CODE SWITCHING AND READING ACHIEVEMENT OF FIRST GRADE BILINGUAL STUDENTS by SUSAN MARTIN LARA, B.S. in Ed.. M.S. in Ed. A DISSERTATION IN EDUCATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Approved Accepted December, 1990 I ^^ '^ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS }J0 , / D / I would like to thank my committee for all of their time and help, especially Herman S. Garcia, who has supported me in my educational endeavors. ^—^ I would like to dedicate this work to my family: my parents, who have always encouraged me, and rny husband Tom and my son Artie, who have allowed me the time and have given me the motivation to finish. 11 TABLS OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT v LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem 11 Purpose and Objectives 11 Hypotheses 12 Limitations of the Study 13 Definition of Terms 14 II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 16 Theoretical Perspective 16 Overview of Bilingual Education 17 Research Regarding Code Switching 27 Grammatical Concerns 34 Code Switching and Bilingual Education .... 43 III. METHODOLOGY 46 Design 47 Subjects and Setting 49 Procedures 50 Instruments 52 Home Language Survey 52 Science Research Association (SRA) Achievement Tests 52 Texas Educational Assessment of Minimal Skills (TEAMS) 52 i i i Language Assessment Scales 53 Procedure for Determining Percentage of Code Switching 53 Houghton Mifflin Informal Reading Inventories 54 Parent Interviews 55 Limitations 55 Contributions of the Study 55 IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA 57 Demographic Information 58 Hypotheses 65 Hypothesis 1 66 Hypothesis 2 66 Hypothesis 3a 72 Hypothesis 3b 75 Hypothesis 3c 77 Hypothesis 3d 77 V. CONCLUSIONS 83 Effects of Code Switching on Reading Achievement 85 Effects of Language Fluency on Reading Achievement 86 Effects of Demographic Data 87 Implications of Parental Attitude toward Schooling 89 REFERENCES 93 APPENDIX 99 IV ABSTRACT Code switching and its effects on reading achievement scores of young bilingual children is examined tnrough a series of language interviews and standardized tests. Code switching is defined as the alternation between two languages and reading achievement is defined by scores on standard achievement tests and informal reading inventories. Forty-two first grade children who were enrolled in a bilingual program in a town in rural West Texas were chosen as subjects for the study. A quasi study design was employed which utilized all of the first grade children currently enrolled in the bilingual program of the school district. A Pearson correlation was calculated to find the effects of various demographic data on reading scores of these children. In order to find the effects of code switching on reading achievement and to enhance validity, each child was interviewed by two researchers. A series of pictures was used to stimulate language and a 200-word sample was elicited from each child. The samples were analyzed to determine what percentage of time was spent in code switching. Each child was given an informal reading inventory in Spanish and English. Language fluency tests and standardized reading tests in Spanish and English were available from the permanent record files of the children. The percentages of code switching from the language samples, v language fluency tests and the informal reading inventories were correlated with reading achievement scores. No correlation was found between readirig achieve-ment and code switching. After the correlations were performed, two, two-way ANOVAs were constructed to examine the effects of parental value of education and oral language fluency on reading achievement. There was a high level of significance found when oral language scores were calculated with reading achievement. No interaction effects were found in either of the two-way ANOVA procedures. This study indicates that code switching does not affect reading achievement of young bilingual children. Reading achievement was found to be related to oral language fluency and to parental percep+:ion of the importance of education. VI LIST OF TABLES 1 Monchly Income 59 2 Number of Siblings 59 3 Parental Education 60 4 Parental Attitude Regarding Education 61 5 Pearson Correlation Regarding Reading and Code Switching 67 6 Pearson Correlation Coefficents Regarding Reading Scores and Oral Language 70 7 Table of Means of Reading Achievement Con­ sidering Code Switching and Spanish Language Fluency 71 8 Two-way ANOVA Model Considering Reading Achieve­ ment, Code Switching, and Language Fluency .... 73 9 ANOVA Summary Table Considering Code Switching, Spanish Language Fluency, and Two-Way Interaction 74 10 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Monthly Income and Reading Scores 76 11 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Number of Family Members and Reading Achievement .... 76 12 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Reading Achievement and Parental Education 78 13 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Parental Perception of Necessary Schooling and Reading Achievement 80 14 Table of Means of Reading Achievement Con­ sidering Code Switching and Parental Perception of Necessary Schooling 81 15 ANOVA Model Considering Reading Achievement, Code Switching, and Parental Perception of Necessary Schooling 81 16 ANOVA Summary Table Considering Code Switching, Parental Perception of Necessary Schooling, and Two-Way Interaction 82 v II CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Bilingual individuals of all ages code switch when interacting in the bilingual community. Kioke (1987) defines code switching as the alternation between the grammatical and lexical systems of two or more languages. This alternation may serve a social function or it may reflect a lexical need (Kioke, 1987; Olmedo-Williams, 1981). Code switching serves sociolinguistic purposes in bilingual communities and is a natural language behavior. The primary function of code switching is communication. A review of the literature reveals that researchers who have studied code switching in depth find a great deal of logic to the phenomenon of language mixing (Garcia, 1981; Olmedo-Williams, 1981). In contrast to the code switching research, many school officials believe that code switching is not a desirable behavior (Lessow-Hur1ey, 1990; Ovando & Collier, 1985; Penalosa, 1981; Stein, 1986; Williams & Snipper , 1990) . Many times children may be considered alingual if they code switch. School personnel may assume that if the child lacks fluency in either language, English should be the language of instruction (Lessow-Hurley, 1990). After all, it is English that is necessary for success in our country. When it is believed that English is best for code switchers. 2 the result may be that code switchers are not placed in bilingual education programs. Prior to 1960, research in dual language acquisition usually concluded that bilingualism was an academic handicap, rather than a cognitive asset (Cummins & Swain, 1986; Thompson, 1952). Studies showed that bilingual child­ ren did poorly in school, scored lower on verbal tests, and scored lower on intelligence tests; however, socioeconomic factors, culture, and test biases were not considered in these studies (Cummins & Swain, 1986; Lessow-Hurley, 1990). The results of this kind of research likely affect the opinions school officials have of language minority students today. One evidence of this is that some recent studies have revealed results similar to studies prior to 1960. These studies say that bilingual children do poorly in school. However, the testing language was usually English and, again, important demographic data such as socioeconomic status, culture, and testing bias are not considered. Bilingual children who do not receive the benefit of a bilingual education program often do poorly on achievement tests (Cummins & Swain, 1986). The fact that language minority students traditionally score lower on standardized tests seems to lead school officials to believe that Spanish is a handicap and that it should be eliminated as quickly as possible (Lessow-Hurley, 1990) . In Texas, before the late sixties, Spanish was banned from classrooms and children were punished for using Spanish in school (Lessow-Hurley, 1990). This practice led to a belief that children should learn only English and that they should learn it as quickly as possible. Traditionally, English has been valued and Spanish has been devalued in schools in Texas. The devaluation of Spanish creates doubt about using Spanish in classrooms and makes it difficult for school officials to make the decision about placing children in bilingual education programs. The fact that bilingual children code switch compounds these decisions even more by adding the problem of determining which language is dominant (Lessow-Hurley, 1990; Snipper & Williams, 1990; Stein, 1986). Since the rationale for placement in Texas bilingual programs relies on the determination of language dominance, by law, important decisions ..egarding placement of language minority students are made based on fluency in both languages. First, school officials must determine if a language other than English is used in the home. This is usually done by taking a home language survey from the parents of all children who enroll m school. If officials determine that a child speaks a language other than English at home, that child must be given tests of language fluency to determine which language is the strongest. If the child is limited in English proficiency, he should be placed in a bilingual or English