There remains a persistent achievement gap among English learners (ELs) and their English-speaking peers. A typical, native English speaker begins schooling with years of oral language experience in the language of instruction, which provides the required precursors necessary for reading acquisition. The latest research indicates for many ELs,…

According to Diane August (2002), at the Center for Applied Linguistics, Multilingual Learners (MLs) spend less than two percent of their school day in oral language development. Echevarria and Goldenberg (2017) support that creating numerous opportunities for ML students to speak will accelerate their vocabulary and oral language development to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the kindergarten, first-, and second-grade predictors of reading comprehension in bilingual children. Specifically, we evaluated the role that Spanish and English skills play in predicting English reading comprehension in third grade. Method: As part of a longitudinal study, 248 bilingual children…

Spanish-speaking students constitute the largest subgroup of emergent bilingual (EB) students in the United States. Using longitudinal data on a nationally representative sample of Spanish-English EBs, we explore profiles of English reading trajectories and how early individual differences (i.e., early Spanish reading and English oral proficiency)…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd-grade predictors of reading comprehension in bilingual children. Specifically, we evaluated the role that Spanish and English skills play in predicting English reading comprehension in 3rd grade. Method: As part of a longitudinal study, 248 bilingual children were…

This study examines the relationship between English language proficiency outcomes and the use of a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tool that is designed to strengthen the academic English and oral proficiency skills of young English Learners (ELs). We compare scores on a standardized English language proficiency assessment for 2,034…

This systematic review analyzes 20 empirical articles on translanguaging (TL) pedagogies in ESL and EFL contexts. The review is guided by the following questions: "(1) How is TL implemented across different teaching contexts? (2) What are the identified benefits and challenges in the implementation of TL in TESOL? (3) What are the identified…

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine whether English learners who participated in transitional kindergarten perform equally or better than English learners who did not participate in transitional kindergarten in the areas of oral language, written language, and overall language as measured by the…

The study examined the role of phonological awareness and morphological awareness in concurrent and subsequent oral vocabulary among Chinese-English bilingual children who learned Chinese as their heritage language and English as their societal language. Ninety-one Chinese-English bilingual children in kindergarten and Grade 1 who were recruited…

Previous studies have examined the predictive significance of the level of phonemic awareness in L2 spelling, but have left the role of phonemic awareness growth relatively unexplored. The aims of the present study were to examine (1) the growth trajectory of phonemic awareness in the kindergarten years; and (2) the unique contribution of initial…

Articles in this issue examine (1) the primary sources of variability in reading and language achievement among Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) in the United States, (2) the extent to which poor performance at the end of grade 2 is identifiable in developmental trajectories beginning in kindergarten, (3) the relations among core reading…

Oral narrative retelling is a complex linguistic and cognitive task that has been shown to map onto reading fluency and comprehension. Therefore, it is important to understand oral retelling skill, especially among "emergent bilingual" children--those who are learning two languages simultaneously. In this article, exploratory…

This project aimed to describe oral narrative retells of Spanish-English speaking dual language learners (DLLs) and examine relationships with standardized vocabulary assessments. Investigators described oral narrative retells of 145 DLLs in kindergarten and first grade by number of different words (NDW), words per minute (WPM), and…

In this study, we elicited grammatical forms (oral production) from a group of child heritage speakers of Spanish (N = 45) in English and Spanish, using the morphosyntax subtest of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA), (Peña et al. 2014). A cross-sectional design was used with 25 participants in kindergarten and 20 in first grade. All…

Oral narrative retells are rich sources of information for language development. Investigators collected English-language oral narrative retells during the fall and spring from 65 Spanish-English-speaking dual language learners (DLL) in kindergarten and first grade. Investigators examined transcripts of oral narratives for (a) inclusion and…