Promoting Language and Literacy Engagement within a Preschool Spanish Language Program

This study focuses on the effectiveness of promoting preschool children's interest in and engagement with Spanish language and literacy by means of a program offered through a children's bookstore that exposed them to Spanish books, stories, and games. Considerable research indicates that the younger children are exposed to a second language, the better the long-term language benefits. An action research methodology was used to investigate which instructional activities promoted language and literacy engagement among toddlers whose parents come from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Interviews with parents were conducted to understand perceptions of their children's language learning and literacy engagement both in the Spanish class and outside. The findings suggest that children's motivation towards language learning and literacy engagement can be enhanced through the implementation of a Spanish language program that includes engaging activities and appealing materials.M.A