This comparative study examines relationships between phonemic awareness and Spanish reading skill acquisition among three groups of Spanish-speaking first and second graders: children in Mexico receiving reading instruction in Spanish and children in the United States receiving reading instruction in either Spanish or English. Children were…

This study examined how emergent bilingual children's English and Spanish proficiencies moderated the relationships between Spanish and English input at home (bilingual home language input [BHLI]) and children's oral language skills in each language. The sample comprised over 1,400 Spanish-dominant kindergartners in California and Texas. BHLI was…

Home language experiences are important for children's development of language and literacy. However, the home language context is complex, especially for Spanish-speaking children in the United States. A child's use of Spanish or English likely ranges along a continuum, influenced by preferences of particular people involved, such as parents,…

Drawing on data from 14 communities in California and Texas, this paper examines the variability in language and literacy resources across communities with large numbers of Latino families. Spanish-speaking children live in communities that vary considerably with respect to language use, ethnic composition and education levels. Children's…

This study examined the reading performance on the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery--Revised (WLPB-R), in Spanish and English, of 183 Spanish-speaking students in kindergarten through grade 2 in 3 schools with 4 instructional programs for English learners: structured English immersion, transitional bilingual, developmental bilingual, and dual…

This article examines language and literacy use in two communities in which Spanish-speaking children live and attend school, documenting the confounding of socioeconomic status, ethnic density, and access to Spanish language and print. Drawing on community observations and interviews with parents and children in a yearlong ethnographic study, we…