A recent Canadian study highlights that children from allophone backgrounds often encounter challenges in learning and communication during their kindergarten years, which can adversely affect their educational experiences.
Mastering French while also nurturing language skills in one’s native tongue presents significant challenges. Consequently, allophone children frequently struggle with learning and communication in kindergarten, leading to potential hurdles in their educational paths. Nevertheless, effective solutions are becoming available.
A study spearheaded by Sylvana Côté shows that early education services can effectively assist children who speak French as a second or third language, helping them connect with peers who are native French speakers.
Professor Côté, affiliated with the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal (ESPUM), is the director of the Observatory for Children’s Education and Health and conducts research at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center. The study, led by Ophélie A. Collet, was recently published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
According to Professor Côté, “Being around other children and having an engaged team of educators prepares children for school more effectively than if they only grow up in a household that doesn’t use French or English. The years from one to five are incredibly important for developing language skills. It takes a community to raise a child, and in this case, that community is preschool.”
Enhancing Communication Skills
The results are striking. Allophone children who participated in daycare (or pre-kindergarten at age four, albeit to a lesser extent) exhibited superior cognitive growth, enhanced social and emotional abilities, and improved communication skills. These advancements are partly due to a solid foundation of general knowledge.
During the survey, 6.1% of kindergarteners in Quebec were from allophone families, totaling 4,360 children. Among these, close to 14% were not enrolled in any preschool before starting school, in contrast to just 6% of children whose first language was French.
The survey utilized the Early Development Instrument, a Canadian tool recognized internationally for assessing children’s readiness for kindergarten. Teachers, who engage closely with the children, filled out questionnaires providing insights into whether the children had access to preschool programs.
Professor Côté emphasizes the importance of ensuring that children whose primary language isn’t French do not suffer due to limited preschool availability. She notes that while bilingualism offers numerous cognitive benefits, the hurdles of learning multiple languages are substantial. Children require support during this vital developmental phase.
Factors for Academic Success
Successful mastery of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills by kindergarten is a strong indicator of a student’s persistence in their academic journey. Those without these skills are at a higher risk of not completing high school.
Out of the 80,000 children surveyed, 11.2% were excluded due to a lack of sufficient information, resulting in 71,589 participants. Of those, 48.8% were girls, and 25.6% were multilingual. This group included 13,981 bilingual children (speaking both English and French) and 4,360 allophone children, accounting for 6.1% of the total. Among the allophone group, 26% spoke Arabic, 18% spoke Spanish, and 7.3% spoke various African languages, along with children who spoke Creole, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, or Persian.
Tackling Social Inequities
Previous research indicates that high-quality daycare services are beneficial for all children, particularly those from economically less advantaged contexts. Established in 1997 in Quebec, the subsidized Early Childhood Centers (CPEs) aimed to alleviate social disparities and aid in achieving work-life balance. While some progress has been made in this regard, significant challenges persist in reducing inequality. Currently, only 30% of children have access to CPEs, and there are 2.5 times fewer centers located in underprivileged areas.
The researchers adjusted their findings to reflect various family financial situations. Professor Côté states, “The study illustrates the benefits of preschool education services regardless of economic background,” adding that higher-quality services are frequently found in prosperous neighborhoods.
“This research is a compelling reminder of the necessity to enhance quality daycare services. It’s a proactive approach to ensure better integration for children,” Professor Côté concludes. This study is the first to specifically focus on how preschool services affect the readiness of allophone children entering kindergarten.
Additionally, Professor Côté spearheads the Research Group on Child Psychosocial Maladjustment. She intends to follow up with the children when they reach fifth grade to evaluate the ongoing benefits of daycare.
About the Study
The study’s team, besides Ophélie Collet, includes Thuy Mai Luu, a pediatrician at CHU Sainte-Justine; Pascale M. Domond and Tianna Loose from the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre; Cédric Galéra from the Université de Bordeaux; Alejandro Vasquez-Echeverria from the University of the Republic of Uruguay; and Massimiliano Orri from Douglas Research Centre, McGill University.
“School Readiness and Early Childhood Education and Care Services Among Dual Language Learners,” authored by Ophélie Collet et al., was published in JAMA Pediatrics on November 11, 2024.
