Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Spanish-English Emergent Bilinguals' Language Development and Experiences

In this study, we examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children's language development and experiences, particularly focusing on a socioeconomically disadvantaged population of Spanish-English emergent bilinguals. Using propensity score matching, we compared pandemic (n = 82) to pre-pandemic cohorts (n = 112) across multiple dimensions of language skills and experiences. Results revealed no significant differences between cohorts in English and Spanish language proficiency measures, English reading abilities, language experiences in school, relative English experience, or English reading frequency. However, pre-pandemic children engaged in Spanish reading more frequently than their pandemic-era counterparts; pandemic-cohort children demonstrated enhanced benefits from more English experience in English reading comprehension, English phonological awareness, and heightened benefit from more Spanish experience in their development of Spanish vocabulary, compared to pre-pandemic peers. The observed differential effects of English experience between cohorts suggest potential compensatory mechanisms in language learning during disrupted formal education.