Kabay, April C.. The influence on student-teacher relationships among low-income, bilingual Hispanic children. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3C53HVS
DescriptionResearch shows that positive student-teacher attachment relationships contribute to positive student outcomes including higher academic achievement, better school adjustment, and greater social-emotional functioning. Additionally, these relationships serve as protective factors for disadvantaged children exposed to various life stressors. For young English language learners, language skills and the ability to communicate with teachers influences the development of these relationships, especially in predominately English speaking classrooms. Given the differences in language skills of these children, it is important to understand how language proficiency affects the development of student-teacher relationships. This study examined 313 Hispanic preschool children ages 3 to 5 years old, from low-income families of an urban school district in the Northeast. Findings from hierarchical regression analyses suggest that language proficiency has a significant impact on student-teacher relationships. Teachers tended to rate their relationships as closer with students demonstrating greater English or Spanish proficiency skills than students with low language skills in either language. Additionally, teachers tended to rate their relationships with females as closer and reported experiencing fewer conflicts than with male students. The implications of this study are discussed.