A team of Penn State professors will study the development of English literacy in Spanish-speaking preschoolers, thanks to a five-year, nearly $2.1 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
"Literacy becomes more complex for Spanish speaking children because they begin the literacy process with varied language experiences," said Carol S. Hammer, principal investigator for the study and assistant professor of communication disorders in the College of Health and Human Development.
Literacy development may be further complicated by differences between the home and school environments.
This study will investigate differences in the rate and quality of language and literacy development between children learning Spanish and English sequentially and simultaneously. Adele W. Miccio, assistant professor of communication disorders, is co-principal investigator for the study.
It also will address what factors of oral language development and the environment result in positive and negative literacy outcomes in bilingual children. In addition, the researchers will examine how the specific characteristics of bilingual children's language systems related to literacy outcomes and how the home environment buffers children against negative outcomes.