title: Interlocutor differential effects on the expressive language skills of Spanish-speaking English learners.
abstract: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between language use with different interlocutors, maternal education level and the expressive language skills of US English learners (ELs) in Spanish and English.
  
  
  
  Two hundred and twenty-four Spanish-speaking ELs in kindergarten provided narrative language samples in Spanish and English. Parents completed a questionnaire of maternal education level and language use with parents, older siblings and peers.
  
  
  
  Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that language used with different interlocutors and maternal education level had unique effects on participants' expressive language skills. ELs' expressive language skills in English were predicted by interactions with older siblings, peers and maternal education level; Spanish expressive language skills were predicted by interactions with older siblings.
  
  
  
  The findings from this study suggest that the determination of language experience of school-age bilingual children should examine differential language use with multiple interlocutors, particularly interactions with older siblings and peers.
authors.affiliation: a School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas , Dallas , TX , USA .
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: b Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Delaware , Newark , DE , USA .
authors.forename: Aquiles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.affiliation: c Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Houston , Houston , TX , USA .
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bunta
authors.affiliation: d La Salle University , Philadelphia , PA , USA .
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: e School of Education, Stanford University , Stanford , CA , USA , and.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.affiliation: f College of Education, California State University Long Beach , Long Beach , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reese
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group; D035781:Siblings
keywords: Spanish-speaking ELs; expressive language skills; interlocutor differential effects