Using multilevel modeling, this study examined the specific ways teachers use students’ home language (Spanish) in their various verbal exchanges in the classroom (i.e., giving directions, requesting language, providing and eliciting contextualized information, and providing and eliciting decontextualized information). These conversations with Latine DLLs, as measured by the Language Interaction Snapshot, uniquely contributed to students’ language and social skills at the end of the Head Start academic year. Results revealed statistically significant relations between teachers’ Spanish talk and DLLs’ social outcomes. Specifically, teachers’ Spanish talk with DLLs and DLLs’ initial English and Spanish skills were positively associated with the latter’s interactive peer play behaviors, whereas DLLs’ initial English skills were negatively associated with their disconnected peer play behaviors. (author abstract)
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Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States