Department
Advanced Education Programs
Degree Name
Education Specialist (Ed.S)
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether children participating in a dual language, English and Spanish, kindergarten class for five months would exhibit differing proficiencies in concept development when tested in English and Spanish. The Brackne Basic Concept Scale-R, English and Spanish versions, was utilized to measure concept development in a single observational period. The presence of differing proficiencies when tested in the two languages would indicate a shift from the use of a minority heritage language to the dominant language of the culture evident as early as kindergarten. / This archival study involved data obtained from a school district in southwestern Kansas. Students were identified as heritage speakers of English (n=10), Spanish (n=16), or Bilingual (n=6). The results found that heritage English students scored highest when tested in English and lowest when tested in Spanish. However, their scores indicate a modest amount of gain in concept development in Spanish. Bilingual students scored similar to their English peers when tested in English and scored as well as their Spanish speaking peers when tested in Spanish. Bilingual students showed greater proficiency in English than in Spanish in concept development, indicating a shift from use of Spanish to English. The heritage Spanish speaking students scored lower in concept development than their peers in both the Spanish and English versions of the test.
Keywords
School Psychology
Advisor
Stephen Kitzis
Date of Award
Summer 2006
Document Type
Thesis - campus only access
Recommended Citation
Briones, Eva G., "Heritage Language Shift in Dual Language Kindergarten Students" (2006). Master's Theses. 2973.
DOI: 10.58809/LHDP8219
Available at:
https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/2973
Rights
© The Author(s)
Comments
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