| dc.description.abstract | Children with Down syndrome (DS) are largely excluded from the foreign language (FL) classroom, and no research exists documenting their abilities to learn a FL. Research is needed to demonstrate the abilities of children with DS to learn a FL so that they might be included in the FL classroom along with their typically developing peers and be afforded the same benefits of learning a second language. This exploratory mixed methods multiple case study is the first to document the participation of elementary-aged children with DS with and without a comorbid diagnosis of autism in a FL class and to measure the receptive and expressive lexical acquisition of Spanish as a FL in students with DS. In the first phase, students underwent a six-week Spanish intervention. In the second phase, vocabulary assessments based off of the Spanish intervention curriculum were developed, and in the third phase, participants were assessed on their expressive and receptive Spanish vocabulary using standardized assessments and the instrumentation developed in stage 2. All students demonstrated measurable evidence of Spanish vocabulary acquisition, with receptive acquisition exceeding expressive, and exposure to a FL did not appear to impact L1 vocabulary development. Students with a dual diagnosis of autism did not differ significantly from their peers with DS only in acquisition. Additionally, L1 receptive ability, performance on a nonword repetition task, maternal education, and L1 expressive ability were found to significantly correlate with FL acquisition. Finally, the qualitative and quantitative data was combined to provide an overall language acquisition profile of each child who participated in the multiple case study. Implications for children with DS, FL teachers, school administrators and other professionals, and Christian schools are discussed. | en_US |
