Early language processing skill and school-relevant outcomes in emerging bilingual students

在美国，越来越多的拉丁裔儿童在家里主要说西班牙语，而且只有很少的 当他们进入学校时，他们的英语水平很高。因为这些新出现的双语儿童中有许多来自 较低的社会经济地位背景，他们学习成绩不佳的风险增加。最强的单一关联性 孩子后来在学校取得成功的关键是在幼儿园之前获得的口语技能。具有批判性的问题 公共政策和教育影响是家庭学习第一语言(L1)的环境 有助于形成可能影响第二语言(L2)学习的语言处理技能。我们的 广泛研究幼儿理解口语效率的个体差异 语言的实时研究表明，早期的语言处理效率与语言处理的结果密切相关 一种特定的语言，但这一好处也延伸到重要的学术相关技能，如工作记忆。 此外，儿童早期照顾者-儿童互动的特征塑造了这一关键因素的发展 信息处理技能。在这里，我们寻求将这一重要的研究项目扩展到新兴的西班牙语- 英语双语者，这是美国快速增长和高度脆弱的人口。两项纵向研究 在这里提出的建议提供了一个独特的机会来探索先兆和长期后果 较强的西班牙语早期语言处理能力，询问早期母语处理能力 在学校支持以后的语言、认知、识字和执行功能(EF)技能。在研究I中，来自 我们之前两年参与LWL任务的研究将在一个综合的电池上进行测试 标准化测试时间为5、6、7年(n=90)。两年制西班牙语的个人差异有多大？ 加工效率预测西班牙语以后的结果和新兴的口语或写作技能的增长 英语?早期西班牙语加工的变异是否也与支持独立学习的后期技能有关？ 语言，如EF、工作记忆和推理？在研究II中，100名拉丁裔儿童来自单一语言 说西班牙语的家庭在2岁时参与LWL任务，并参与语言、认知、 2岁、3岁和4.5岁的EF和识字前技能。我们还研究了支持以下内容的学习环境的特征 利用实验室游戏课程和一天的自然主义发展语言处理技能 录音。拥抱这一人群中学习经历的异质性，我们追踪了 接触英语，勾勒出室内和室外体验的数量和质量 这可能会缓和早期处理效率和后期结果之间的关系。我们提出了一个模型 累积风险，即学习环境支持性较差的后进双语者处于 最大的劣势是语言处理技能基础较弱，后来接触到了英语。 这些研究解决了文献中的一个关键差距，并将对调整产生广泛的影响 早期教育政策，以最有效地支持这一不断增长的高危人群中的学习。

An increasing number of Latino children in the US speak primarily Spanish in the home, and have minimal proficiency in English when they enter school. Because many of these emerging bilingual children are from lower-SES backgrounds, they are at increased risk for poor academic outcomes. The strongest single correlate of later success in school is a child’s oral language skills achieved before kindergarten. A question with critical public policy and educational implications is how family learning environments in a first language (L1) contribute to shaping language processing skills that could impact learning in the second language (L2). Our extensive work examining individual differences in the efficiency with which young children understand spoken language in real time has shown that early language processing efficiency is strongly linked to outcomes within a given language, but also that benefits extend to vital academically relevant skills such as working memory. Moreover, features of children’s early caregiver-child interactions shape the development of this critical information processing skill. Here, we seek to extend this important research program to emerging Spanish- English bilinguals, a rapidly growing and highly vulnerable population in the US. The two longitudinal studies proposed here offer the unique opportunity to explore both precursors and long-term consequences of having a strong foundation in early language processing skills in Spanish, asking whether early L1 processing skills support later language, cognitive, literacy and executive function (EF) skills in school. In Study I, children from our previous studies who participated in the LWL task at 2 years will be tested on a comprehensive battery of standardized tests at 5, 6 and 7 years (n=90). To what extent does individual variation in 2-year Spanish processing efficiency predict both later outcomes in Spanish and growth in emerging spoken or written skills in English? Does variation in early Spanish processing also link to later skills that support learning independent of language, such as EF, working memory, and reasoning? In Study II, Latino children (n=100) from monolingual Spanish-speaking families participate in the LWL task at 2 years and in assessments of language, cognitive, EF and pre-literacy skills at 2, 3 and 4.5 yrs. We also examine features of learning environments that support the development of language processing skills using laboratory play sessions and day-long naturalistic recordings. Embracing the heterogeneity of learning experiences in this population, we trace trajectories of exposure to English and delineate the quantity and quality of in-home and outside-the-home experiences which may moderate relations between early processing efficiency and later outcomes. We propose a model of cumulative risk such that late emerging bilinguals with less supportive learning environments are at the greatest disadvantage due to a weak foundation in language processing skill and later exposure to English. These studies address a critical gap in the literature and will have broad-reaching implications for adjusting early education policy to most effectively support learning in this growing and at-risk population.