Administrative implications on the effects of prior language, socioeconomic status, oral language proficiency rate, and age on second language acquisition

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships of selected variables on second language acquisition. The students in this study attended a local high school in Honolulu, Hawaii upon their arrival from Vietnam. The forty students were non-English speakers learning English for the first time. The second language Vietnamese students were analyzed in comparison groups of: (1) prior language and socio-economic status, (2) prior language and early language proficiency or attainment, (3) prior language and age, (4) socio-economic status and early language proficiency or attainment, and (5) socio-economic status and age.;The data for the ex post facto co-relational study were based on the external and internal environmental variables which were identified as the factors of the comparison groups mentioned. Various levels of these factors were investigated to test for possible significant relationships. The adjusted means of the dependent variable, cumulative grade point averages, were tested to determine if any significant differences exist among the groups. The covariates were the reading, math, and language raw scores of the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT).;Several Two-Way Analysis of Covariances revealed no significant differences among the comparison groups of: (1) prior language and socio-economic status, (2) prior language and early language proficiency or attainment, (3) prior language and age, (4) socio-economic status and early language proficiency or attainment, and (5) socio-economic status and age. Neither the main effects nor the interaction effects were statistically significant.;The study indicated that because the nature of the MAT in the three content areas (reading, math, and language) resembles the expectations of the school curriculum, the prediction of students' success in the curriculum is more closely related to their performance in these areas of the standardized test. Although prior language, socio-economic status, early language proficiency (oral), and age may have some relationship to the students' GPA's, the differences are not significant. The adjusted means of the GPA's based on the covariates of MAT reading, math, and language indicated that the group was homogeneous.