This study investigated the changes that occur in mothers' language and interactions with their preschool-aged children who have language difficulties when a Spanish language-based intervention was provided within their homes. The intervention was provided using toys and routines that existed within their homes. Three Spanish speaking mothers of…

Purpose: This longitudinal study assessed continuity and stability of productive language (vocabulary and grammar) and discourse features (turn-taking; asking and responding to questions) during mother-child play. Method: Parent-child language use in 119 Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant mothers and their children at two ages (M = 2.5 and 3.6…

Children learn the words of their native language(s) from interactions with their caregivers. Although previous research has found that the language children hear during those interactions predicts vocabulary outcomes, few studies have investigated how qualitative features of social interactions work together to affect children's vocabulary…

Research Findings: The Latino population within the U.S. is heterogeneous with diversity in education level, country of origin, and English language fluency. Latino children often enter school with limited English language skills. In the current study, we surveyed 448 Latino families of Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican descent regarding their home…

We examined the language practices of five mother-child dyads during a structured play activity, particularly in relation to maternal question use. The study includes second-generation, 4-year-old children of Mexican immigrants who demonstrate either high vocabulary levels in English and Spanish or low levels of vocabulary in both languages.…

This article draws on data from a yearlong case study of a Mexican American ESL teacher's practice in a K-5 school in the southeastern United States. The study examines how the teacher established bilingual interactional space in her ESL pullout class consisting of six 9- to 11-year old students of Mexican descent. The analysis shows the ways in…

Recent studies reveal early and wide gaps in cognitive and oral language skills--whether gauged in English or Spanish--among Latino children relative to White peers. Yet, other work reports robust child health and social development, even among children of Mexican American immigrants raised in poor households, the so-called "immigrant…

Historically, the dominant culture in the United States has, consciously or inadvertently, attempted to assimilate minority cultures -- hence, the term "melting pot". Yet despite several centuries of systematic Americanization, there remains a definite cultural mosaic in the United States. In the post-Melting Pot Era, such terms as…

Three different bilingual, bicultural curriculum, preschool models encouraged children to use three different interaction strategies, but the models had no lasting effects on the children's first grade interactions, according to a year's observation of the communication experiences of 42 Mexican American children of varying English language…

A study investigated the emerging journal-writing skills of 16 monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans and 10 monolingual English-speaking first-graders in San Diego County, California, in a whole-language, two-way bilingual classroom. The research looked for developmental stages in writing in the primary language, similarities or…

ONE METHOD OF ATTEMPTING TO MEET THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ECONOMICALLY OR CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS IS THROUGH A COMMUNITY LIAISON PROGRAM UTILIZING COMMUNITY AIDES TO INFORM THE COMMUNITY OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SCHOOL AND AVAILABLE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, TO INFORM THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY,…