Average Change in Sentence Repetition by Spanish-English Speaking Children: Kindergarten to First Grade

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

Y

16

Institute of Education Sciences (ED)

R305A130460

Kindergarten; Grade 1; Elementary School Students; Preschool Children; Sentences; Repetition; Spanish; Bilingual Students; Syntax; Morphology (Languages); Second Language Learning; Verbal Ability; Vocabulary; Low Income Students; Accuracy; Language Proficiency; English (Second Language); Language Usage; Family Environment; Parent Background; Educational Attainment; Occupations; Nonverbal Ability; Cognitive Ability

10.1080/13670050.2017.1308310

1367-0050

Purpose: This study aimed to describe change in dual language learners' (DLLs) morphosyntactic skills from kindergarten to first grade based on a sentence repetition task in English and Spanish. Methods: The sample included Spanish-English speaking children (n = 25). Investigators employed a repeated measures analysis of variance with one within-subjects effect (time). Results: Overall there was a significant difference in sentence repetition accuracy between time points showing growth in English (p < 0.001, d = 1.24), and no significant change in Spanish. Results highlight malleable English grammatical forms (e.g. conditional (if-then); question inversion of auxiliaries; and subordinating conjunctions) and forms that remained challenging for DLLs in first grade (e.g. irregular past). Conclusion: Findings support the use of a sentence repetition task as a progress monitoring tool for young DLLs. Highlighted grammatical errors may be informative for planning intensified instructional support in kindergarten and first grade. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED588804.]

As Provided

Yes

2019

EJ1223507