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A Study of the Effects of Bilingual and Structured English Immersion Programs on the Oral English and Literacy Development of Students Learning English as a Second Language

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

A Study of the Effects of Bilingual and Structured

English Immersion Programs on the Oral and Literacy Development

of Students Learning English as a Second Language

by

Danny Lee Wood

Doctor of Philosophy in Education

University of California, Los Angeles, 2014

Professor Concepción M. Valadez, Chair

This study had two purposes: (1) to compare two different English language learner (ELL) programs--transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs and transitional structured English immersion (SEI) programs--to identify which, if either, was superior in facilitating English language acquisition; and (2) to identify the relationship between English oral proficiency and English literacy proficiency. To answer these questions, this study analyzed English proficiency scores from the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) from a large school district in California from 2002 - 2007. The CELDT is an instrument that was aligned with the English Language Development (ELD) standards of California and first administered in 2001 to measure English language proficiency. The CELDT provided measurements in three English skill scales: oral (listening and speaking), reading, and writing. The CELDT also produced a composite overall English proficiency score from the combined performance scale scores.

The students in the study were primarily Hispanic (98.26%) native Spanish speakers (99%) from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (91.4%). Of the 2,731 students whose scores were analyzed, 1,196 (44%) were in their respective SEI or TBE programs the entire 6-year period of the study.

For the program comparisons, there were four groups of students: (a) students who were in transitional bilingual programs for the entire length of the study, (b) students who were in transitional bilingual programs for various lengths of time before transferring to SEI programs, (c) students who were in the SEI program for the entire length of the study, and (d) students who were in the SEI program for various lengths of time before transferring to other programs or schools.

The bilingual and SEI programs in this study were analyzed in four different ways: raw CELDT score means, CELDT proficiency levels, CELDT highest scorers, and the comparison of oral to literacy skills. When CELDT means were compared, the SEI groups performed slightly better throughout the study period over all. However, the bilingual students narrowed the scoring gap each year across all skill areas, and in the case of oral skills, one of the bilingual groups scored higher than both SEI groups in 2007.

When CELDT overall and oral proficiency levels were compared, all groups finished in the same level by grade four (2006) for overall proficiency, and were the same for oral proficiency by grade five (except for the higher bilingual score just mentioned). By 2007, while SEI students slightly outperformed bilingual students each year, the proficiency scores for reading and writing were close between both programs. When scores were calculated for the percentage of students that scored at the highest levels between the groups, the SEI scores were almost always the highest. However, bilingual students out performed SEI students in 2007 on CELDT and academic measures.

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