Spanish-Speaking Children Should Learn English Early
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iStock/Thinkstock(COLUMBIA, Mo.) — The burgeoning Latino population in the U.S. has created various problems, including a widening education gap between children whose first language is English and mostly Spanish-speaking children.
Although it seems elementary, researchers at the University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences stress the importance of young Latinos learning English as early as possible because it improves their chances of doing better in school and narrows the gap with their peers who only speak English.
In a study of 100 preschoolers who mostly spoke Spanish, those taught English at home and in the classroom had a far better vocabulary than if they tried to pick up the language only at school.
Study author Francisco Palermo says that even if adults at home are not particularly proficient at English, any exposure to it at all gives their children a leg up when they enter preschool.
Palermo also emphasized that the quality and variety of English used by teachers was more important than how much of the language they used since what’s taught by instructors is not as essential in picking up the language as the social interactions that the kids engage in.
In both home and school environments, the researchers stress that it remains important for adults to use the children’s native language to better help them adapt to English.
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