Reading Achievement in A Dual Language Setting: An Examination of English Language Learners at the Elementary Level

Abstract

Dual or two-way immersion programs utilize two languages of instruction to promote bilingualism and biliteracy. This study examined the impact of dual language instruction on the reading achievement and language acquisition of English language learners (ELL) at the elementary level in a public school district in a Midwestern state. The school population included 778 students in which 400 students were enrolled in the dual language program (327 ELL, 73 English) and 378 students were enrolled in a traditional setting (225 ELL, 153 English). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the means of reading scores of dual language and of English-only students with no statistically significant effect found. A factorial two-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the means of reading subtest percentile scores, and statistically significant differences were found at the .05 level for the Prereading/Early Reading and Instruction subtests. The results of this study support the implementation of two-way, or dual language models of instruction for school-aged native-English and emergent bilinguals.