Multicultural Repercussions in Linguistic Development: Effectson Academic Performance

Abstract The objective of this work is to verify the differences in the academic performance of students in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education who belong to a multicultural context in which an official language (Castilian) and a cultural dialect (darija) coexist. The sample is made up of a total of 501 Christian and Muslim students of the third year who were given a questionnaire that assesses the degree of acquisition of the competence aspects of the areas of communication and language, social and motor. For the analysis of the data set, descriptive and contrast tests of variables were used. The results demonstrate how the mother tongue is a main factor of differentiation in all areas of academic performance in this period, highlighting the communicative dimensions. These differences have a direct relationship with the adherence of Muslims to a cultural dialect.