DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN PRESCHOOL: A MULTI-CASE STUDY ON HOW THE LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTS LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The increase of dual language learners in today’s classrooms have caused serious implications when examining how the country educates children (McWayne, Melzi, Schick, Kennedy, & Mundt, 2013). Because of the cultural and linguistic differences it is essential to study teaching practices at the early childhood level. Examining the educational practices includes studying their language environment and how it supports DLLs’ language development. This study is significant because there is little research on the language environment of DLLs (Atkins-Burnett, Sprachman, López, Caspe, and Fallin, 2011). The present study examined the language environment of dual language learners in four preschool classrooms. This qualitative case study used interviews, observations, and field notes. The participants included two groups, teachers and children. The six English speaking early childhood educators taught in classrooms based on an English-only model. There were 24 focal children, six from each class, who were Hispanic dual language learners. The overarching significant finding that emerged from this study was that of intentionality. In order to scaffold DLLs’ learning and provide a rich language environment, teachers must be intentional in their practices. Being a good teacher does not guarantee that a teacher knows what is appropriate or effective for the DLLs in their class. A major implication for teacher education programs is to offer coursework to ensure preservice teachers have the appropriate training.