ERIC Number: ED065263
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1965-Jun
Pages: 131
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Study of Several Linguistic Functions of Mexican-American Children in a Two-Language Environment.
Linn, George Byron
In this thesis, the effect of a Spanish and English language-cultural environment on linguistic functioning was studied. The study was conducted in 3 adjacent coastal communities in southern California. It used 3 groups of children (30 in each group) who differed in certain identifiable aspeces of language-cultural background but who were alike in nonlanguage intelligence, chronological age, grade (7th & 8th), sex, and socioeconomic status. The 3 groups consisted of (1) Mexican American children speaking both English and Spanish upon entering kindergarten (E-S), (2) Anglo American children speaking only English upon entering kindergarten (A-E), and (3) Mexican American children who had never spoken any language but English but whose parents communicate in English and Spanish (M-E). All were compared in all areas except articulation by an analysis of covariance with nonlanguage IQ as the covariate. Differences in number of articulatory errors, among groups, were tested by means of the chi-square, the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test, and the Duncan test, which was also used to determine which group differed from others. There were significant differences among the groups in silent reading comprehension, mechanics of English, general language development, oral reading accuracy and comprehension, articulation, and inflection. Analysis indicated that in each of these areas there were no significant differences between the A-E and M-E groups, but that both of these groups excelled the E-S group. There were no significant differences among groups in silent reading vocabulary, total silent reading, spelling, or phonemic discrimination. Included are 81 tables of data. (NQ)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Articulation (Speech), Bilingual Students, Cultural Background, Cultural Pluralism, English, English (Second Language), Junior High School Students, Language Acquisition, Literature Reviews, Mexican Americans, Reading, Spanish Speaking, Tables (Data)
R and E Research Associates, 4843 Mission St., San Francisco, Calif., 94112 ($7.00)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Reprint by R and E Research Associates, San Francisco, Calif., 1971