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English Language Learners and Literacy Development

A dramatic growth in immigrant population in the United States has begun to alter the landscape for State and local policy-makers and administrators. This demographic trend has major implications for early care and education programs since children in immigrant families are the fastest growing segment of the Nation’s child population. Most of these children do not use English as their home language, often learning English as a second language in school and child care settings. English language learners experience many challenges in developing reading skills in the early grades, which can have a long lasting impact on their ability to learn in later years.

The following selected publications have information for early care and education professionals who help English language learners develop language and literacy skills.

Federal Publications

• “Ensuring the Academic Success of English Learners” (Summer 2006), in the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute, Vol. 15 No. 4, by Olsen Laurie, provides an overview of the current research being conducted regarding English language learners and outlines strategies that educators can use to help them achieve academic mastery. This resource is available on the Web at http://lmri.ucsb.edu/publications/newsletters/v15n4.pdf.
• “Second-Language Acquisition and Bilingualism at an Early Age and the Impact on Early Cognitive Development” (February 2006), in the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, by Ellen Bialystock, for the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, presents research findings about bilingual education to answer questions about whether bilingualism can impact the cognitive development of bilingual children. This resource is available on the Web at www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/BialystokANGxp.pdf.
• “English Language Learners” (2005), in Head Start Bulletin, No. 78, by the Head Start Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), includes articles about research-based instructional strategies that support first and second language acquisition. There also are descriptions of Head Start programs that successfully serve diverse populations. This resource is available on the Web at www.headstartinfo.org/publications/hsbulletin78/cont_78.htm.
• English Language Learner Students in U.S. Public Schools: 1994 and 2000 (August 2004), Issue Brief No. 35, by National Center for Education Statistics, uses data from the 1993-1994 and 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey to examine recent growth in the population of English language learners in public schools in the United States. This resource is available on the Web at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/2004035.pdf.
• “Language and Literacy for All Children” (2002), in Head Start Bulletin, No. 74, by Patton O. Tabors, published by the Head Start Bureau, ACF, HHS, examines what researchers can recommend to teachers who are working in the early childhood classroom with children from diverse linguistic backgrounds to help the children develop language and literacy abilities, including alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, book and print concepts, vocabulary knowledge, and discourse skills. This resource is available on the Web at www.headstartinfo.org/publications/hsbulletin74/hsb74_04.htm.
• Organizations with Information on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Practices for Early Care and Education, compiled by the National Child Care Information Center, a service of the Child Care Bureau,includes information about selected organizations that provide resources to assist professionals in serving children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This resource is available on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/orginfo-culturelinguistic.html.
• Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching,compiled by the National Child Care Information Center, a service of the Child Care Bureau, includes a list of selected resources that provide information about culturally and linguistically responsive teaching for professionals working with children from diverse backgrounds. This resource is available on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/clrteaching.html.

Additional Publications

• “The Importance of Family Engagement: Preschool Issues Concerning English Language Learners and Immigrant Children” (December 2004), a Preschool Brief, by Children Now, outlines research findings that highlight some of the challenges in and effective strategies for engaging culturally and linguistically diverse families in their young children’s education. This resource is available on the Web at www.childrennow.org/assets/pdf/issues_preschool_familyengagement_report.pdf.
• “Researching English Language and Literacy Development in Schools” (April 2004), by Margaret R. Hawkins, in the Educational Researcher, Vol. 33, No. 3, by the American Educational Research Association, presents research about second language acquisition in classrooms and school environments where English is the language of instruction. It addresses what the field knows and does not know regarding schooling and instructional designs for English language learners. This resource is available on the Web at www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Journals_and_Publications/Journals/Educational_Researcher/Volume_33_No_3/03ERv33n3-Hawkins.pdf.
• What Works? Promising Practices for Improving the School Readiness of English Language Learners (2004), by the Ready at Five Partnership, presents a framework of promising practices for States, jurisdictions, programs, and parents on how to improve the school readiness of children who are English language learners. This resource is available on the Web at www.readyatfive.org/flash.html.
• The Young Child’s Memory for Words: Developing First and Second Language and Literacy (2004), by Daniel R. Meier, published by Teachers College Press, presents innovative strategies and practical guidelines for language and literacy development in multilingual and multicultural settings. For additional information, call the Teachers College Press at 800-575-6566 or visit the Web at www.teacherscollegepress.com/index.html.
• “Diversity, Child Care Quality, and Developmental Outcomes” (Winter 2003), in Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Vol. 18, Issue 4, by Margaret Burchinal, Debby Cryer, published by Elsevier Inc., presents data from two previous studies of child care experiences in the United States to determine whether standard measures of child care quality were less reliable or valid for African American and Latino children than for Caucasian children. This resource is available on the Web at www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4B-49V1B9M-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2003&_rdoc=1&
  _fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c58c6a7dbb96b6ad1595fec0d095428a.
• “Dual Language Abilities of Bilingual Four-Year-Olds: Initial Findings from the Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-Speaking Children” (2003), by Patton O. Tabors, Mariela M. Páez, and Lisa M. López, in the NABE Journal of Research and Practice, Volume 1, No.1, published by the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), describes English and Spanish language and early literacy skills for a sample of 344 bilingual children in Massachusetts and Maryland and a comparative group of 152 monolingual Spanish-speaking children in Puerto Rico. This resource is available on the Web at www.uc.edu/njrp/pdfs/Tabors.pdf.
• Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners: A Best-Evidence Synthesis (2003), by Robert E. Slavin and Alan Cheung, published by the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, reviews experimental studies of reading programs for English language learners, focusing on comparisons of bilingual and English-only programs and on specific, replicable models that have been evaluated with English language learners. This resource is available on the Web at www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report66.pdf.
• Identifying Strategies to Support English Language Learners in Head Start and Early Head Start Programs: English Language Learners Focus Group Report (April 2002), by the National Head Start Child Development Institute, reports on a 2-day focus group convened to obtain recommendations regarding effective approaches for addressing the opportunities and challenges of working with young children and families who are English language learners in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. This resource is available on the Web at www.headstartinfo.org/publications/english_learners/index.htm.
• “Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-Speaking Children: Theoretical Background and Preliminary Results” (2002), a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, by Patton O. Tabors, Mariela M. Páez, and Lisa M. López at the National Association for Bilingual Education Conference, describes an ongoing study of the language and literacy development of young children who come from Spanish-speaking homes in and around Boston, Montgomery County, MD, and Puerto Rico. This presentation is available on the Web at www.cal.org/acqlit/subproject1/Subpr1_Tabors_NABE_021.pdf. Additional information about this project is available on the Web at www.cal.org/acqlit/subproject1/.
• English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction (2002), by Beth Antunez, published by Reading Rockets, includes information about how to promote the strengths and address the weaknesses of English language learners in each of the Reading First content areas. This article provides recommendations and considerations for instruction of English language learners within each of the Reading First components. This resource is available on the Web at www.readingrockets.org/article/341.
• “Second Language Acquisition in the Preschool Years: What We Know and How We Can Effectively Communicate with Young Second Language Learners” (2001), CLAS Technical Report #5, by Janet Quiñones-Eatman, published by the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS), addresses the language, learning process preschoolers use as they begin to learn another language and highlights the advantages for children in learning a second language. This resource can be purchased from Sopris as part of CLAS Collection 3. More information is available on the Web at http://clas.uiuc.edu/techreports.html#collection#collection.

Updated September 2007