When learning a second language does not mean losing the first: Bilingual language development in low-income, Spanish-speaking children attending bilingual preschool

This article discusses two investigations which explored the bilingual lang uage development outcomes of comparable groups of low-income, Spanish-speak ing, Mexican American children who either did or did not attended a bilingu al (Spanish/English) preschool. Study 1 is a replication of a study by Rodr iguez, Diaz, Duran, and Espinosa, involving a new sample of 26 children who attended bilingual preschool for one year and 20 control children who rema ined at home. Study 2 represents a 1-year, longitudinal follow-up of Rodrig uez et al.'s, sample of children during and after the children spent anothe r year at home or in the preschool. In both investigations, standardized, o bjective measures of three components of children's language proficiency (p roductive language, receptive language, and language complexity) in English and Spanish were obtained at the beginning and end of the academic year. C ontrary to fears that have been expressed by some that early exposure to En glish would lead to children's native language loss, the results of both st udies offered no evidence of Spanish proficiency loss for children attendin g bilingual preschool. Children who attended bilingual preschool, compared to those who remained at home, showed significant and parallel gains in Spa nish language development as well as significant and greater increases in E nglish language proficiency over time. Results are discussed in terms of th e need for more systematic research to be conducted in this area to inform policy and practice in the early education and development of language-mino rity children.