Primary-language (Spanish) oral instructions yielded significantly higher English reading comprehension than English-only instructions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Grade 1 ELs receiving Spanish oral instructions achieved significantly higher English reading comprehension scores than the English-only instruction group, with both groups growing in English word reading. → ev-4

Evidence¶

Taboada Barber 2026¶

Taboada Barber, A., Urbano Aguilar, S., Lopez Rodriguez, A., and Pan, Y. (2026, September). Performing Is Not Teaching: What the Evidence Says About Reading Fluency Practices for Emergent Bilinguals. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/316

q3 · i? · review · r2

Rodriguez et al. (2012) compared two computer-based Lexia intervention groups over eight weeks; participants in both groups experienced significant growth in English word reading regardless of instruction language, and the Spanish-support group "achieved significantly higher scores in English reading comprehension". No effect size is printed.

"the group receiving primary language support (Spanish oral instructions) achieved significantly higher scores in English reading comprehension compared to the English oral instruction group"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Teaching students in a language they understand benefits both language learning and broader learning — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• English learners can learn to read in English at the same rate as their monolingual peers in the primary grades — related
• The HELPS one-to-one fluency program significantly outperformed control on GORT Fluency and GORT-Comprehension for grade 2 Spanish-speaking ELLs — related
• Growth in Spanish receptive language during Head Start predicts first-grade English letter-word identification and passage comprehension, with timing-of-exposure group differences for Spanish vocabulary — related
• Growth in bilingual preschoolers' English receptive vocabulary and oral comprehension during Head Start positively predicts first-grade English letter-word identification and passage comprehension — related
• Growth in English receptive language during Head Start predicts first-grade Spanish letter-word identification and passage comprehension, supporting cross-language transfer — related