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Early Language And Literacy Skills Of Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners, Alejandro Rodriguez, Marc Goodrich, Maggie Harms, Lisa Fitton

UCARE Research Products

The purpose of this study is to examine the early language measures that are the best predictors of English reading achievement and to determine whether assessing DLLs’ Spanish language skills contributes to the prediction of English reading achievement. Preschool and kindergarten often represent DLLs’ first significant exposure to English, and development of English language proficiency is strongly linked to English reading achievement (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Because DLLs may not be exposed to English consistently prior to preschool or kindergarten, they often enter kindergarten with lower levels of English proficiency than their monolingual peers. This makes it difficult to identify …