Abstract:

Emergent bilingual children represent the largest and fastest growing population in U.S. schools today. An extensive amount of research has demonstrated the important role of English proficiency in predicting the long-term academic achievement of these students. However, research on dual language children has overwhelmingly focused on the development of only English with much less consideration of home languages. Research has evidenced substantive links between children’s language competence and school success, but these relations have yet to be fully examined in bilingual children. Children’s language proficiency (e.g., vocabulary knowledge, phonological processing, syntax, and listening comprehension) are closely associated with later academic success therefore requires unique consideration.
It is imperative we better understand how early bilingual language abilities contribute to their later academic achievement.

We aim to extend current knowledge about the relation between early language abilities and later academic outcomes to address the following research question:
1) After considering sociodemographic factors, does the English and Spanish proficiency of Latino children of immigrants at kindergarten predict their academic achievement in later elementary school years?

This study investigates the English and Spanish oral proficiency of 228 Latino children of immigrants at kindergarten as predictors of their academic performance in third through sixth grade. Children’s English and Spanish skills were directly assessed using the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery–Revised, and achievement outcomes were obtained from state English Language Arts (ELA) and Math standardized exams (MCAS).

Linear regression models controlling for poverty, gender, and maternal education demonstrated that English and Spanish proficiency at kindergarten significantly predicted ELA and Math performance across all four grade levels. English proficiency predicted scores on English MCAS scores at 3rd (β = .42; p < .001), 4th (β = .45; p < .001), 5th (β = .41; p < .001), and 6th (β = .39; p < .001) grade. After considering English, Spanish proficiency at Kindergarten significantly predicted English MCAS scores at 3rd (β = .22; p < .001), 4th (β = .26; p < .001), 5th (β = .27; p < .001), and 6th (β = .24; p < .001) grade. Overall, the predictors of these models significantly accounted for moderate percentages (R2s = .27-.33) of variability in the outcome measures.

Similar results were demonstrated for English and Spanish proficiency predicting children’s later performance on Math MCAS scores at 3rd (β = .37; p < .001), 4th (β = .38; p < .001), 5th (β = .35; p < .001), and 6th (β = .42; p < .001) grade. After considering English, Spanish proficiency at Kindergarten significantly predicted English MCAS scores at 3rd (β = .22; p < .001), 4th (β = .17; p < .05), 5th (β = .27; p < .001) grade. Overall, the predictors of these models significantly accounted for moderate percentages (R2s = .22-.28) of variability in the outcome measures.

Findings demonstrate that both English and Spanish proficiency at school entry are meaningful predictors of long-term academic outcomes, drawing attention to the developmental and educational value of supporting dual language abilities. This work supports evidence-based practices and policies that leverage emergent bilingual children’s full linguistic repertoire to promote equitable academic success.

Keywords:

Bilingualism, immigrant, academic achievement, language development.