Language proficiency in bilingual preschoolers and its relationship to academic achievement
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental-interdependence of language proficiency among bilingual preschoolers exposed to an English-only curriculum. Specifically, this study examined language proficiency in bilingual preschoolers at school entry how that predicts subsequent second language development and academic achievement on both English and Spanish measures. This study confirms that language proficiency in either language at school entry predict academic achievement and language development in the second language after controlling for cognitive ability. However, results indicate that language proficiency does not predict academic achievement in the first language, which has implications for promoting bilingualism. Results of this study revealed the importance of language proficiency and academic achievement among bilingual preschoolers and significant role of bilingualism in academic achievement. Implications for practice and future research were discussed.
Subject Area
Bilingual education|Early childhood education|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Maniatis, Lisette, "Language proficiency in bilingual preschoolers and its relationship to academic achievement" (2009). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3373829.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3373829
