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Objective The Latina(o)/Hispanic (L/H) population represents the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States. Migration patterns have evolved and greater diversity (i.e. country of origin) is evident, highlighting the ever-changing heterogeneity of this community and the need for the field of neuropsychology to ensure equitable care for linguistically and culturally diverse communities. This paper aims to provide a flexible protocol of neuropsychological instruments appropriate for primarily Spanish-speaking adults residing in the United States. Method Spanish measures were selected based on availability, translations/cultural modifications, accompanying normative data sets, and clinician experience/acumen. Bilingual/bicultural providers of neuropsychological services to Spanish speakers across the training spectrum working at U.S.-based medical centers implemented a multimodal approach (i.e. literature search, clinical practice parameters, and focus groups) in the development of a multi-domain primary protocol that includes core and supplemental measures that are appropriate for individuals with varying linguistic proficiency and sociocultural demographic characteristics. Results A multi-domain, evidence-based, flexible neuropsychological protocol is presented. Recommendations for test selection based on sociocultural demographic factors and examples of clinical assessment practices are provided via a case illustration. Most instruments included may be applied across cultural and regional backgrounds. Conclusion Provision of neuropsychological services to primarily Spanish-speaking adults presents unique challenges. Existing Spanish measures and accompanying data rarely capture the heterogeneity of L/H individuals. Although Spanish has the largest number of neurocognitive instruments, relative to other languages, robust and representative norms continue to be scarce. Future studies should prioritize collecting normative data from educationally and geographically diverse samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs have emerged in the U.S. as effective ways to bring together language minority and language majority speakers in school settings with the goal of bilingualism and bi-literacy for all. However, the proliferation of these programs has raised concerns regarding issues of inequity and dissimilar power dynamics in these spaces (Cervantes-Soon, 2014, "A Critical Look at Dual Language Immersion in the New Latin@ Diaspora." Bilingual Research Journal 37 (1): 64–82; Flores, 2016, Do Black Lives matter in Bilingual Education [Web log post]. Accessed May 1, 2017. https://educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/do-black-lives-matter-in-bilingual-education/; Valdes, 1997, "Dual language immersion programs: A cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students." Harvard Educational Review 67: 391–430, 2018, "Analyzing the curricularization of language in two-way immersion education: Restating two cautionary notes." Bilingual Research Journal). With this in mind, this study aims to shed light on the intricate social processes at work in DLI contexts. In particular, this paper examines first, how notions of language use, race, and ethnicity are socially constructed and intersect in DLI settings; and second, it explores how these ideas are discerned and re-shaped by young children into their own social and linguistic norms. Employing qualitative research methods, this year-long ethnographic case study uses the intersectional lens of raciolinguistics (Alim, Rickford & Ball, 2016, Raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; Rosa & Flores, 2017, "Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective." Language in Society 46 (5): 621–647), to examine the intricate cross-cutting dynamics at play in bilingual spaces. The exploration of these ideas helps to illuminate the ways in which language practices and interactions are shaped by social constructions from a very early age. Furthermore, it contributes to understandings of social perceptions and relations in multilingual/multicultural/multiethnic contemporary school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas most research on child second language acquisition has focused on the oral production of children, studies are needed to illuminate patterns of literacy development in a second language. This paper aims to shed some light on this process, focusing on the English writing development of a native Spanish speaker, and on the Spanish writing development of a native English speaker, both enrolled in a two-way immersion program in the USA. Data for this particular study come from a longitudinal, national study, involving 484 students in 11 programs across the country. In this paper, we will present a case study of two students in the project, from the beginning of third grade through the end of fifth grade. The students' writing samples will be discussed using an analytic rubric developed for the project. This rubric addresses three major aspects of writing — composition, grammar and mechanics — and provides a clear framework for investigating changes in writing ability over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-way bilingual programs have the potential to promote bilingualism, biliteracy, and pluralism in minority and majority group students who study together in two languages. This paper examines how a focal group of Mexican-background middle school students enrolled in a two-way maintenance bilingual program learned to value English over Spanish at school. Evidence supporting students' choice of English over their native language came from close analysis of interactional patterns with peers and teachers in classes and informal settings and from students' explanations of their lived school experiences in interviews over a three year period during middle school. Elements of the hidden curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment policy served to devalue students' native linguistic cultural capital compelling them to use English in the classroom and within peer culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This poem reflects on my work as an elementary level bilingual teacher. In the poem I highlight poignant moments shared with my Latinx students. I also explore my positionality and its significance in my work as a teacher. The poem uses a fluid mixture of English and Spanish to represent the daily linguistic culture of our shared classroom life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of language experience on the presence of the receptive-expressive gap. Each of 778 Spanish-English bilingual children screened pre-kindergarten in Utah and Texas were assigned to one of five language experience groups, ranging from functionally monolingual to balanced bilingual. Children's scores from the language screener semantics subtest administered in both Spanish and English were standardized, and receptive and expressive semantic scores were compared. Children presented with a meaningful gap between receptive and expressive semantic knowledge in English but not Spanish. This gap increased as target-language exposure decreased. Results indicate that current language experience plays a dominant role in influencing the appearance and magnitude of the receptive-expressive gap. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This investigation intends to assess the effectiveness of a lexical recognition test (Meara & Buxton, 1987) as a placement tool that distinguishes among levels of two groups of students: Spanish heritage language learners (HLL) and second language learners (SLL). Three hundred and thirty university students from four different levels completed a 10-minute/200-word task based on Davies’ (2006) Spanish frequency corpora. The results were compared to those from a control group of bilingual graduate students. As comparison measures, about half of the students completed a Cloze Test while the rest were asked to carry out a Multiple-task Test. The results of the study suggest that for SLL, and HLL at the lower levels of language ability, a lexical test based on the 5000 most frequent words in Spanish is a valid and practical testing tool that correlates with other measures of language proficiency. For more advanced levels of HLL, a wider range of words is necessary to avoid the ceiling effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

US bilingual classrooms were originally created for students who had limited proficiency in English, but who came from homes where reading and writing formed an integral part of their lives. This article explores the challenge of having a growing number of indigenous Mexican students in US bilingual classrooms who do not come from literate backgrounds and whose oral expression is not associated with the academic registers of school. This article documents the role or mediation (or interactional scaffolding) taking place in conversations between a teacher and two indigenous Mexican-Mixteco students who were attending a New York City dual-language, bilingual kindergarten class (Spanish-English). This article sheds light on the complex process that mastering academic language requires and the vital role that teacher-student interactions play in the development and understanding of academic language. These interactions cannot be left to chance; they require thoughtful planning and have to be collectively constructed and practiced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine how 659 Hispanic students in dual language programs in segregated or predominantly Hispanic/low socio-economic status (SES) schools are performing on standardized tests compared to school and statewide comparison groups. Test results are presented from two separate studies of English language learner and native English-speaking Hispanic students in four schools. Data are consistent in showing that Hispanic students participating in dual language programs in predominantly Hispanic/low SES schools achieve at similar or higher levels compared to their mainstream peers in tests of English. In addition, students achieve above grade level in assessments in Spanish. This study affirms the versatility of the dual language program for this increasingly common educational context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of 724 families of dual language enrichment students in the South-West USA explored what kinds of families had chosen dual language education for their children and why. Of those parents who chose dual language for their children, 45.4% speak primarily English with their child, while 54.6% speak primarily Spanish. English-dominant parents constitute 24.7% of those who so chose, while 34.2% are Spanish-dominant and 40.5% are bilingual. In terms of education level, 50% of them have a high school education or less, 32.1% have an undergraduate degree and 17.9% have a graduate education. Of all respondents, 93.6% said they chose dual language so that their child would be able to speak, read and write in two languages, making it the most frequently selected followed by to be successful in a global society (63.1%), to be more successful in school (61.3%) and to be comfortable relating to different people (60.7%). There are several implications: not all parents have the same motivations; bilingual parents are different from monolingual parents; and more needs to be known about parents of secondary students as well as parents opting out of dual language programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]