Learning English as a second language: a case study of a Chinese girl in an American preschool.

Every culture enriches our lives with its own unique beauty and wisdom. Yet we all share the same hopes and dreams, the same need for love, home, and kinship. These are the common threads that bind us together.--One Family in One World--and for this we are thankful.

--Early Childhood Research Center, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York 

The number of families that have immigrated to the United States, and families that have come to the United States temporarily for educational purposes, has been increasing. The most recent U.S. census (Shin & Bruno, 2003) showed that 47 million people (approximately one in six people) ages 5 and over speak a language other than English at home, compared to 31.8 million a decade earlier. This represents 18 percent of the total population in 2000 and 14 percent in 1990. Due to the enormous shifts in society in recent years, today's young children live in a diverse society of people with different perspectives and experiences (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Janson (2001) noted that "Diversity, in terms of social, cultural and ethnic background or cognitive, physical and psychological prerequisites, is a characteristic of today's preschool" (p. 137). However, Tabors (1997) indicated that non-English-speaking young children under the age of 6 do not have sufficient support in an optimal learning environment compared to school-age children, and few studies have been conducted concerning these very young children. Therefore, research is needed on how educators create a supportive learning environment for children who have limited English proficiency in a preschool setting. This will help educators increase their understanding of children's unique needs in a culturally and linguistically diverse classroom, which in turn will make these children's preschool lives more meaningful and enjoyable.

PLAY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Children are naturally able to learn many things by interacting with their parents, caregivers, adults, and peers through play, no matter what language they speak. Play is not just an amusement for children. It also serves many functions in nurturing their cognitive, social, emotional, and linguistic development. Vygotsky (1978) regarded play as a leading activity for promoting a child's development, stating that

play creates a zone of proximal development of the child. In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior ... play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form and is itself a major source of development. (p. 102)

Building friendships through play is an important aspect of preschool. Through play, children learn interpersonal skills that increase their ability to function successfully as members of groups. They can find socially acceptable ways of fulfilling their needs and also enhance their feelings of self-esteem and competence. Prosocial behavior, such as helping, sharing, and cooperating, plays a crucial role in developing friendships and togetherness among young children (Avgitidou, 2001; Janson, 2001; Miller, 2003). As a result, children are more likely to use verbal strategies of expressing togetherness by imitating and repeating words, especially nonsense words, and referring to sameness explicitly, such as by saying, "Me, too," in order to show togetherness among peers (Haan & Singer, 2001; Poole, 2003).

Thus, play enriches children's language development and helps them extend their language use, especially while interacting with peers in play dialogues (Berk, 1994; Wilford, 2003). Sociodramatic play--dramatic play with one or more peers--provides children with rich opportunities for language learning through negotiating ideas and clarifying appropriate behavior (Bodrova & Leong, 2003; Catron & Allen, 2003; Riojas-Cortez, 2001). Sociodramatic play places a high demand on children's linguistic ability (Garvey, 1977) and promotes interactions and verbal communication among peers within the play context (Isenberg & Jalongo, 1997).

Several studies have shown that including sign language in play and activities with teachers' instruction in preschools helps young children retain information and provides a richer language base in their later life (Crawford, 2001; Daniels, 1994a, 1994b, 1996; Reynolds, 1995). For example, Daniels (1994a) found that integrating sign language into a preschool curriculum can help children gain receptive English vocabulary.

Crawford (2001) indicated that "preschoolers build vocabularies much faster when taught to identify words by sight, sound, and sign" (p. 30). Sign language enables young children to learn through movement and they respond with enthusiasm and enjoyment (Reynolds, 1995). Reynolds (1995) posits that "the greatest learning occurs when the tactile and kinesthetic channels are engaged or paired with the auditory and visual modalities" (p. 5). Thus, dynamic interactions between teachers and children can offer multiple ways for strengthening young children's language development through interaction and play, including sign language in preschools.

While some studies have examined second language (L2) learning in young children who have at least one peer who speaks the same first language (L1) in the same preschool classroom (Clarke, 1999; Damhuis, 1993; Fraser & Wakefield, 1986), little research has been done concerning a young child learning an L2 through play in a natural setting in preschool where no one else in the classroom speaks the same L1 as she or he does.

The purpose of this present study, therefore, is to explore how an L2 learning child (a Chinese girl) will adjust to new linguistic environments and develop her L2 ability through interactions with her teachers and peers, who are ethnically and culturally diverse, through play in preschool. The research questions are: 1) How do interactions with a Chinese girl's teachers and her peers through play affect her L2 development? 2) How has this Chinese girl developed her L2 skills over time? and 3) What kind of strategies does she employ to promote her L2 development?

A CASE STUDY OF A CHINESE GIRL

The present study was conducted using an ethnographic design--the author was a participant observer (as an intern) at a university-affiliated preschool in order to understand the dynamics of the class, learn more about individual participants, and get more in-depth information. The preschool integrates sign language into the class activities.

The "Panda" class in the preschool was selected as a research site. It is a multiethnic class with 26 children, ages 3 to 5. Nine out of 26 children speak a language other than English at home, such as Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese. This study focused on Jasmine, a 3-year-old Chinese girl, who spoke no English at the beginning of the spring 2004 semester. She previously had had a negative experience in a child care center, where all the teachers only spoke English. She attended that child care center for a month and then refused to return.

I gathered data based on my class participation and observation in the Panda class once a week from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., January to April 2004. Two teachers, both international doctoral students in early childhood education at the university, also were participants in the study: Young Sung, who is a native speaker of Korean, and Sarah, who is from Ethiopia and speaks Amharic as her L1. Three interns--Lisa (Puerto Rican, Spanish), Kate (American, English), and this author (Japanese, Japanese)--also regularly came to the Panda class once a week to assist the teachers and play with the children.

My data sources for the study include field notes from classroom participation and observations, and note-taking from casual conversations with the teachers, interns, children, and their parents. I asked the teachers and their students' parents to complete a questionnaire in order to obtain their demographic information. Interviews with the teachers and the Chinese girl's parent were used in order to get more detailed information.

FACTORS INFLUENCING JASMINErS L2 DEVELOPMENT

Teachers' Bilingual and Bicultural Backgrounds

At the beginning of the semester, Jasmine was not ready to join in play with other children in the classroom. She seldom smiled for anyone at the preschool. Since she had had a traumatic experience at her previous child care center, she initially needed adult support to feel secure and comfortable in the classroom. At first, Jasmine was more likely to stand around the teachers or sit quietly by herself doing little until the teachers invited her to play. Interestingly, when I was in the classroom, she followed me to get my attention and seemed to want to play with me.

Liu and Blila's (1995) research on 3- to 10-year-old children's ethnic awareness and attitudes shows that Anglo American children are likely to have positive attitudes towards people who share their physical characteristics. In choosing friends, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American children tend to prefer children who have similar physical characteristics, including hair, skin, and eye colors. Since Jasmine did not establish friendships with other children in the classroom early in the semester, she might have been disposed to regard me as a friend as aspects of my appearance are similar to hers. According to her mother, Jasmine felt more comfortable with me or with Young Sung, who also resembled her Asian parents.

Whenever they noticed she was alone and doing little, Young Sung and Sarah would approach Jasmine and initiate interactions with her. They used a lot of gestures and talked to her slowly and clearly until Jasmine responded to them, even if only nonverbally. Teachers observed her carefully and tried to read her nonverbal cues to understand what she wanted to do. When Jasmine wanted to say something, they became active listeners. The teachers' bicultural and bilingual backgrounds seemed to help them be sensitive to Jasmine's needs and feelings. They explained that they understood how Jasmine felt, having been in a similar position when they learned English as a second language. This was especially evident in the way in which they used English with her during play. As Jasmine spent more time within this mentally and physically nurturing environment, she established intimacy and trust with her teachers and friends. This appeared to enable her to have a positive attitude towards learning through play while interacting with the teachers, interns, and peers.

Power of Friendship

Play provided Jasmine with good opportunities to foster her friendships with the other children in the classroom; this helped her L2 development tremendously. One crucial event happened in the second month of Jasmine's preschool life that positively affected her engagement in play with her peers at a later time.

The "Lunch Bunch" children, who either attend both morning (Panda) and afternoon (Koala) classes or choose to stay for lunch by their preference, eat together. This was the place where Jasmine increased her friendships with other children. Jasmine joined the Lunch Bunch in her second month (February). However, when lunch time came on Wednesday of the first week she joined the Lunch Bunch, Jasmine held my hand and did not want to go with the other children; instead, she sobbed and stood still in the classroom, not wanting to move. Sumire, who speaks Japanese and English at home and had joined the Lunch Bunch, noticed Jasmine's behavior. She came over to her, and said, "Jasmine, don't you remember we had a lot of fun yesterday? Let's go together." Sumire knew that Jasmine needed some help from her friends to join the group. Sumire smiled and held Jasmine's hand to go to the Lunch Bunch together. Sumire's empathy, her warm and welcoming attitude, made Jasmine feel secure and made it easier to get into the group.

Avgitidou (2001) supports the idea that children's demonstration of empathy--concern, affection, and helping behavior--helps them develop their friendships. Jasmine seemed to understand she was being accepted and included in the group, which made her feel secure and comfortable; this, in turn, increased her self-confidence. Furthermore, when Sumire started playing with language by chanting "Silly Billy Young Soonie," using their teacher's name (Young Sung) in the Lunch Bunch, Jasmine monitored her utterances carefully and joined in with a big smile. She was "mimicking" what Sumire was saying, one of Jasmine's most frequently used strategies. Her experience at the Lunch Bunch also motivated her to interact with her friends verbally through play in the classroom.

For example, Jasmine received an invitation card from Angela (an English monolingual child) to join her party in the dramatic play area. Jasmine was very happy, and brought the invitation to show to me, saying "letter." She showed it to all the other teachers in the classroom to express her happiness. She came back to me and said "give letter," meaning that she wanted to write a letter to Angela. She started using the words that she knew in order to express her needs and wants. She wrote a letter (it was actually a card with a drawing and Angela's name) to Angela and gave it to her. Angela smiled at Jasmine, saying, "Thank you, Jasmine," and Jasmine smiled at Angela in return; they started playing together in the dramatic play area afterwards.

When Jasmine's friend said during the class hour, "I'm gonna go to Lunch Bunch today," Jasmine said in a loud voice, "Me, too." When her friend was jumping off the steps, saying, "I can jump from here," she said again, "Me, too." She learned the phrase "Me, too" through play because her peers were always using that expression. She said "Me, too" in order to show togetherness among her peers.

Jasmine started smiling more, made funny faces with her friends, leaned into her friends by holding hands, and made jokes with other friends by playing with language, like "Silly Billy Young Soonie," or tickling each other. These friendships made her feel more comfortable and lessened her anxiety about spending time apart from her parents; moreover, Jasmine increased her motivation to interact with her friends, which also helped facilitate her English language development day by day. Thus, friendships played an important role in joining the play with her peers.

Sociodramatic Play

After Jasmine built friendships with her peers, I observed that she began to spend more time in the dramatic play area. Dramatic play required Jasmine to use more English to negotiate the ideas involved in role-playing with her peers. For example, I was involved with, and observed, Jasmine's engagement in an art project, which contributed to later sociodramatic play among three girls, including Jasmine.

One day, as Meghan (English only), Tina (English and Spanish), and Dorothy (English and Portuguese) made a frog puppet with me at an art table, Jasmine observed what we were doing from a distance. Her nonverbal communication, such as gazing at what others are doing and her gestures, often conveyed multiple meanings in the classroom. In this instance, when I asked Jasmine to join the table and make a puppet, she nodded and joined us. She enjoyed making a frog and interacted with the other children around the table with my assistance.

After Jasmine made the frog puppet, I encouraged her to join Betty (English only) and Dorothy, who were playing with their own puppets in the dramatic play area. Jasmine jumped off my lap and went to join them, using her puppet to say "Hello." Betty, Dorothy, and Jasmine played together with their puppets and extended their play afterwards.

According to Christie and Wardle (1992), the length of play has a direct effect on the quality of the play. Berkley (2004) stresses that how long children play in the sociodramatic area is an important component of high-quality play. The three girls spent the rest of their free-play time in the sociodramatic area, using their puppets and extending their play with baby dolls, rocking chairs, and other toys in that area. I could see Jasmine's lip movements from a distance. A puppet for Jasmine had a special meaning--a tool by which she could join the interactions among the other children without being afraid of challenging them. It was also a good opportunity for her to promote her language and social skills through interactions with her peers.

Jasmine's Learning Strategies

Jasmine had made tremendous progress in her L2 development during a short period of time. She started by saying nothing, instead using such nonverbal communication as gestures (nodding or shaking her head from side to side), sign language, and facial expressions. The following story shows how Jasmine used her strategies to learn new expressions in English.

Early in the semester of her preschool life, Jasmine had an accident: She wet herself because, according to her mother, she did not know how to say "I want to go pee" in English. I made a Kamishibai (a Japanese picture-story show) titled "A Little Monster Tommy" for her toilet training, but it turned into a whole-class story time. The story was interactive, with a teacher (myself) and the students. In the story, Monster Tommy said, "I want to go pee," and so did all the children in the classroom but Jasmine. However, right after finishing the Kamishibai, Jasmine approached me and said, "Pee." This incident highlights several points related to her L2 development and her use of learning strategies.

First, while all the other children were saying "I want to go pee," Jasmine was gathering information through careful watching and active listening. She might have verbalized the phrase, but it was inaudible because the other children's voices were loud with excitement. Second, she expressed her needs in one single word, which covered the meaning of a whole sentence, "I want to go pee." Clarke (1999) and Saville-Troike (1988) found that the use of a single word is a common feature of the early stage of second language acquisition. Third, "pee," which appeared at the end of the sentence in "I want to go pee," was rehearsed and obtained in her memory; Saville-Torike (1988) notes that young children are more likely to pay attention to the end of a sentence.

In addition, while I helped Jasmine get dressed after she went to the bathroom, I said to her, "I liked it when you said 'Pee' to me," and gave her a hug. She was smiling and laughing. My words to Jasmine offered meaningful feedback by giving her credit for what she had done well. It enhanced her self-esteem and her confidence that she could finally say "pee" and not wet herself this time. This experience also encouraged her to produce more oral utterances in her interactions with her teachers and peers.

Sign language seemed to help Jasmine understand what she was doing by matching it with what she was saying. At her preschool, sign language was used when everyone sang the "Hello Song" and the "Goodbye Song" and on other occasions such as snack time. By the second week of attending the preschool, Jasmine was using one of the signs that was used in class, "More," when she wanted to have more juice or more Cheerios during snack time. She used sign language as an alternative communication system, which may have promoted her communication ability.

Creating songs and using chants with familiar nursery melodies is a good strategy for making children aware of rhythm and words. Jasmine developed her vocabulary with enthusiasm and enjoyment, using sign language to sing the songs in class every day. She also enjoyed finger plays, along with other songs, such as "Five Little Monkeys" and "Where Is Thumbkin?" She monitored the utterances of those who spoke English by active listening and watching. She used private speech to repeat and rehearse her own utterances until she was ready to speak up in public, mimicking them.

Within a couple of weeks, Jasmine had begun speaking one or two words and a few phrases, such as "Yes," "No," "Thank you," "You're welcome," and some names of colors and numbers. In a month, she was able to construct a sentence while interacting with her teachers, interns, and peers, such as "I can do," "I want try," and "Young Sung walk." At the end of the semester, she constructed a complex sentence using subject-verb-direct object-indirect object (S+V+DO+ID) as in, "Mommy give me ice cream." Even though her utterances were not grammatically accurate, she improved her English proficiency enough to communicate with others.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP CHILDREN WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY?

One of the implications from these observations is that a teacher's bilingual and bicultural background seems to help L2 learning children adjust to a new culture, especially for their affective domains. A teacher who is bilingual and bicultural (particularly one who speaks the same language as the L2 students in class or has a similar ethnic background or physical appearance) may be able to give special care, depending on children's needs for more comfort and security in the beginning. This can help them adjust in a new linguistic and social environment.

If the teacher and his or her students are of different ethnicities, it may be wise to find someone of the same or similar ethnicity as the students to spend time with them in the classroom in the early stage of their L2 development. Of course, placing a bilingual teacher or a bilingual aide for each ethnic group of students with limited English proficiency in a culturally and linguistically diverse classroom may not be realistic. However, having a positive attitude towards learning students' L1 and making an effort to understand and reach them may be a good way to show them respect and acceptance of their L1 and culture. This may help build positive relationships between the teacher and the students, or even between the teacher and parents. What is important is the nurturing, responsive, and loving quality of the teacher, regardless of his or her ethnicity or native language.

Second, it is important for any adults surrounding children who are learning an L2, including teachers and parents, to be sensitive enough to understand those children's feelings through both verbal and nonverbal interactions. The role of a teacher is to be a good observer and active listener and to provide a safe, comfortable atmosphere with meaningful input for the children. The teacher's use of body language, along with verbal expressions, will help promote children's understanding. The teachers may make a bridge for them to get into their peers' world. This way, the L2 children can more efficiently improve their communication skills, including language skills, through interactions with their teachers and peers.

Third, teachers should learn when and how to provide appropriate scaffolding to the children through play, which is one of the crucial aspects of Vygotsky's perspectives on child development. For example, a teacher's role is to provide the necessary assistance to children at a preparatory stage for sociodramatic play and, once they get into it, try to step aside from the children's world of play as much as possible (Bodrova & Leong, 2003). This will give the children a good opportunity to challenge themselves and promote both their language and social skills through interactions with their peers. The use of puppets can help L2 children join the interactions among the other children with less anxiety. The use of sign language in classroom activities also can be helpful for L2 children, who may use it as an alternative tool for communication.

FINAL WORDS

The present study was a case study focusing on one Chinese girl's L2 development; hence, the results should not be generalized. Further research on the long-term effects of L2 development with a larger number of child participants of various ethnic origins besides Chinese needs to be conducted. However, this study could be helpful in creating a supportive environment for those who have a child whose L1 is not the dominant language and no other child speaks the same language (as was evident in Jasmine's case). The teacher and children can promote cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and linguistic development for L2 learners.

Each child brings a unique linguistic, social and family background to school, which creates a diverse and dynamic classroom. Thus, we need to keep in mind that learning to approach children with an understanding heart is crucial to facilitating their development as a whole.

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Chizuko Konishi is a doctoral student, Department of Learning and Instruction, The State University of New York at Buffalo.