Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Summer 2006

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S)

Department

Advanced Education Programs

Advisor

Stephen Kitzis

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.

Comments

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Rights

© 2006 Eva G. Briones

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