Language and Learning Implications
English Language Acquisition
Affects on language development and language/classroom performance
English language acquisition's affects on language development and language/classroom performance will vary largely on the individual child. However, some trends found from research and/or observation include:
- Behavioral issues due to lack of understanding.
- The child may not talk, not follow directions or may pretend to understand.
- Mixing grammar rules (e.g. "car green" instead of "green car")
- Using words from both languages in the same sentences (e.g. mandar un letter)
- A "silent period" may last several months while the second language is being introduced
- Math difficulties -- requires both linguistic and nonlinguistic skills (Alt, Arizmendi, Beal, Nippold & Pruitt-Lord, 2014)
- Difficulty deciphering between academic and social language
- Excessively high drop out rates
- The child may struggle socially since they not understanding slang/idioms
- Isolation of the child from being "different" from peers may affect motivation
- The child may not have the vocabulary specific to each content area (science, math, reading)
Being a dual language learner and of low SES will impede rate of English language acquisition