The Investigation of Effective Intervention on Texas Border and Non-Border Kindergarten English Learners’ English Oral Language Development

Abstract

Increasing number of public-school students are identified as English Learner (ELs) at lower grade levels in the United States. Compared to native speaking peers, ELs lack the English proficiency needed to achieve academically. Kindergarten is a critical point for ELs to develop English oral language proficiency, which is associated with subsequent reading performance and overall academic achievement. The Texas-Mexico border region is home to more than 12 million people, a large number of whom speak Spanish as their home language. The purpose of this dissertation is to compare Texas border and non-border ELs’ oral language performance and examine effective interventions which may support kindergarten ELs’ oral language development. To better understand the problem and its significance, I provide a systematic review of effective interventions regarding the development of kindergarten ELs’ English oral language proficiency. I also compare Texas border and non-border district ELs’ English oral language development via the TELPAS speaking test. In the last portion of the dissertation, I examine the effect of a science-infused, literacy intervention on ELs’ English oral language proficiency in a Texas border district and a non-border district. The results of the dissertation are supposed to provide practitioners and researchers with implications in terms of the development of ELs’ English oral language proficiency.