comprehension of connectives at the beginning of the school year showed larger learning gains over time. On the one hand, this finding adds to a large body of research that provided evidence for compositional effects for different age groups and domains, including language proficiency (e.g., Becker et al, 2022;Foster et al, 2020;Hanushek et al, 2003;Schmerse, 2021). On the other hand, it extends prior research on inquiry-based science instruction, which typically did not adhere to compositional effects.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

“…As for domain-specific knowledge in elementary school science, some studies reported positive effects of instructional support on students' content knowledge (Fauth et al, 2019) and emphasized the role of specific scaffolding strategies and feedback (e.g., Hardy et al, 2006;Decristan et al, 2015). At the same time, a growing body of research conducted in ECEC settings did not identify instructional support as an important driver of children's language development (e.g., Guerrero-Rosada et al, 2021;Perlman et al, 2016;Schmerse, 2021). Whereas the present findings are basically in line with prior results in terms of language skills, they partly diverge from previous findings on the relationship between instructional support and domain-specific knowledge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, student achievement is related to characteristics of the classroom composition. Thus, students typically show larger learning gains when they are grouped with high-achieving students (Becker et al, 2022;Schmerse, 2021) or with students from families with high socioeconomic status (SES; Rjosk et al, 2014;van Ewijk & Sleegers, 2010). Classroom characteristics are, in turn, associated with instructional processes (Fauth et al, 2021;Kuger et al, 2016;Rjosk et al, 2014).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Instructional support in inquiry-based elementary school science classes: how does it relate to students’ science content knowledge and academic language proficiency?

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Inquiry-based science instruction has been proposed as an optimal learning environment for language-integrated teaching. While its potential for developing both content knowledge and language skills has been shown for students with limited language proficiency, research focusing on mainstream classrooms has mainly considered domain-specific learning. Despite the effectiveness of inquiry-based science instruction for student outcomes, research on the role of specific aspects of instructional quality is limited. Addressing this research gap, the present study investigates the relationship between teachers’ instructional support during inquiry-based science classes and elementary school students’ learning gains in science content knowledge and academic language proficiency. Multilevel regression analyses are based on data from 459 German elementary school students from Grades 3 and 4 who participated in a longitudinal intervention study that took place over one school year. Our findings indicate a strong impact of students’ prior knowledge on learning outcomes and compositional effects for the language-related measures. Relations between teachers’ instructional support, as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta et al., 2008), and students’ learning outcomes did not emerge. In interpreting the results, the overall mediocre quality of teachers’ instructional support needs to be considered.

show abstract

Fostering Early Competence Development Through Home and Preschool Learning Environments—a Summary of Findings from the BiKS-3-18 Study

Lehrl,

Rossbach,

Weinert

2024

Educational Processes, Decisions, and the Development of Competencies From Early Preschool Age to Adolescence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Growing evidence reveals powerful associations between early learning environments and children’s later academic success. Besides the family, which has been shown to be a significant predictor of children’s development, the longer-term benefits of early institutional experiences in the preschool are also of interest, given the high participation rate across all social milieus, and the continuously expanding sector of early childhood education and care. In this paper, we therefore present findings from the study BiKS-3-18 on the short- and long-term effects of early learning environments at home and at preschool on children’s development.The results show that the quality of the home learning environment as well as the quality of the preschool have long term benefits for children’s socio-emotional, language, and mathematical development, although not uniformly for different developmental domains and learning environments. Thereby, the results point to the specificity of environmental impact, as different facets of the learning environments predict different domains of children’s development.

show abstract

Peer Effects on Early Language Development in Dual Language Learners

Cited by 11 publications

References 66 publications

The influence of classroom language contexts on dual language learners’ language development.

The influence of classroom language contexts on dual language learners’ language development.

Instructional support in inquiry-based elementary school science classes: how does it relate to students’ science content knowledge and academic language proficiency?

Fostering Early Competence Development Through Home and Preschool Learning Environments—a Summary of Findings from the BiKS-3-18 Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About