Browsing by Subject "Child development--Cross-cultural studies"

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Todos somos amigos: cross-cultural and cross-linguistic play interactions in a two-way immersion prekindergarten classroom
(2002) Sutterby, John Alan; Guerrero, Michael D.
The focus of this study was on the cross-linguistic and cross-cultural play interactions of children during free play. The children were observed over the course of one year and their they were audiotaped and their conversations analyzed based on aspects of language used, cultural themes of play, the setting of interactions and the representation of language power during their play. The children preferred to segregate by language group when given the opportunity and the language of play tended to be in English. This differed from the language of official discourse which tended to be in Spanish. The culture of the children’s play was reflected in their use of elements from their home experiences and in vi their use of elements based on classroom themes. The settings for play which most encouraged cross-linguistic interactions generally provided a structure for the children’s interactions. Games and scripted play routines were the highest structure activities, while free dramatic play and functional play did not encourage cross-linguistic interactions because of their low levels of structure. Although the children used English as their preferred language of play, the teacher’s use of Spanish for official discourse led to children using Spanish for official discourse functions. The implications of this study for the development of two-way immersion programs are that although teachers can control the language of official discourse, children often use English as their preferred language. Children should have opportunities for free play in two-way classrooms as this type of play provides opportunities to develop language with same language and different language peers.