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ERIC Number: EJ1036137
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: N/A
Emergent Literacy Performance across Two Languages: Assessing Four-Year-Old Bilingual Children
Westerveld, Marleen F.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v17 n5 p526-543 2014
There are few emergent literacy assessments available for bilingual children. This study investigated the usefulness of a screening battery of oral language and print-related measures as an assessment tool for bilingual Samoan-English speaking children. A total of 18 children were recruited from three Samoan language immersion kindergartens (Aoga Amatas) in Auckland, New Zealand. A control group of 15 monolingual children were recruited from neighbouring kindergartens. Both Aoga Amatas and the kindergartens run programmes that are based on Te Whariki--the New Zealand National Early Childhood Curriculum--regardless of the language spoken. The bilingual children were assessed on two occasions, once in English and once in Samoan by undergraduate speech pathology students, who were fluent in Samoan or English, on measures of story retelling and comprehension, phonological awareness, letter name knowledge and vocabulary. Results were analysed for each language, and across languages using composite scoring, and showed that the bilingual children's performance in one language (either Samoan or English) significantly underestimated their composite language performance. Furthermore, the bilingual children significantly outperformed their monolingual peers on receptive vocabulary when composite scoring was used. Practical implications of these findings are outlined.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Kindergarten; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Zealand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A