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A first-of-its-kind literacy study of bilingual children may defuse some of the controversy around bilingual education, says Maria S. Carlo, assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and one of the study's associate directors.
Given California's 1998 decision to eliminate bilingual education, and the rumblings of other states that threaten to follow suit, she says, this study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, couldn't be more timely. "Unfortunately, bilingual education is seen by some as a threat to the United States as a melting pot," says Carlo, who has studied bilingualism in children and adults and is herself bilingual. Conducted by HGSE, Johns Hopkins University, and the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., the two-year study explores whether children who learn to read in their native language gain transferable literacy skills, which in turn they use to learn to read in English. Says Carlo, "We're looking at children in three different parts of the country—Boston, Chicago, and El Paso, Texas—who have received learning instruction in Spanish through second grade and who are being transitioned to English reading in the third grade." Formally known as "Transfer of Reading Skills from Spanish to English: A Study of Young Learners," the study could point toward improved teaching methods in both Spanish and English-as-a-second-language classes. Supporting the Use of Native Language Instruction "If we can understand what transfers when a child moves from learning in his or her native language to learning in English, we can develop a way to teach for that transfer. We could help students become aware of the similarities between their two languages, so they will make the transition to English more easily and quickly." Asked about her own bilingual background, Carlo chuckles. "Because my father was in the military, I moved back and forth between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico a lot while growing up. Since no bilingual programs existed then, I got more of a submersion experience!" Excited that the study could lead to far more positive bilingual education experiences for children than she had, Carlo has joined other researchers in campaigning for a longer, more comprehensive study. "We've applied for funding to follow children into their fifth year so we can look at higher-level skills, such as vocabulary development and reading strategies," she says. "More information will help us find the best way to help these children." For More Information
HGSE News, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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