Young Spanish–English Dual-Language Learners (Language and Reading Research Consortium, 2015)

Purpose This study examined the latent dimensionality of Spanish in young Spanish–English dual-language learners (DLLs). Method Two hundred eighty-six children participated. In their prekindergarten year, children completed norm-referenced and experimental language measures in Spanish requiring different levels of cognitive processing in both receptive and expressive language modalities. Results The best-fitting model suggested a bifactor solution with a single general language factor L plus two additional factors word knowledge and integrative language knowledge. The general trait L reflects the proportion of common item variance for all of the items, and the group traits of word knowledge and integrative language knowledge explain additional domain-specific variance for those item subsets. Conclusion Results suggest that the Spanish language in preschool-age Spanish–English DLLs is not separable into content, form, and use, nor is it separable by higher- and lower-level language domains or processing demands. Instead it appears that a general language factor underlies oral language in Spanish in DLL preschoolers and that other factors account for additional variance over and above L. Findings are discussed in relation to a companion study of monolingual English-speaking prekindergarteners.