Chapter 2: Second Language Issues in Early Literacy and Instruction

Demographic trends indicate that in the 21st century, second language issues in early literacy development will remain a pressing concern. According to the 1990 U.S. census, over 6.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 spoke a language other than English at home (Crawford, 2001). This number has grown to over 9.7 million as estimated from data reported in the 2000 U.S. Census (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000; Crawford, 2001). In terms of school enrollment data reported by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), in the decade 1990–2000, the number of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students is projected to have grown 104.3% compared to the projected growth of 13.6% in overall K-12 student enrollment (NCBE, 1999). The importance of learning English, and of being literate in English is not the issue. What is at stake is how we educate students who do not speak English natively beyond the submersion approach that has characterized much of the educational experience of language minorities in this country. The combination of changing demographics and limited funding for bilingual education and ESL (English as a Second Language) programs means that mainstream teachers need to be informed about second language (L2) issues in reading development. This chapter seeks to assess the state of current research on L2 reading instruction and teacher preparation, and to determine the implications for instruction, teacher education, and future research.