and Spanish - British Council

Understanding the Reading in English and
Spanish of Four Hispanic Bilingual
First-Graders
Angela M. López-Velásquez, Ph.D.
12th ELT Conference
Bogotá, Colombia
April 2009
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Presentation Overview
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Significance and Purpose
Research questions
Context of Study: Community and School
Theoretical perspectives
Methodology: Data collection & analysis
Findings
Implications
Limitations
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Purpose of the Study
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To understand how young bilingual children interpret
and enact reading and the comprehension of Spanish
and English text
To investigate the strengths and weaknesses of young
bilingual children in relation to their comprehension of
Spanish and English text
To expand our understanding of the impact that home
and school settings have on the reading of young
bilingual children
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Significance
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Young Hispanic bilinguals
Large numbers of Spanish-speaking children and youth nationwide
(79.2%) (Kindler, 2002)
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Interpretations and enactment of biliteracy
(Gregory, 1996; Schwarzer, 2001). Some with older bilingual children
(Jimenez, Garcia & Pearson, 1995, 1996; Jimenez, 1996).
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Reading practices across home and school settings
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Enactment of reading and comprehension in their two
languages
Few studies (Goldman, Reyes, & Varnhagen, 1984)
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Context Overview
Community in US East Coast city (121,578
inhabitants)
„ Capital city, largest city in state
„ Business hub of the state, high crime rate
(related to drugs and gangs)
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City downtown area
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City downtown area
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Three Kings Community
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Working-class neighborhood
Population: Puerto Rican, African
American, immigrants several Hispanic
countries
Languages: Spanish and English widely
used in the city and in Three Kings
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A street in the Three Kings Community
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Business strip in Three Kings
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Public library and business strip across Marco School
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One of the markets in the community, located in the
corner of Marco School
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Library has many books written by
Spanish-speaking authors, and Spanish
translations of English books
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Marco Elementary School
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Marco School
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K-6
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92% Hispanic, majority Puerto Rican
Dual Language Program (DLP) effort
initiated at time of study
Literacy instruction in language of classroom
„ Switch for instruction in the L2
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Research Questions
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What characterizes first-grade bilingual
children’s interpretations of reading?
What characterizes the children’s enactment of
reading in each of the languages and across
the languages?
In what ways did family and instructional
contexts relate to the children’s enactment of
reading in their two languages and their
interpretations of reading?
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Theoretical Perspectives and
Constructs
Sociocultural and Sociocognitive:
cognitive, social, and cultural aspects of literacy development
(Vygotsky, 1962, 1978; Moll, 1990; Langer, 1991; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988).
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Assisted performance (Vygotsky, 1978)Ælearning occurs when
performance is achieved with assistance
Example: Adult and child reading text together in child’s language of weaker
literacy
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Activity settings (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988)Æ Integration of
cognition and context - who, what, where, when, why of
literacy
Example: Adult and child reading a newspaper at home
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Methodology
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Qualitative multiple-case study (Merriam, 1998)
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Ethnographic techniques for data collection
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Interviews, observations, recordings home reading,
dynamic reading assessments, school performance
data
Participants
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Four children and their parents (teachers’ choice)
Two teachers
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Spanish-classroom teacher
English-classroom teacher
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Dominant Home Language
Participants: Home and School
Language Environments
Spanish
Andrea
Nina
English
Juan
Julia
English
Spanish
Language of Classroom Instruction
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Data Analysis
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Conducted analysis simultaneously during data
collection (Merriam, 1998)
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Grouped case studies
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Used constant comparative coding (Glaser, 1992)
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Developed activity settings charts (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988)
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Created analytical charts for reading data
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Confirmed findings through triangulation
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Literacy and Oral Configurations
Dominant Home Language
English
Spanish
English Classroom
Andrea
Proficiency
Literacy Oral
Spanish Classroom
Eng Sp
Nina
English
English
Spanish
Spanish
Juan
Proficiency
Literacy Oral
Eng Sp
Julia
English
English
Spanish
Spanish
KEY
Higher Proficiency
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Proficiency
Literacy Oral
+
Eng Sp
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Proficiency
Literacy Oral
Eng Sp
+
+
Significant Development
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Julia and Nina’s Spanish / English
Reading Instruction
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Findings Overview
Stronger biliteracy through initial literacy instruction in Spanish
Biliteracy shaped identity
High impact of school instruction
Different views of reading
Explicit instruction on comprehension strategies
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Findings 1: Initial literacy instruction in Spanish
results in stronger biliteracy than English-only
instruction regardless of home language
The children who received initial literacy instruction in
Spanish did not sacrifice English literacy attainment by the
end of first grade.
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Julia and Nina:
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Strategy use for comprehension in Spanish and
English
Prosodic features of reading in Spanish (Julia)
Effective decoding and word-segmentation in English
Effective use of phonological awareness in Spanish to
read in English
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Findings 1 (Cont.): Initial literacy instruction in
Spanish results in stronger biliteracy than Englishonly instruction regardless of home language
The children who received English-only literacy instruction
were not better readers in English than the Spanish
classroom children.
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Andrea and Juan:
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Less effective decoders in English than Julia & Nina in
Spanish
Less effective in using their English phonological
awareness to read in Spanish (Juan)
English word-segmentation did not work for Spanish
(but quickly grasped syllabic segmentation after
informal instruction)
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Nina reads Pepita Habla Dos Veces
Play Audio >
Angela: Ok. Para ahí corazón y dime qué
estás pensando.
Angela: Ok. Stop there sweetheart and tell
me what you are thinking.
Nina: que hum…el ma- el maestro Hobbs
hum… le, le dijo a Pepita hum..para que
vinie- vengara a hablarle hum… español.
Nina: that um… the te.. teacher Hobbs um…
said, said to Pepita um… to come to speak
um… Spanish.
Angela: A quién?
Angela: to whom?
Nina: A…a… una señora.
Nina: to… to… a lady.
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Nina reads The Perfect Piñata
Play Audio >
Angela: Ok sweetie, stop there and tell me
what you’re thinking.
Nina: que…hum…que ella hum… fue
hum…fue con su mamá para la tien- para la
tienda de…de cumpleaños para comprar una
piñata.
Angela: Ok sweetie, stop there and tell me
what you’re thinking.
Nina: that… um… that she um… went um…
went with her mother to the st- to the
birthday store to buy a piñata.
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Julia reads Pepita Habla Dos Veces
Text: “Pepita salió corriendo por la tienda de Mr. Hobbs, pero
no pudo escaparse a tiempo. ―Pepita― Mr. Hobbs la llamó.
―Ven para que le hables a esta señora en español. ¡Dime lo
que quiere!”
Angela:
Angela:Que
Queestas
estaspensando
pensandoahora,
ahora,Julia?
Julia?
Julia:
Julia:Yo
Yoestoy
estoypensando
pensandoque…Mr.
que…Mr.Hobbs
Hobbsllamaba
llamabaaaPepi-ta
Pepi-ta
para
paraenseñarle
enseñarleesta
estaseñora
señorapara
parahablar
hablares-pañol
es-pañolyyeleldijo
dijo
¡dime
¡dimeloloque
quequiere!
quiere!
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Julia reads The Perfect Piñata
Text: The butterfly was every color of the rainbow, with a
smiling face. Its wings were magnificent. They could even
flutter like a real butterfly’s wings when you moved the
piñata just right.
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Andrea reads La Piñata Perfecta
Text: “¡Por fin había llegado el día! Hoy, su mamá llevaría a Marisa a la tienda
para escoger la piñata de su fiesta de cumpleaños.”
Andrea: Por fin- [thinks]
A: como es esta palabra? Sabes que la H no suena…qué estás pensando?
A: cuéntame cómo estás tratando de leerla.
Andrea: hum, toy como hum…toy diciendo las letras.
A: muestrame.
Andrea: a-bía.
A: Muy bien!
Andrea: “había-llegado el dia. Hoy-su-mamá-llevaría a Marisa a-la tienda paraA: que estas pensando?
Andrea: Toy pensando de dicir la palabra.
A: muéstrame como lo haces.
Andrea: es-co-/ger/
A: es-co-/her/. La /g/ aquí suena como /h/ como una J sabes por que? Porque
tiene una E adelante. Cuando tiene una A, como la G y la A, suena /ga/. Pero si
es la G y la E suena /he/. Ves? Entonces. Escoger. A la tienda para escoger…
Andrea: “la-piñata-de-su-fiesta.-de-[thinks] cumpleaños.
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Andrea reads Pepita Talks Twice
Text: “Pepita raced by the grocery store that belonged to Mr.
Hobbs, but not fast enough. “Pepita,” Mr Hobbs called.
“Come speak to this lady in Spanish. Tell me what she
wants!”. Pepita did what Mr. Hobbs asked. But deep inside of
her a grumble began.”
Angela:
Angela:Ok,
Ok,let’s
let’sstop
stopthere
thereand
andtell
tellme
mewhat
whatare
areyou
you
thinking?
thinking?
Andrea:
Andrea:I’m
I’mthinking
thinkingthat,
that,that
thatevery,
every,every
everysingle
singleone
onewants
wants
Pepita
Pepitato
tohelp
helpthem.
them.
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Finding 2: School exercises greater impact
than home on Spanish literacy
School Spanish instruction had stronger impact on the children’s
Spanish reading than the instruction of the home alone
Parents valued Spanish
„ Limited instruction in Spanish at home
„ Fear of children not learning English if placed
in Spanish classroom (Andrea)
„ Parents did best to foster Spanish at home,
but school impact was stronger (Julia and
Nina)
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Finding 3: Biliteracy Shaped Identities
Stronger biliteracy shaped their self-perceptions as
bilingual and biliterate individuals.
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Julia and Nina
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Strong and proud, advantage as bilinguals. Effective in using their
knowledge of Spanish to read English
Julia: “Yo sabe* inglés y español”
Nina believed she could read in English
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Andrea and Juan:
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Aware of being bilinguals, did not see themselves as biliterate
children.
Juan: “reading in Spanish is too hard”
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Finding 4: Different oral proficiency, different
views of reading
Bilingual proficiency of the children shaped the ways in
which they approached reading
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Julia: word-driven view of reading
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Nina: focus on global comprehension
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Advantage: understands the purpose of reading
Disadvantage: less analytical of words, not recognizing lexical
relationships between languages
Andrea: focus on recognizing words by memory
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Advantage: learns words from text (retellings);
may have enabled her to recognize cognates
Disadvantage: not always demonstrated comprehension
Advantage : ability to internalize words quickly
Disadvantage : weaker use of graphophonemic knowledge
Juan: reading as decoding
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Challenged in both languages
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Finding 5: Explicit instruction on
comprehension strategies is worthwhile
Children tended to evoke the strategies that incorporated
more explicit instructional features
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Julia and Nina
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evoked 3 reading strategies often when
reading (i.e., prior knowledge, connections to
text and life, predictions)
Julia showed ability to recognize cognates
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Educational Implications
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Recognize the benefits of initial literacy in Spanish and
advocate for Spanish instruction among young Hispanic
bilinguals
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Gain awareness of schools’ impact in children’s biliteracy
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instruction in L2 only determines language shift and promotes
subtractive bilingualism
Tailor instruction based on bilinguals’ views of reading
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fosters additive bilingualism
enables English literacy development
fosters stronger bilingual identities
cultivates child-centered reading instruction
Emphasize explicit instruction of reading comprehension
strategies
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target coordination of comprehension and decoding
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Research Implications
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Investigate biliteracy paths of strong Spanish young
readers after Spanish support is removed
Develop understanding of motivations and attitudes
among families and schools on the biliteracy of young
children
Further investigate influence of language transparency
on the development of biliteracy (using connected text)
Identify influence of word-centered view of reading and
instruction in cross-linguistic transfer among young
bilinguals
Clarify implementation of comprehension instruction with
young bilingualsÆ curriculum, materials, instructional
practices
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Thank You !
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