Abstract
With an increasing number of immigrant children in many countries, questions of how to prepare them for further education become highly salient. Few studies have examined the effect of first-language instruction on children’s engagement in school and how that may later transfer into better majority-language outcomes. A randomized controlled trial in Denmark (n = 230) took an asset-based approach to students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds. We found that first-language instruction of majority-language learners (average age 7.1 years) reduced their behavioural problems in school and increased their school satisfaction and their parents’ engagement. We saw no immediate effect on their spoken first-language skills, but one year after the intervention ended, their reading skills in the majority language were substantially improved. Half of this improvement could be explained by reduced behavioural problems. The results thereby indicate that an asset-based approach to students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds can help to ensure that first-language instruction transfers into majority-language skills.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from Statistics Denmark, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for the current study and so are not publicly available. The data are, however, available from the authors upon reasonable request and with the permission of Statistics Denmark.
References
Peri, G. Immigrants, productivity, and labor markets. J. Econ. Perspect. 30, 3–30 (2016).
UNHCR. https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean (accessed 7 September 2021).
Goldenberg, C. in Handbook of Reading Research vol. 4 (eds Kamil, M. L. et al.) 684–710 (Routledge, 2011).
August, D. & Shanahan, T. (eds) Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners (Routledge, 2006).
Cheung, A. C. K. & Slavin, R. E. Effective reading programs for Spanish-dominant English language learners (ELLs) in the elementary grades: a synthesis of research. Rev. Educ. Res. 82, 351–395 (2012).
Bleses, D. et al. Forskningskortlaegning om Laeseindsatser Overfor Tosprogede Elever (Ministry of Education, 2013).
Cummins, J. Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Rev. Educ. Res. 49, 222–251 (1979).
Snow, C. E. Perspectives on second-language development: implications for bilingual education. Educ. Res. 21, 16–19 (1992).
Proctor, C. P., August, D., Snow, C. & Barr, C. D. The interdependence continuum: a perspective on the nature of Spanish–English bilingual reading comprehension. Biling. Res. J. 33, 5–20 (2010).
Cummins, J. Empowering minority students: a framework for intervention. Harv. Educ. Rev. 56, 18–37 (1986).
Angrist, J. D. & Lavy, V. The effect of a change in language of instruction on the returns to schooling in Morocco. J. Labor Econ. 15, S48–S76 (1997).
Cummins, J. in Pedagogies of Difference: Rethinking Education for Social Justice (ed. Trifonas, P. P.) 39–58 (Routledge, 2003).
Cummins, J. Teaching minoritized students: are additive approaches legitimate? Harv. Educ. Rev. 87, 404–425 (2017).
Harry, B. & Klingner, J. Discarding the deficit model. Educ. Leadersh. 64, 16–21 (2007).
Valencia, R. R. (ed.) Dismantling Contemporary Deficit Thinking: Educational Thought and Practice (Routledge, 2010).
Fitton, L., McIlraith, A. L. & Wood, C. L. Shared book reading interventions with English learners: a meta-analysis. Rev. Educ. Res. 88, 712–751 (2018).
Grøver, V., Rydland, V., Gustafsson, J.-E. & Snow, C. E. Shared book reading in preschool supports bilingual children’s second-language learning: a cluster-randomized trial. Child Dev. 91, 2192–2210 (2020).
Andersen, S. C. & Nielsen, H. S. Reading intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children’s skills. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 12111–12113 (2016).
Dowdall, N. et al. Shared picture book reading interventions for child language development: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Dev. 91, e383–e399 (2020).
Grøver, V. in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Literacy Education (eds Kucirkova, N. et al.) 284–295 (Routledge, 2017).
Wasik, B. A., Bond, M. A. & Hindman, A. The effects of a language and literacy intervention on Head Start children and teachers. J. Educ. Psychol. 98, 63–74 (2006).
Liang, L. A., Peterson, C. A. & Graves, M. F. Investigating two approaches to fostering children’s comprehension of literature. Read. Psychol. 26, 387–400 (2005).
Saunders, W. M. & Goldenberg, C. Effects of instructional conversations and literature logs on limited- and fluent-English-proficient students’ story comprehension and thematic understanding. Elem. Sch. J. 99, 277–301 (1999).
Carlo, M. S. et al. Closing the gap: addressing the vocabulary needs of English-language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms. Read. Res. Q. 39, 188–215 (2004).
Llosa, L. et al. Impact of a large-scale science intervention focused on English language learners. Am. Educ. Res. J. 53, 395–424 (2016).
National Research Council Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (National Academies Press, 1998).
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Future (National Academies Press, 2017).
Plante, A. J. A Study of Effectiveness of the Connecticut ‘Pairing’ Model of Bilingual/Bicultural Education (Connecticut Staff Development Cooperative, 1976).
Bleses, D., Lum, J., Hoejen, A. & Vach, W. Sprogvurdering af Boern i Treårsalderen, Inden Skolestart og i Boernehaveklassen (Boerne- og Socialministeriet, 2010).
Bleses, D., Vach, W., Joergensen, R. N. & Worm, T. The internal validity and acceptability of the Danish SI-3: a language screening instrument for 3-year-olds. J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. 53, 490–507 (2010).
Goodman, R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 38, 581–586 (1997).
Baron, R. M. & Kenny, D. A. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51, 1173–1182 (1986).
Imai, K., Keele, L. & Yamamoto, T. Identification, inference and sensitivity analysis for causal mediation effects. Stat. Sci. 25, 51–71 (2010).
Andersen, S. C., Humlum, M. K. & Nandrup, A. B. Increasing instruction time in school does increase learning. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 7481–7484 (2016).
Greevy, R., Lu, B., Silber, J. H. & Rosenbaum, P. Optimal multivariate matching before randomization. Biostatistics 5, 263–275 (2004).
Lu, B., Greevy, R., Xu, X. & Beck, C. Optimal nonbipartite matching and its statistical applications. Am. Stat. 65, 21–30 (2011).
Preacher, K. J. & Hayes, A. F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 36, 717–731 (2004).
Acknowledgements
The Ministry of Education was in charge of developing the programme. We thank VIA University College (especially M. V. Christensen) for the collection of data on student skills, and Rambøll Management (especially L. R. Hanssen) for administering the intervention and conducting the qualitative studies. We thank D. August and E. Hoff for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. We also thank L. Ringgaard, M. E. Kjær and N. B. Laursen for excellent research assistance. The Danish Ministry of Education funded the implementation and evaluation of the randomized controlled trial. We thank Spar Nord Fonden (no grant number; M.K.H.), the Rockwool Foundation (no grant number; S.C.A.) and TrygFonden (no grant number; S.C.A.) for additional financial support to carry out this project. The Ministry of Education played a role in study design and data collection. The Ministry of Education had no role in the analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The remaining funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
S.C.A., T.S.G. and M.K.H. contributed equally to the project.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Peer review information Nature Human Behaviour thanks James Cummins, Joshua Lawrence and C. Patrick Proctor for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Methods, Results, Figs. 1 and 2, Tables 1–13 and References.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Andersen, S.C., Guul, T.S. & Humlum, M.K. How first-language instruction transfers to majority-language skills. Nat Hum Behav 6, 229–235 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01200-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01200-x