Facts In Action

Many schools across the country are experiencing an increase in the number of students who do not speak English. Teaching a group of linguistically diverse students can be challenging, particularly when the teachers do not speak all of the languages represented in their classrooms. A recent study published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education (JRCE) explored one way teachers can boost the literacy skills of diverse students — through the use of books in the students' native languages.

Many researchers have found that providing age-appropriate, high-quality literature written in a young child's native language fosters the development of pre-literacy skills and promotes language acquisition. In addition, numerous studies suggest that success and proficiency in one language directly contributes to success and proficiency in another language. Unfortunately, many children in the United States who do not speak English have limited access to books in their native language.

In the JRCE study, researchers compared the literacy skills of 25 English-speaking kindergarteners who were exposed to books in English, 26 Spanish-speaking kindergarteners who were exposed to books in English, and 26 Spanish-speaking kindergarteners who were exposed to books in Spanish. At the end of the school year, the Spanish-speaking children who were exposed to books in Spanish performed better on a test of pre-literacy skills than did Spanish-speaking children who only had English books.

In addition, the test scores of Spanish speaking children who had books in Spanish were similar to the scores of English speaking children who had books in English. These results reveal the importance of exposing young children to age-appropriate literature in the child's native language, to boost pre-literacy skills in both their native language and English.

Source:
The Effects of Native Language Books on the Pre-Literacy Skill Development of Language Minority Kindergarteners, D. R. Hancock, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 2002.

For more information:
contact: Association for Childhood Education International, 17904 Georgia Ave, Suite 215, Olney, Maryland 20832, by phone at (800) 423-3563, or online at http://www.udel.edu/bateman/acei/jrce.htm.

Facts in Action, March/April 2003