Five Questions with Dr. Lisa Lopez – Dual Language Learners

Five Questions with Dr. Lisa Lopez: Dual Language Learners

Jennifer Boss: Hi, I'm Jennifer Boss, Director of the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. Did you know that over a third of the children in Head Start are learning more than one language? Dr. Lisa Lopez is a leading researcher in this area, and she's really passionate about using what we know from research to improve practices with children who are dual language learners. Let's listen to what she has to say.

Dr. Lisa Lopez: Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Lopez, and I'm an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

Narrator: What are the advantages of learning two or more languages as a young child?

Lisa: We're thinking and the research is really starting to show that they have a cognitive advantage as well as a linguistic advantage. And we're finding that, long term, children do better if they're exposed to two languages academically, socially, and economically.

Narrator: Why should we encourage families to use their home language with their children?

Lisa: The idea that children should be speaking only in English is definitely a misconception. And we hear it all the time. When I talk to parents, they'll tell me the teachers told them to speak only in English, or the parents themselves think that if they speak in English, the children will be more successful here in the United States. What we're finding is the opposite, that the better they speak their home language, the better their English will be. And so, it's important to share that and communicate that with the families and really talk to the families about what the goals are for their children in terms of what they want them to learn. So, many families want their children to be bilingual, but they think that they can do that by learning English first instead of using the assets that they have already in their home language. By the parents speaking their home language to the child, they actually become experts in that language and are able to use a lot of that language in learning English.

Narrator: How do we engage parents of dual language learners in Head Start programs?

Lisa: There are definitely a lot of different barriers that DLL families face, and I think they are different depending on the community. So, it's important for education managers to really understand the community that they're serving and what the barriers might be for that specific community. What we find that's really consistent is the number of hours that these families are working. So, parents work multiple jobs for long periods of time throughout the day, making it really difficult for them to be involved in activities during the day, during the school day, in their child's classroom or meetings that might occur during the day. So, it's really important to talk with these families, have a conversation about when are they available and when might they be able to come and take part in activities. The programs that I usually work with have found it to be really successful where they do some sort of a family night or they invite the entire family to come. They have child care for the children. They feed the families. And, most importantly, the children are performing or exhibiting some of their artwork. The families are really excited to be able to see the children perform, show off their skills, get all dressed up. And so, this really is an opportunity for families to come and feel welcome and feel valued.

So, in many other countries, parents stay out of children's education. That's very different here in the U.S., particularly in Head Start. So, it's important to share that with the families and make them understand that their involvement is actually appreciated, and not only with parents, but with extended families and grandparents and aunts, uncles, and family friends. Those are all part of the immediate family for many of these cultures. So, they should all feel welcome in the center.

Narrator: How can parents of dual language learners support their children at home?

Lisa: Parents of dual language learners can support their children by speaking with them, encouraging them to learn language, engaging with them around language learning. So, it doesn't have to be what we consider educational. It can be sharing stories, sharing their culture. It can be things as simple as cooking with their children, playing games with their children, singing songs. Really, could be part of all the cultural pieces that parents engage with. If parents can read and they have books in their home language, they can do that, too. But we find that oral storytelling is sufficient. It gives you a lot of those oral comprehension skills that children need in order to be successful. So, sharing stories of children, having the children share the stories back, retelling the story, or creating their own story ... all of that really helps with language skills that are essential in helping children to later learn how to read.

The other thing is really making sure that you're enforcing your cultural norms and cultural values on the children. So, oftentimes immigrant families think that they're in the U.S., and they don't feel comfortable sharing their culture, their values, their morals, because they might look a little bit different than the U.S. cultural norms. But this is important because we're finding that children of first-generation immigrants have better social-emotional skills than later generations. And that's because of these cultural values and cultural norms. And behaving well is important in order to be able to be successful.

Narrator: How can we support dual language learners during gaps in instruction?

Lisa: So, a lot of these children may have family members that were essential workers or first responders or even working agricultural or meat packing at meat processing plants, which are considered essential workers. And so, these children may have been left home alone. They may have been left with a caregiver. And so, they may have some anxiety that they've experienced from not having their parent present at home during this time or the fear of their parent getting ill from being at work. And so, it's important for teachers to understand that and for there to be the mental health staff available at the centers to provide them the support that they need. So, helping them to feel welcome, providing them the emotional support that they need is just as important as providing them with any educational support that they may need.

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