Peer Interaction, Language Proficiency, and Language Preference in Bilingual Preschool Classrooms

Abstract

Classroom interactional patterns by language choice and speech partner of six 4-year-old Spanish-preferring children enrolled in a bilingual preschool were observed over the course of 1 year. It was found that those children who used relatively more English with peers in the classroom and who increased their English usage over time generally showed the greatest increases in English proficiency as measured by mean length of utterance. Rank order correlations of increased language proficiency and various measures of classroom interaction suggest that interaction with peers who speak English relates directly to second-language proficiency and that there is a closer relationship between children's interactional patterns with peers than between such patterns with teachers in regard to increased second-language proficiency. In addition, increased proficiency in English led to a change in language preference in the context of the preschool classroom.

The Influence of Teachers and Peers on Second Language Acquisition in Bilingual Preschool Programs

“…Although she suggests that the linguistic composition of the class may influence the role of teachers and peers in providing input in English, she does not empirically examine the interactions of individual learners. Our own findings (Barrows Chesterfield et al 1982) of consistently high correlations between the use of English with peers and increased English language proficiency among Spanish-speaking preschoolers lend support to Fillmore's contention about the value of peer interaction in learning a second language. As our study was limited to classrooms in which English-speaking children predominated, however, it told us nothing of the effect of the linguistic composition of the class on the importance of interacting with peers.…”

Variations in Classroom Language Environments of Preschool Children Who Are Low Income and Linguistically Diverse

“…Studies that have an explicit focus on describing the language environment of DLLs also find similar non-optimal results (Atkins-Burnett et al, 2011; Burchinal et al, 2012; Chesterfield, Chesterfield, & Chavez, 1982; Jacoby & Lesaux, 2014; Layzer & Maree, 2011; Sonnenschein et al, 2013). For instance, Sonnenschein and colleagues (2013) assessed 25 preschool classrooms that enrolled large numbers of Spanish-English DLLs using the language modeling scale of the CLASS.…”

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Hispanic Youth: A Study of Communication Patterns, Functional Fitness, and Psychological Health

“…Moreover, prolonged confinement to bilingual programs during the school day physically isolated immigrant students from the rest of the student body (Kao, 1999), decreasing their opportunities for development of interpersonal relationships with host culture students. In light of findings by Chesterfield, Chesterfield, and Chavez (1982), which demonstrate that interaction with peers who speak English is more strongly associated with second-language acquisition than interaction with teachers, structural isolation impacts on development at both the interpersonal and linguistic skill levels. With regard to both low efficaciousness and social isolation, Kao found extensive use of a non-English language in the home to most affect the adaptation of Hispanic immigrant adolescents (1999).…”