Supporting emergent literacy for English language learners with computer-assisted instruction

The growing number of students whose primary language does not match the language of their schools and a steadily growing performance gap has prompted widespread attention to support emergent literacy gains for those students. This study randomly assigned schools in a Southwestern U.S. state with English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten and first grade to an experimental computer-assisted instruction (CAI) condition or a business as usual' control. The study tracked ELLs performance over one academic year using a nationally normed standardised reading test. The results demonstrated first-grade students in the experimental condition demonstrated greater gains compared with the control students in the domains of vocabulary, phonics, phonological awareness and text comprehension. Gains for kindergarten were less consistent; however, the lowest language proficient students using CAI experienced greater gains in vocabulary when compared with controls. Results extend prior studies targeting ELL students' reading skill development with targeted CAI interventions.