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Strengthening Spanish-Speaking English Learners’ Acquisition Of English By Supporting Cross-Language Transfer During Early Childhood, Ashley Golin

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In the United States, Spanish-speaking English Learners (ELs) represent a growing and significant portion of the student population. ELs require targeted instructional strategies and classroom environments in order to fully acquire language and learn content. Studies in bilingual and second language education have demonstrated how students’ native language (i.e., first language, or “L1”), once believed to be a limitation that should be kept separate from students’ use of the target language, can instead serve as an asset benefitting English acquisition. However, educators who are unfamiliar with Spanish and components of language transfer may not be able to fully support students …