Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine English reading comprehension skills in Spanish-English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). In particular, we examined the contribution of Spanish and English oral language skills and of the language of instruction (i.e., English only or dual language) to…

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs were developed in the U.S. with the expressed goal of supporting intercultural connections, bilingualism, biliteracy, and respect for diversity. However, these programs are still influenced by broader social ideas and power dynamics. From this perspective, this year-long ethnographic case study uses a…

This paper presents evidence of the effects of dual language immersion (DLI) programs on the academic outcomes of students in elementary grades. Leveraging enrollment lotteries from four cohorts of DLI applicants across 10 oversubscribed programs, analyses estimate the intent-to-treat effect of access to bilingual education on reading and math…

This dissertation seeks to illuminate additive significance of the entanglements within a Dual Language Immersion Spanish Science classroom where arts-based pedagogies are employed. Using a theoretical framework that combines Jane Bennett's Vibrant Materialism (2010) and notion of Enchantment (2002) and Gloria Anzaldua's concept of Nepantla…

Extensive research has demonstrated the importance of struggling reader identification in monolingual children Compton et al. ("Journal of Educational Psychology," 102, 327-340, 2010). However, very few studies have explored identification of struggling readers in bilinguals. The aim of this study was to investigate (1) the overlap of…

In the United States, there is a nationwide shortage of bilingual teachers, but limited research on factors that contribute to their burnout and attrition. This exploratory multiple case study aimed to identify stressors unique to Spanish-English bilingual teachers and how they cope with these stressors. Interviews with two dual language immersion…

In October 2023, a new deaf student, "Zuri," showed up in my second grade classroom. This often happens. Parents move into and out of the district for work, and it is common to get a new student in the middle of the year without warning. Zuri's eyes were wide when she came into the classroom, and she looked scared. Who were all these…

Dual language programs provide content instruction in two languages by leveraging the linguistic assets of English speakers and English learners. By elevating the status of the home language, students develop higher levels of bilingualism, reclassify at higher rates, and have improved self-concept. In this way, dual language has been seen as a…

Many adults work with children in schools to provide support in a variety of forms. This study aimed to explore perceptions of the role of classroom assistants in supporting children's learning in the primary classroom. Aligning with an interpretivist paradigm, a case study approach was used to explore the deployment of classroom assistants in one…

Purpose: This study aims to characterize Spanish-English emergent bilingual (EB) children's language experiences and to examine how these experiences contribute to their bilingual development over a 2-year period. All EB children were enrolled in dual language immersion (DLI) programs. This setting provides a unique opportunity to explore how…

This study examined whether the assessment of executive function (EF) added a unique contribution to second language (L2) reading comprehension in children in French immersion. Participants were 8- to 9-year old children who completed a collection of measures assessing French reading (i.e., word reading, decoding, and reading comprehension ) and…

Grounded in the frameworks of motherwork, linguistic motherwork, and Family Language Policy, this critical ethnographic study examined how a group of mothers supported their children's linguistic and educational development amid shifting school conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although online learning increased their access and positioned…

The participation of multilingual children in minority language immersion programmes is under-researched internationally. The Republic of Ireland (RoI) has become a linguistically and culturally diverse society. In the RoI, parents have the opportunity to educate their child in English-medium or Irish-medium (IM) schools. However, the cohort of…

Translanguaging is a theory and pedagogy of language that understands multilingualism to be an inherently fluid, flexible, and dynamic practice (Garcia, 2009). As a pedagogy, a translanguaging stance aims to empower multilingual learners to draw on the entirety of their communicative repertoires to disrupt and transform classroom language borders…

This qualitative comparative case study explored the perceived levels of cultural proficiency of 3rd and 6th grade teachers and parents within dual language immersion schools compared to schools that have traditional monolingual settings to discern whether differences exist in these settings. Lindsey and Lindsey's (2016) Conceptual Framework for…