Even Ground

Fast Facts:

Limited English enrollment within the U.S. rose from 2.1 million in the 1990-1991 academic year to more than 3.7 million in 1999-2000.

(US Census 2000, New Bostonians Report)

Approximately 50% of students in the Boston public schools speak a language other than English.

(US Census 2000, New Bostonians Report)

Children with a strong knowledge of their native language become more fluent in reading English.

(Uchikoshi, (2006) English Vocabulary development in bilingual kindergarteners: what are the best predictors? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition)

In the Boston area 20% of children live in homes where English is not spoken.

(US Census 2000, New Bostonians Report)

Children who are fluent in two languages do better than others on tests analytical reasoning and cognitive flexibility.

(Bialystok, (1999) Cognitive complexity and attentional control in the bilingual mind. Child Development, 70, 636-644)

There are more then 140 Languages spoken in the Boston area.

(US Census 2000, New Bostonians Report)

Reading out loud to children is essential to language development; often non-English speaking families lack the resources to read to children in their native language.

(Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998; Uchikoshi, 2006)

A supportive relationship can decrease the likelihood that children lose native language skills as they acquire English; this in turn decreases the possibility of communication difficulties at home.

(Winsler, Diaz, Espinosa and Rodriguez, 1999 When Learning A Second Language Does not mean Losing the First: Bilingual Language Development in Low-Income, Spanish Speaking Children Attending Bilingual Pre-School Child Development, Volume 70 pp. 349-362)

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