“An experimental study was conducted comparing the effects of a dual language or twoway immersion (TWI) and monolingual English immersion (EI) preschool program on children’s learning. Three and four-year old children were randomly assigned by lottery to either a newly established TWI Spanish/English (n=85) program or a monolingual English (n=65) program in the same district. Children in the study were from both Spanish and English home language backgrounds. All classrooms in the study used the High/Scope curriculum. The TWI program alternated between English and Spanish weekly by rotating children between two classrooms (and teachers) each week. Programs were compared on measures of children’s growth in language, emergent literacy, and mathematics. Among the native Spanish speakers, the TWI program produced large and significantly significant gains in Spanish vocabulary compared to the EI program. Results were somewhat more mixed on measures of literacy skills. Children in the TWI program made greater phonological awareness gains in both English (all children) and Spanish (comparison included native Spanish speakers only), while in the EI program native Spanish speakers made greater gains on letter recognition in Spanish. The TWI program did not require additional expenditures. On balance, preschool TWI appears to be a promising and a cost-effective approach to improving the education of both English language learners and native English speaking children.” – Publisher’s description
