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NewResearchandRecommendationsfortheDualLanguageLearnerEarlyEducationFieldLAURIEOLSEN,PH.D.

ADVANCEMENTPROJECTBIRTHTOFIVEWATERCOOLER

MAY22,2017

PolicyContext

ESSA

ReleasedFebruary

2017

Peer-reviewed

“evidence-based”

consensusofamulti-

disciplinary

committeeofexperts

Includesfindingsand

recommendations

StatementofTask

BirthtoAge8Focus:

Thisfocusareaisonthefoundationalelementsoflanguagedevelopment,developmentalprogress,schoolentry,andpracticesforearlyschoolsuccessforyoungchildrenwhoareDualLanguageLearners.

K-12Focusarea:

Thisfocusareaisgroundedinelucidatinginstructionalpracticesandstructuralfactors,includingduallanguageapproachesthatcanhelpEL/DLLslearnbothgrade-levelcontentaswellasmoredemandingEnglishlanguageproficiencystandards.

AWordonTerminology

Youngchildrenagedbirthto5– “DualLanguageLearners”or“DLLs.”

Childrenaged5orolderorinthePreK-12educationsystem– “EnglishLearners”or“ELs.”

Theentiregroup(birthto21)– “DLLs/ELLs.”

“DualLanguagePrograms”areprogramsthatusebothlanguagesandaimtodevelopbothlanguages

WhytheReport?EducatingDLLs/ELLseffectivelyisanationalchallengewithconsequencesbothforindividualsandforAmericansociety.

Theyconstituteasignificantandincreasingproportionofpopulation.

ManyEnglishLearnersstruggletomeetrequirementsforacademicsuccess,facebarrierstoeducationalprogress,andlagbehindEnglishmono-lingualpeersineducationalachievementandattainment.

RelativetootherU.S.children,DLL/ELsarefarmorelikelytoliveinpovertyandinfamilieswithlowlevelsofparentaleducation.

National:NewImmigration

47.1

29.5

12.5

6.24.7

Regionsoforigin

Asia LatinAmerica Europe Africa Other

Nationally,41%offoreign

bornchildrenwhoareELLsare

fromMexico,followedby

4.5%fromChina.

CaliforniaDemographicsChildrenofImmigrants:Almosthalf(49.1%)ofCaliforniachildren0-8haveoneormoreforeignbornparents(U.S.Census2015report).

EnglishLearnersare33%ofenteringKindergartners.

Twooutoffive(42.3%)CaliforniaschoolchildrenK-12speakalanguageotherthanEnglishathome.

Oftheapproximately1million3-4yearoldsinCalifornia,45%liveinlow-incomefamilies.Ofthose,73%liveinfamilieswheresomeorallspeaklanguagesotherthanEnglish.

DiversityWithinThisPopulation

Everymajorracial/ethnicgroupisrepresented

IncludesbothU.S.andforeign-bornfromeverycorneroftheglobe.

MostinCaliforniacomefromLatinAmericaandAsia,withMexicoasleadingcountryoforigin.

MostoftheState’sELsSpeakSpanishatHome

10

84%

2%

1%

1%

1%

1%

9%

Spanish

Vietnamese

Mandarin

Filipino

Arabic

Cantonese

Other*Korean,Hmong,

Punjabi,Russianand

54otherlanguages

94%speakone

oftop10

languages

84%speak

Spanishathome

DLL/EnglishLearnersAreinAllPartsoftheState

11

PromisingFutures

AboutDualLanguageLearners

PromisingandEffectiveEarlyCareandEducationPractices

TheDevelopmentofEnglishLanguageProficiencyinGradesK-12

PromisingandEffectivePracticesforEnglishLearnersinGradesPreK-12

PromisingandEffectivePracticesforSpecificPopulationsofEnglishLearners

PromisingandEffectivePracticesinAssessment

BuildingtheWorkforce

Recommendations

GuidingPrinciple

Policycontexts:National,stateandlocalpolicies,includingthosegoverningstandards,instructionalpractices,educatorpreparation,andassessmentmethods,determinetheeducationalopportunitiesforELLs.

Capacity:Allchildrenhavethecapacitytolearn2+languagesifgivenappropriateopportunities.Fulfillmentofthiscapacitycanbeaccomplishedwithnoharmandhasbenefits.

GuidingPrinciple

Importanceofearlyexperience: ForDLLs/ELLs,early,richdevelopmentofthechild’sfirstlanguageisabeneficialfoundationforlearningEnglishinschool.

GuidingPrinciple

NotSeparate– butInterconnected!

ResearchFindings:

StronghomelanguagesupportslearningEnglish.

Learningtwolanguagesisassociatedwithimprovedcognition,executivefunctionandsocialinteractions.

Earlyexposuretoasecondlanguageisconsistentlyassociatedwithbetterlanguageskillsinthesecondlanguage.

Thequalityandquantityofinputbygoodlanguagemodelsisimportanttosecondlanguagedevelopment.

LanguageLoss

“ELLsareatriskoflosingtheirL1whenexposuretoEnglishbeginsearly– duringthepreschoolorearlyschoolyears;thisistrueevenwhenstudentsareinduallanguageprograms.LossorreducecompetenceintheL1resultsinreducedlevelsofbilingualcompetenceand,commensurately,theadvantagesassociatedwithbilingualism– cognitiveenhancements,improvedself-esteem,competenceinEnglishandotherlanguages,andjob-relatedopportunities”.

AdvantagesofBilingualismImprovedexecutivefunctionskills

Communicativecompetence

Comparablevocabularywhenbothlanguagesareconsidered

Strongsocialskills

Possibledelayofonsetofdementia/Alzheimer’s

Socio-culturalbenefitsandstrengthenedfamilyconnections

Strongeridentitydevelopment

Lateracademicbenefits- metalinguisticskillsbolsterliteracyoverall

Laterlabormarket/economicbenefits

“Whatisknownabouthigh-qualityECEingeneralisthefoundationforeffectivepracticesforDLLs.However,thatbasichigh-qualityECEinstructionmustbeenhancedtomeettheuniquelinguisticanddevelopmentalneedsofDLLs.”

ImplicationsforPractice

Investintheearlyyearsandhigh-qualitysystemsofeducation.

AND

PreschoolDLLsneedsystematicexposuretoEnglishNOTattheexpenseofdevelopmentofthehomelanguage.

SystematicexposuretoEnglishandongoingsupport/developmentofL1isCRITICAL.

Languageofinstruction:Highqualitylanguageexperiencesandsupportinmasteringbothoftheirlanguages(Noclearresearchrecommendinghowmuchandwhattypeofsupportforeachlanguageismosteffectiveinsupportingbilingualdevelopment).

Orallanguageskillsandvocabularyareprimaryfocus– (althoughtheypresentdifferentlyforDLLsthanformonolingualstudents).

Instructionalaccommodationsandenhancements– forcomprehensionandparticipation.

Assessmentpracticesthattakeintoconsiderationbothlanguages.

Teacher/providerqualificationsandlanguageabilitiesforDLLs.

Home-schoolcollaborationpractices.

GuidingPrinciple

Languagelearningisaculturalandsociallyembeddedprocess.Familiesandcommunities,otherinstitutionsaswellasschoolsareinfluentialinthelanguagedevelopmentandeducationalattainmentofDLLs/ELLs.

Childrendevelopandusetheirlanguageskillsandcapacitiesinthecontextofsocialrelationshipsandculturalnorms.Understandingandaddressingthesociallearningcontextstranscendsanexclusivefocusonlanguageskills.

Familyengagement

Familyengagementhaspositivebenefitsonlanguageproficiency,socialskills,testscores,andhighereducationalenrollmentresults.

OutreachonthepartofECEprograms,schoolsandstaffiscritical– andtwo-waycommunication.

Engagefamiliesinsupportingtheirchildren’sdevelopment(includinghomelanguagedevelopment)athome.

Addressthebilingual/biculturalneedsofDLLfamilies.

ComplexityandCascades:Languageisacomplexsystem,takestimetodevelop,andhascascadingeffectsacrossdomainsofthewell-beingofchildrenandyouth.

GuidingPrinciple

BridgingEarlyLearningtoElementaryEducation:Alignment,ArticulationPreK-3

Importanceofalignment,articulationandconsistencyoflanguagedevelopmentacrossthesystemsandage/grade/developmentalspan

P-3initiativesalignstandards,curriculum,instructionandlanguageapproach

ESSAdirectsstatestoforgecloserconnectionsbetweenearlylearningandK-3

SEALprogramexample

PromisingPracticesBridgingECEandK-3Emphasisonorallanguageasfoundationofliteracy

Explicitinstructiononkeyaspectsofliteracy

Integrationoflanguagedevelopmentandcontentlearning

Visualaidsandsupportstomakecontentcomprehensible

Facilitatepeer-engagedlearning

Buildonhome-language,knowledgeandculturalassets

Smallgroupopportunitiesandsupporttoenhanceparticipationandresponsivenessandtargetscaffoldsforcomprehension

Recommendation

“BecauseoneofthegreatestchallengesintheeducationofDLLs/ELsistheopposingviewheldbysocietyatlargeandmanyeducationalprofessionalsaboutwhetherduallanguagelearningshouldbesupportedearlyinachild’sdevelopmentandlaterinclassrooms,andamajorbarriertoimplementationofbestpracticesisduetofears,misunderstandingsandcompetingattitudesaboutthebenefitsofbilingualismandduallanguagelearning”,thereportrecommendssocialmarketing

campaigns aboutchildren’sinnatecapacitytobecomebilingualandthebenefitsofbilingualism.

Recommendation

StateagenciesandorganizationsthatfundandregulateprogramsandservicesforDLLsshouldprovideinformationabouttherangeofvalidassessmentmethodsandtoolsforDLLs/ELsandguidelinesfortheirappropriateuse.

Recommendations(selected)

InvestintheWorkforce!

Fosterassessmentliteracy– abilitytounderstandandinterpretresultsofacademicassessmentsadministeredtoDLLs/Els.

PreparationofteacherstoworkeffectivelywithDLLs/ELs(understandinglanguagedevelopment,influencesofsocioculturalfactorsonlanguagelearning,effectivepractices,assessmentapproaches,skillsforrespectfulpartnershipswithfamiliesofDLLs,skillstoadvocateonbehalfofDLLs/ELLs).

FINDOUTMORE

www.nas.edu/ELPromisingFutures#ELPromisingFutures