The current U.S. sociopolitical climate has resurfaced long-held ideas associated with public perceptions concerning the Spanish language, Latin@s, and their portrayal in United States society. Amidst this climate, educators face the challenge of creating critical learning spaces for Latin@ bilingual children within multiple boundaries. This case…

Limited research to date has addressed the language socialisation of transnational children during global movement with their parents. The aim of this study was to explore the complexity of language socialisation for a transnational child experiencing a multilingual environment both at home and in preschool. This transnational English- and…

Research Findings: Children's oral language skills lay the foundation for later literacy and can be fostered through responsive conversations with teachers. However, such conversations are rare in preschool, particularly between teachers and dual language learners (DLLs), or students who speak a minoritized language at home. DLLs benefit when…

Purpose: This study describes the language diversity (the within-group variability in dual-language skills) of a sample of Latino dual-language learners (preschoolers, 3-5 years of age) and how language diversity is related to home and classroom factors. Method: A sample of 161 caregivers and their preschoolers participated in this study.…

This study explores the collaborative process that two Korean-English and one Spanish-English bilingual Early Head Start family childcare educators, two instructional coaches, and the author engaged in as they co-created intentional bilingual approaches to supporting young emergent bilinguals. A thematic analysis of the design-based approach of…

Emergent bilinguals (EB) from Spanish-speaking homes are an already large and rapidly growing population in the U.S., yet limited research examines their language environments, particularly in the English dominant contexts where most attend school. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study first quantitatively examines adults' use of Spanish…

Research Findings: Children's oral language skills lay the foundation for later literacy and can be fostered through responsive conversations with teachers. However, such conversations are rare in preschool, particularly between teachers and dual language learners (DLLs), or students who speak a minoritized language at home. DLLs benefit when…

Purpose: Emergent bilinguals (EBs) from Spanish-speaking households are a sizable and quickly growing segment of the preschool population in the United States. However, there is limited research on the provision of opportunities for EBs to engage in language-rich classroom discussion, particularly in English-dominant contexts where most EBs attend…

This work reports, from a qualitative research perspective, the development of an English Corner project for a preschool Children's House classroom in central Mexico over the course of a 3-year period. It shows the transition of a language specialist over six consecutive periods of work, from a traditional understanding and practice of teaching…

This study explores how preschool educators could assess dual language learners' (DLLs) English language abilities using formative instruments in school settings. It specifically examines (1) DLLs' receptive and expressive language proficiencies measured using the instruments and (2) educators' perceived usefulness of them for informing…

Research Findings: We examined the amount of preschool lead/assistant teachers' English/Spanish language use and relations between quality of teacher-child interactions, and Dual Language Learners' (DLLs) English/Spanish bilingual vocabulary in 31 English-medium Head Start classrooms. Measures in this study included (a) children's conceptual…

As colonial legacies, racial dynamics, lingering discrimination, and even violence against Indigenous people and children, especially the Mapuche people (the focus of this study and the largest Indigenous group in the country), continue in Chilean society, research on how their teachers learn and how they perceive their learning has become even…

While current Spanish dual-language immersion (DLI) programme models frequently promote strict adherence to structured Spanish and English times, we present an alternative approach, which frames children as language acquirers rather than as language learners. The approach, situated within a Spanish, DLI preschool, framed with a Reggio-inspired,…

Changing demographics have led to a need for dual language teachers to adjust their pedagogy to best meet the needs of second language learners in dual language programs. However, the development of linguistic and cognitive skills for dual language learners continues to challenge early childhood teachers (Martinez, 2010; García & Kleifgen,…

This report documents feedback obtained at two meetings with Austin Independent School District prekindergarten teachers regarding the dual language (DL) program. Participants were asked to provide input about DL program implementation in the 2015-2016 school year, and to discuss recommendations about proposed changes for the DL program delivery…