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

<b>Purpose </b>This study examined the latent dimensionality of Spanish in young Spanish–English dual-language learners (DLLs). <br><b>Method </b>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. <br><b>Results </b>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. <br><b>Conclusion </b>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.

【研究目的】本研究考察了西班牙语-英语双语学习者（dual-language learners, DLLs）幼年阶段西班牙语的潜在维度结构。
【研究方法】本研究共招募286名儿童参与。在学前预备学年期间，儿童完成了西班牙语领域的常模参照测验与实验性语言测评任务，这些任务在接受性与表达性语言模态下均要求不同层级的认知加工。
【研究结果】最佳拟合模型显示为双因子结构：包含一个通用语言因子（general language factor）L，以及另外两个因子——词汇知识与整合性语言知识。通用特质L反映了所有测试项目的共同方差占比，而词汇知识与整合性语言知识这两个群因子则可解释对应项目子集的特定领域额外方差。
【研究结论】研究结果表明，学前阶段西班牙语-英语双语学习者的西班牙语能力无法划分为内容、形式与使用三个维度，也无法按照语言领域的高低层级或加工要求进行划分。相反，该群体的西班牙语口头语言能力似乎以通用语言因子为基础，而其他因子则可解释超出L之外的额外方差。本研究结论将与一项针对单语英语学前儿童的配套研究进行对比讨论。