The program creates a safe, affirming and enriched environment for children’s social and emotional development. Thus, the program is not a skills-based program like kindergarten, but is designed to be developmentally appropriate for dual language preschoolers. A variety of developmentally appropriate enriched activities and approaches are used to enable children to develop competencies in the major areas of development: cognitive (preliteracy, prenumeracy, sorting, reasoning skills, creativity, imagination), social, physical, and language. The home language(s) and culture(s) of the children are evident in the preschool classroom and bilingualism is enhanced through use of the home language in the classroom.
How is the purpose for preschool different from the purpose for kindergarten?
PROMISE Preschool suggests launching children to the pathway to become bilingual, biliterate citizens prepared for the 21st century. The purpose of preschool should build a foundation to develop the whole child, beyond structured lessons, through rich interactions, exploration, and participation in stimulating, interesting, and concrete experiences. These experiences are offered within an enriched and affirming environment that includes challenging and relevant curriculum and materials. The preschool experience should seek to nurture DLL children’s development in a variety of areas, including: bilingual language development and biliteracy, self concept and culture, social/interpersonal skills, control of impulses, sharing, initiative and curiosity, imagination and cognition, gross and fine motor skills, and personal care. Families are an integral part of the program as well, directly participating in daily activities with their children, who learn and develop at their own pace.
Background knowledge acquired in preschool comprises the essential foundation for future learning, allowing children to make connections between familiar and new concepts.
In Kindergarten, although development of the “whole child” continues to be nurtured, curriculum focuses primarily upon the California (or other) State Standards for that grade level, which align to the entire K-12 system of academic standards. Children are instructed in the development and application of reading, writing, math, social studies, science and oral language skills. Specific examples of Kindergarten and K-12 Content Standards can be reviewed at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/index.asp . The California Preschool Learning Foundations can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/psfoundations.asp.
What is the best way to set up my classroom environment to enable my DLL children to learn and develop through exploration?
The Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (Teachers College Press, 2005; ISBN 0-8077-4549-9; http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers/ecers_frame.html) provides specific guidelines for developmentally appropriate and stimulating program elements such as organization of space, books and materials, development of language and reasoning, provision of activities to support physical and cognitive development, interactions with children, scheduling, and family involvement. However, DLL children require a linguistically and culturally responsive classroom environment that explicitly communicates that they belong. Children understand that their languages and culture are valued. Activities and surroundings reflect and affirm the children’s languages and cultures, and their parents are valued in the classroom as well. Parental involvement is especially important, together with multiple opportunities to interact in the home language and to participate through culturally appropriate learning styles.
If I am getting DLL children ready for kindergarten, shouldn’t I give them a preview of the kindergarten curriculum instead of spending so much time having them play with materials such as playdough, puzzles, blocks, or finger paint?
Background experiences gained through hands-on exploration of materials and activities prepare children with a foundation of concepts to which they can connect future learning. Building a wide vocabulary and knowledge base through a variety of concrete and hands-on experiences, rather than spending time on worksheets and drills, allows children to make meaning of reading material and other academic concepts they encounter, both during preschool and as they enter kindergarten to begin their journey along the pathway to biliteracy. In addition, these experiences provide children the important opportunities to interact with others and practice language and to develop their imagination.
How do I use ECERS to improve my classroom learning environment?
The ECERS, or Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale, can serve as a self-assessment tool in the areas of space and furnishings, health routines, language development and reasoning, stimulating hands-on activities, interaction with peers and adult language models, and appropriate daily scheduling. In addition, teachers of dual language preschoolers should assess whether the classroom provides multiple opportunities for children to interact in their home language(s) and whether it reflects the children’s home culture. Books and other materials should reflect the languages and cultures of the preschool children and families. Inviting parents to join teachers in creating and becoming involved in a welcoming, culturally relevant classroom may help accomplish these goals.
With all the focus on assessment and standards, how do I balance children’s needs?
It is important that the learning environment be student-centered with different kinds of learning -- social, physical, emotional, intellectual and academic. As Nassani has said,
“children are encouraged to become involved in purposeful and creative activities with other children; to make major choices among hands-on learning activities; to initiate and accomplish self-motivated tasks in a rich environment; and to construct knowledge at their own individual pace by discovering and engaging in open-ended activities that reflect all areas of their development.” (p. 3)
What is the best language to use in the classroom with DLL or bilingual children? Isn’t it better to focus just on English since that is what they will need in kindergarten?
Research suggests that it is best to develop the children’s home language because their home language serves as the foundation for learning English. The stronger their home language, the stronger their English will be. In fact, research shows that DLL preschoolers in dual/bilingual language programs show larger language and preliteracy gains in their two languages than DLL preschoolers in preschools that only use the English language.
According to Linda Espinosa,
“For young children who are actively processing and have not yet mastered the elements of their first language, completely shifting from their first language to a new, unfamiliar language too early may have a negative effect on English fluency and academic achievement during the PK-3 years and beyond. While English can be successfully introduced during the preschool years, if it replaces the home language, and children do not have the opportunity to continue to learn in the language they know, their future linguistic, conceptual, and academic development in English is at risk. The most recent evidence suggests that intensive support for the home language during the preschool years will help, not hurt, long-term attainment in English. Young children can learn nursery rhymes, songs, extended vocabulary, and early literacy skills in English and their home language with adult support. DLLL children who receive systematic learning opportunities in their home language from ages three to eight consistently outperform those who attend English-only programs on measures of academic achievement in English during the middle and high school years.”
Aren’t young children confused by learning two languages at the same time?
Research shows that learning two languages does not confuse young children. They develop their two languages in much the same way and at about the same ages as monolingual children do, often showing the same or similar sequences of development of various grammatical structures (e.g., development of question forms). This is true even for those young bilinguals who have a specific language impairment. Young bilinguals may have fewer words in each of their two languages, but across both languages, bilinguals typically have a larger total vocabulary than monolingual children. Bilingual children as young as two years of age can differentiate which language to use with which speakers (e.g., with whom to speak English and with whom to speak Spanish).
When young children mix their two languages, this seems to be evidence that they are confused. Is that true?
Research shows this is a myth. Though young bilingual children often produce sentences consisting of words from both languages, there is no evidence that learning two languages confuses young bilinguals. Studying the students’ language mixes shows that children use mixing in a purposeful way and that mixed utterances do not result in ungrammatical forms across the two languages.
This means that a child may make an English error due to the direct influence of a first language structure. For example, in Spanish, "esta casa es más grande" means "this house is bigger." However, a literal translation would be "this house is more bigger." A Spanish-speaking child who says, "this house is more bigger" might be showing transfer from Spanish to English or might be showing normal English development. However, even the transfer is a normal phenomenon—a sign of a language difference, not a language disorder.
Will learning two languages cause speech or language problems?
No. Children all over the world learn more than one language without developing speech or language problems. Bilingual children develop language skills just as monolingual children do.
So what should I do when a child mixes his or her two languages; correct it or not say anything about it?
Since it is not a problem when children mix the two languages, there is no need to correct it. If it is clear that the child is searching for a particular vocabulary word or way of saying something, then the teacher could provide the sentence or word for the child. Corrections are rarely necessary just because a child mixes the languages. Nevertheless, modeling the correct use of language through interesting conversations with adults, or “expert” users of language is the best way to correct.
What if I don’t speak the child’s language or have children of different language groups in my classroom?
“Head Start has documented more than 140 different languages among their families enrolled. At the same time, less than 10 percent of our teachers are fluent in more than one language … Because school administrators cannot meet the needs of all linguistic groups, they argue that it makes sense to adopt English-only approaches. While it may make sense from a narrow staffing perspective, this would be a misguided conclusion… it is clear that in order to thrive academically, socially, and cognitively, young DLL children need systematic support for their home language while they are acquiring English. Even when teachers do not speak the child’s first language, there are many specific teaching practices that will support native language development. Teachers and ancillary staff can support children’s home language throughout the day in all kinds of learning situations; they also can train parents, community members, and volunteers to work with DLL children in their home language. Ideally, educators will provide home language support through the elementary grades… It is possible for all PK-3 teachers to introduce young DLL children to English while also supporting development of the child’s first language—even when the teacher has no experience with the language. While this is a challenging goal, it should be a high priority for classrooms in which children speak many languages.”
(Linda Espinosa, Common Myths about Young ELLs, p. 6, 2008).
I’ve heard other teachers or even children say something negative about speaking Spanish (or another language). Thought I don’t agree with these negative remarks, I’m not sure what to say.
We need to remember that young children repeat what they hear, even when what they hear is something negative about them. So, we need to be sure to change children’s remarks into demonstrating the positive aspects of knowing another language and in being bilingual. And, just as importantly, we need to give children the words for expressing their pride in their home language and culture, and literature and songs that help them build a positive sense of self as bilingual/dual language children.
If we hear a staff member make negative comments about speaking Spanish or the greater importance of speaking English with children or parents, it is important that we talk with that staff member and point out the research on the positive attributes of bilingualism and the importance of having children maintain their home language while also learning English. This resource guide has many helpful aids for teachers to expand their own knowledge and to maximize support for their Spanish-speaking children and families.
How do I address diversity in a culturally responsive manner?
“Many immigrants view education as a key to opportunity for their children. Unfortunately, parents often find that schools are unprepared to provide their children with strong English literacy or the knowledge and skills to fully participate in the new land, and they find that the process of Americanization often cuts children off from their roots. The danger of family disruption is real, and so is the danger of lost identity among the young. When immigrant children leave their heritage behind, they often suffer low self-esteem and form unhealthy identities.”
(Ready or Not? p. 4)