A developmental analysis of fourth and fifth grade transitional bilingual students' Spanish and English writing

This study examined the grammar patterns in Spanish and English written responses of grades four and five transitional bilingual students. This descriptive study sought verb and adverbial use that reflected L1 acquisition and L2 learning. Also, in question was how many exited L2 learners actually met the writing competency. Grammar patterns were compared with the writing competency levels given by the multiple raters to determine rater reliability.; Fifteen boys' and fifteen girls' Spanish and English written responses for the two-year period were catalogued and analyzed. A total of 120 written samples were analyzed. The results showed that the English Language Learners' (ELLs') might not be getting the necessary L1 instruction that serves as a foundation for L2 learning.; Secondly, this study sought to find how many of the exited ELLs' met writing proficiency.{09}Analysis of the raters' scoring data showed that twenty percent of the boys emerged as competent Spanish writers in grade five and seven percent emerged as competent English writers in both grades four and five. None of the girls tested reached the competency levels in Spanish and seven percent emerged as competent English writers in both grade four and grade five. Next, the multiple raters' data was examined for reliability in placing or exiting students from the bilingual program. It was found that raters were classifying the students relatively well; nevertheless, they were not making the decision to exit the students. The Language Proficiency and Assessment Committee (LPAC), counselor, and administrators made the decision to exit these students.; The grammar data showed that the girls were writing longer manuscripts at the same below grade-appropriate levels in both languages. The boys made the most improvement in verb usages, but these were also below grade-appropriate levels. The adverbial usage in either language was limited. This in turn caused a lack of voice in the compositions. In cases where the adverbial usage declined, both gender groups experienced a loss of voice in both languages.