The Effectiveness of Head Start in Meeting the Needs of a Multilingual Classroom
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Authors
Kesselring, Amy M.
Issue Date
1998
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
In early childhood, children learn to express their emotions, solve problems. think, speak, make friends, and discover the world. Preschool is the child's first opportunity to expand
the learning horizons outside the home and discover new ways to stimulate growth.
Economically disadvantaged children who in many cases cannot afford preschool are
suggested to be at an increased risk for school failure and inadequate developn1ent. Head
Start, a federally funded preschool program, welcomes culturally diverse classrooms and
uses bilingual educational techniques to motivate children to learn English. A group of
Head Start children were assessed during one school year to determine possible
differential rates of acquisition of certain cognitive and socio-emotional skills based on
their primary language. Results suggest that a child's native language has no significant
effect upon the rate of cognitive and socio-emotional skill acquisition in disadvantaged
children. Observations of three Head Start children provide a glimpse at language
development in a bilingual classroom. Future prospects in multilingual teaching,
sensitivity to language differences, and degree of bilingualisn1 are discussed.
Description
vi, 59 p.
Citation
Publisher
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.