The present study examined the acquisition of Spanish grammatical gender in 22 bilingual children (aged 5;0 to 13;5 years; Med=9;4 years; STD=2.3) who were born and raised in the United States and acquired Spanish as heritage speakers--that is, they learned Spanish, the minority language, in a home setting (Valdes, 2001). Each of the child…

There is a significant lack of research on the participation of Deaf student athletes in sports, particularly within Deaf-centric environments where American Sign Language (ASL) is the primary language. This study addresses this gap by documenting and recognizing the unique experiences of Deaf student athletes at Gallaudet University, the world's…

Latinx families, particularly those whose primary language is Spanish, are significantly underrepresented in independent schools nationwide and experience barriers to engaging in their children's education. Recognizing the crucial role of parent engagement in student academic success and socioemotional well-being, this research aimed to understand…

In the decades since the formal end of colonialism in Africa, classrooms have become a crucial space where students and teachers negotiate issues of identity, agency, and self-determination. One key area in which this struggle has been engaged is the role of language in education and whether it can be a tool for both academic discourses and…

This study explored the long-term academic impact of Two-Way Dual Language (TWDL) programs on both English-dominant and Spanish-dominant Hispanic students in a high-density Hispanic area. Specifically, it compared their academic performance in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math over a 3-year period to that of students enrolled in traditional…

This study explores the experiences of second-generation Latine adolescents by examining the impact of bilingualism on self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Drawing on Suarez-Orozco and colleagues' (2018) model, this study shows the multifaceted acculturation process, emphasizing linguistic acculturation as crucial for navigating two cultures. The…

With the increasing prevalence of autism diagnoses globally, the overall aim of this dissertation is to improve our understanding of the linguistic aptitude of autistic individuals. Given that the autism diagnosis is a spectrum, we rely on the Autism Quotient (AQ) test, which measures the quantity of autistic-like traits an individual possesses,…

Bilingual children, the majority of whom are Spanish-English learners, now constitute over a third of the preschool population in the United States (Migration Policy Institute, 2021). Bilingual children and their families face multiple barriers to high-quality early childhood education, which are largely due to the underutilization of culturally…