Early Dual Language Development in Children from Spanish-Speaking Families

描述（由申请人提供）：拟建项目的目的是为西班牙语家庭的儿童提供基于经验的学前口语和识字前技能发展的理解。来自西班牙语家庭的孩子在入学时的语言技能变化很大，而且很难理解。关于双语发展的过程和结果的知识基础不足以设计最有效的教育计划，也不足以使儿童与他们需要的计划相匹配。目前，关于学校双语学习者的信息比影响他们入学准备的因素更多。这项计划的方法是对120名美国儿童进行为期两年半的纵向研究，这些儿童的父母中有一位或两位以西班牙语为母语，对照组是60名只会说英语的儿童。从2岁半到5岁，每隔6个月，就会对孩子的环境特征和他们在家庭内外的语言体验进行详细的评估。在第一年，将根据录像记录的照顾者与儿童的互动，评估照顾者以儿童为导向的言语的数量和质量（双语学习者使用两种语言）。在每个评估点，将使用标准化测试、研究者开发的工具和自发语音样本来评估儿童的接受和表达语言和语言技能（双语学习者使用两种语言）。分析的具体目的是：(1)描述和预测西班牙语-英语双语学习者和单语英语学习者在2岁半至5岁期间的言语和语言发展轨迹；(2)确定双语学习者在4岁和5岁时成功双语能力的预测因素和低水平双语成就的风险指标；(3)预测双语学习者在5岁时的识字前技能。在美国，越来越多的孩子生活在讲西班牙语的家庭，这使得他们的学业成绩成为一个公共卫生问题。据估计，美国有3500万个家庭说西班牙语，许多在家里听英语以外的语言的孩子到了上学年龄，英语语言技能水平很低。教育英语水平有限的孩子的成本比每个孩子的平均成本高出90%。尽管花了这么多钱，但从统计数据来看，英语技能有限的孩子学业成绩低的风险很大，随之而来的还有许多负面后果。改善这些结果的努力受到目前对早期双语发展过程缺乏科学理解的阻碍。拟议的研究结果将为支持大部分国家儿童的入学准备和最终学业成功的计划和实践提供科学基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of the proposed project is to provide an empirically-based understanding of preschool oral language and preliteracy skill development in children from Spanish-speaking families. The language skills that children from Spanish-speaking homes present at school entry are highly variable and poorly understood. The knowledge base regarding the processes and outcomes of dual language development is inadequate either to design maximally effective educational programs or to match children to the programs they need. There is currently more information available on dual language learners in school than on the factors that shape their readiness for school. The method of the proposed project is a 2 1/2- year longitudinal study of 120 children in the U.S. who have one or two native Spanish-speaking parents and a control group of 60 monolingual English-learning children. At 6-month intervals from the age of 2 1/2 to 5 years, detailed assessments will be made of properties of the children's environments and their language experiences inside and outside the home. In the first year, assessments will be made of the quantity and quality of caregivers' child-directed speech (in both languages for the dual language learners) based on videorecorded caregiver-child interaction. At each assessment point, the children's receptive and expressive speech and language skills (in both languages for the dual language learners) will be assessed using standardized tests, investigator-developed instruments, and spontaneous speech samples. The specific aims of the analyses are (1) to describe and predict trajectories of speech and language development in Spanish-English dual language learners and monolingual English learners from 2 1/2 to 5 years, (2) to identify, among dual language learners, predictors of successful bilingual proficiency at ages 4 and 5 and indicators of risk for low levels of dual language achievement, and (3) to predict preliteracy skills in dual language learners at age 5 years. The large and growing number of children in the U.S. who live in Spanish-speaking homes makes their academic achievement a public health concern. An estimated 35 million households in the U.S. speak Spanish, and many children who hear a language other than English at home reach school age with low levels of English language skills. The cost of educating children with limited English proficiency is as much as 90% greater than the average cost per child. Despite that expenditure, children with limited English skills are statistically at risk for low academic achievement and its many attendant negative consequences. Efforts to improve these outcomes are hampered by the currently poor scientific understanding of the process of early dual language development. The results of the proposed research will provide a scientific foundation for programs and practices to support the school readiness and ultimate academic success of a substantial portion of the nation's children. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research is designed to identify protective and risk factors related to the development of school readiness in Spanish-English dual language learners. The findings will provide a scientific basis for identifying children at risk for school failure and for designing programs to optimize academic achievement in a substantial segment of the nation's children.