Peer Interaction, Language Proficiency, and Language Preference in Bilingual Preschool Classrooms

Abstract

Classroom interactional patterns by language choice and speech partner of six 4-year-old Spanish-preferring children enrolled in a bilingual preschool were observed over the course of 1 year. It was found that those children who used relatively more English with peers in the classroom and who increased their English usage over time generally showed the greatest increases in English proficiency as measured by mean length of utterance. Rank order correlations of increased language proficiency and various measures of classroom interaction suggest that interaction with peers who speak English relates directly to second-language proficiency and that there is a closer relationship between children's interactional patterns with peers than between such patterns with teachers in regard to increased second-language proficiency. In addition, increased proficiency in English led to a change in language preference in the context of the preschool classroom.