{"id":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1767"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/montana-tech/oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1767","repository":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","name":"Montana Technology","base_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS SKILL OF SEGMENTING IN BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH SPEAKING 4- AND 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN","abstract":"Abstract Segmenting, the ability to pull apart words into their smaller linguistic units, is a known predictor of early literacy. This study investigated the segmenting skills (a component of phonological awareness PA), in bilingual English/Spanish-speaking 4-and 5-year-old children at the levels of syllable, onset-rime and phoneme. The results of this study were then compared to a previous study that explored PA skill development in monolingual English speaking children of the same ages. The comparative analysis explores how bilingualism impacts PA skill development. This study examined the segmenting skills of 31 bilingual students who attended a Spanish immersion school, the majority of whom identify English as their first language. The 31 monolingual students, with whom the bilingual data was compared, attended an English only school in the same community. The students in both groups were matched by gender as well as by age in months, ranging from 4 years to 5 and one half years of age. By age, the students were grouped into three categories according to six-month intervals (4.0-4.5, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0 to 5.5 years of age). Findings indicated increased segmenting ability for bilingual students versus monolingual students at the onset-rime and phonemic levels, but no difference was revealed at the syllable level. With age, there is evidence of an increased segmenting ability for 5-year-olds versus 4-year-olds at the syllable level in both groups, but no significant difference was detected between six-month intervals (i.e. between 4.0- 4.5 and 4.5-5.0, or, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0-5.5 years of age). For the bilingual group, findings indicated an increased ability to detect and produce segments at the onset-rime level in English versus Spanish; the differences in segmenting at the syllable and phoneme levels were not statistically significant. When comparing the segmenting abilities of both groups, this study revealed evidence of an increased segmenting ability in children who learned two languages (English and Spanish) versus those who learned one language (English only).","abstract_html":"Abstract Segmenting, the ability to pull apart words into their smaller linguistic units, is a known predictor of early literacy. This study investigated the segmenting skills (a component of phonological awareness PA), in bilingual English/Spanish-speaking 4-and 5-year-old children at the levels of syllable, onset-rime and phoneme. The results of this study were then compared to a previous study that explored PA skill development in monolingual English speaking children of the same ages. The comparative analysis explores how bilingualism impacts PA skill development. This study examined the segmenting skills of 31 bilingual students who attended a Spanish immersion school, the majority of whom identify English as their first language. The 31 monolingual students, with whom the bilingual data was compared, attended an English only school in the same community. The students in both groups were matched by gender as well as by age in months, ranging from 4 years to 5 and one half years of age. By age, the students were grouped into three categories according to six-month intervals (4.0-4.5, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0 to 5.5 years of age). Findings indicated increased segmenting ability for bilingual students versus monolingual students at the onset-rime and phonemic levels, but no difference was revealed at the syllable level. With age, there is evidence of an increased segmenting ability for 5-year-olds versus 4-year-olds at the syllable level in both groups, but no significant difference was detected between six-month intervals (i.e. between 4.0- 4.5 and 4.5-5.0, or, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0-5.5 years of age). For the bilingual group, findings indicated an increased ability to detect and produce segments at the onset-rime level in English versus Spanish; the differences in segmenting at the syllable and phoneme levels were not statistically significant. When comparing the segmenting abilities of both groups, this study revealed evidence of an increased segmenting ability in children who learned two languages (English and Spanish) versus those who learned one language (English only).","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McKay, Kate Lorraine"],"institution":"University of Montana","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:13:53Z","subjects":["bilingual","emergent reading","phonological awareness","preschool","segmenting"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/748","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McKay, Kate Lorraine"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Montana"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["bilingual","emergent reading","phonological awareness","preschool","segmenting"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/748"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Abstract Segmenting, the ability to pull apart words into their smaller linguistic units, is a known predictor of early literacy. This study investigated the segmenting skills (a component of phonological awareness PA), in bilingual English/Spanish-speaking 4-and 5-year-old children at the levels of syllable, onset-rime and phoneme. The results of this study were then compared to a previous study that explored PA skill development in monolingual English speaking children of the same ages. The comparative analysis explores how bilingualism impacts PA skill development. This study examined the segmenting skills of 31 bilingual students who attended a Spanish immersion school, the majority of whom identify English as their first language. The 31 monolingual students, with whom the bilingual data was compared, attended an English only school in the same community. The students in both groups were matched by gender as well as by age in months, ranging from 4 years to 5 and one half years of age. By age, the students were grouped into three categories according to six-month intervals (4.0-4.5, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0 to 5.5 years of age). Findings indicated increased segmenting ability for bilingual students versus monolingual students at the onset-rime and phonemic levels, but no difference was revealed at the syllable level. With age, there is evidence of an increased segmenting ability for 5-year-olds versus 4-year-olds at the syllable level in both groups, but no significant difference was detected between six-month intervals (i.e. between 4.0- 4.5 and 4.5-5.0, or, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0-5.5 years of age). For the bilingual group, findings indicated an increased ability to detect and produce segments at the onset-rime level in English versus Spanish; the differences in segmenting at the syllable and phoneme levels were not statistically significant. When comparing the segmenting abilities of both groups, this study revealed evidence of an increased segmenting ability in children who learned two languages (English and Spanish) versus those who learned one language (English only)."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS SKILL OF SEGMENTING IN BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH SPEAKING 4- AND 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["McKay, Kate Lorraine"],"dc:description.abstract":["Abstract Segmenting, the ability to pull apart words into their smaller linguistic units, is a known predictor of early literacy. This study investigated the segmenting skills (a component of phonological awareness PA), in bilingual English/Spanish-speaking 4-and 5-year-old children at the levels of syllable, onset-rime and phoneme. The results of this study were then compared to a previous study that explored PA skill development in monolingual English speaking children of the same ages. The comparative analysis explores how bilingualism impacts PA skill development. This study examined the segmenting skills of 31 bilingual students who attended a Spanish immersion school, the majority of whom identify English as their first language. The 31 monolingual students, with whom the bilingual data was compared, attended an English only school in the same community. The students in both groups were matched by gender as well as by age in months, ranging from 4 years to 5 and one half years of age. By age, the students were grouped into three categories according to six-month intervals (4.0-4.5, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0 to 5.5 years of age). Findings indicated increased segmenting ability for bilingual students versus monolingual students at the onset-rime and phonemic levels, but no difference was revealed at the syllable level. With age, there is evidence of an increased segmenting ability for 5-year-olds versus 4-year-olds at the syllable level in both groups, but no significant difference was detected between six-month intervals (i.e. between 4.0- 4.5 and 4.5-5.0, or, 4.5-5.0 and 5.0-5.5 years of age). For the bilingual group, findings indicated an increased ability to detect and produce segments at the onset-rime level in English versus Spanish; the differences in segmenting at the syllable and phoneme levels were not statistically significant. When comparing the segmenting abilities of both groups, this study revealed evidence of an increased segmenting ability in children who learned two languages (English and Spanish) versus those who learned one language (English only)."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/748"],"dc:publisher":["University of Montana"],"dc:subject":["bilingual","emergent reading","phonological awareness","preschool","segmenting"],"dc:title":["PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS SKILL OF SEGMENTING IN BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH SPEAKING 4- AND 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:13:53Z"}