Research Findings: Shared book reading is important for children's early literacy development. Although there is an increasing number of dual language learners, few studies have examined families' shared book reading practices in their two languages. The current study examined Hispanic parents' beliefs and practices during shared reading in…

This article examines caregivers' everyday language choices and interactions with children in an urban Zapotec community in Mexico, where Diidxazá is being displaced by Spanish in everyday use. It argues that caregivers' language choices and interactions get entangled in complex ways with the socio-cultural organization of everyday life and with…

To promote children's language development through designs that consider familial contexts, the authors explored the effectiveness of a dialogic reading intervention customized for older siblings in immigrant Latino families. The dialogic reading intervention, developed with components of training, modeling, and coaching, systematically supported…

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…

Teachers' sharing of picture books is a quintessential activity in early childhood classrooms, and has been found to be predictive of children's language and literacy skill development. Although most research, to date, has focused on the manner in which preschool teachers share text-based books with their students, recent work has recommended that…

The study adopts a naturalistic perspective, looking at the relationship between socio-economic status (SES), activities and variation sets in child-directed speech (CDS) to Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers. It aims to determine the effect of SES and type of activity on the proportion of words and utterances in variation sets and on the…

Task-based language teaching and interaction are facilitative contexts for instructed second language acquisition and include abundant opportunities for learners to receive authentic input, engage in negotiation for meaning and pushed output, and to receive feedback and direct attention to linguistic features (Goo, 2019, p. 247). Individual…

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…

The following research investigates the effect that unprescribed conversation with native speakers of the target language had on learners' L2 listening comprehension skills at the beginning (n=21) and advanced intermediate levels of Spanish (n=27). Treatment groups completed two-thirty-minute conversations with native speakers via…

Evidence-based treatments for young children with developmental language delays include caregiver-implemented naturalistic interventions. However, there is little research on culturally appropriate interventions for Spanish-speaking caregivers from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households and their young children with identified language delays.…

Research Findings: Preschool is a critical period during which children's development and learning exert a long-lasting impact on their school adjustment and academic outcomes. Although research on monolingual English-speaking children has identified elements of high-quality preschool experiences that can serve as the foundation for teaching all…

Teachers are the critical component of students' success in the classroom (NRC 2001), but families are the critical component of student success at home. When families and teachers develop strong relationships and build trust with each other, students benefit (Henderson and Mapp 2002). This is especially true in communities where home culture is…

Using a nationally representative sample of 3- and 4-year-old Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) attending Head Start (N = 654), this study examined whether mean levels of and variability in peers' English receptive vocabulary skills were associated with DLLs' English and Spanish receptive vocabulary skills in the spring. In addition,…

This article presents a basic interpretive qualitative study that examined how two students, a dominant Spanish speaker (Joel) and a dominant English speaker (Carter) used languages during their microinteractions in pair work in a dual language kindergarten classroom. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between language…

This article synthesizes multiple studies that we have conducted on language and literacy practices among Latinx siblings at home, and identifies implications for teaching. Examples from micro-ethnographic discourse analyses provide rich vignettes of sibling interactions within Mexican and Central American immigrant households to illustrate how…