Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/teacher-teacher-what-do-you-see-understanding-classroom-behaviors-with-dual-language-learners/5026566/
Dual language learners represent the fastest growing student group in the United States. They are 32 percent of all children 8 years and younger (Meek et al., 2019). Young DLL children vary in their race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, culture, disability status, nativity status, home language, language ability, academic achievement, and more. In terms of race and ethnicity, approximately 62 percent of the birth-through-8 population of DLLs identifies as Latinx, 16 percent as white/other, 15 percent as Asian, 6 percent as Black, and 0.8 percent as American Indian (Meek et al., 2019). About two thirds of these children live in homes where Spanish is spoken, but many other languages are represented in this diverse population, including Mandarin, Vietnamese, American Sign Languange, Arabic, as well as different varieties of English and heritage indigenous languages.
In California, the young DLL population is equally diverse in terms of cultures, races, ethnicities, and languages. In fact, California is one of the most diverse in the country, with six out of every 10 young students identifying as DLL. Most DLLs in California speak Spanish at home, exclusively or in addition to English, but due to its diversity, many language varieties are found in the state. (Meek et ...