Language and Intergroup Contact: Investigating the Impact of Bilingual Instruction on Children’s Intergroup Attitudes

Abstract

This study examined the impact of bilingual versus English-only instruction on the intergroup attitudes of White, English-speaking children in kindergarten through second grade. Replicating prior research, White children generally showed a clear preference toward the ingroup in terms of positive evaluations, friendship preference, and perceived similarity to the self. However, all three effects were significantly smaller among children who were in classrooms with a significant amount of Spanish instruction (i.e. bilingual classes). The smaller preference for the ingroup over the outgroup found in bilingual classes resulted from higher evaluations of, greater selection of friends among, and greater perceived similarity to Latino targets, and not from changes in preference for White ingroup targets. Furthermore, comparisons with English-only classes that had substantial Latino representation shows that the positive impact of bilingual instruction can be only partially explained by the greater representation of Latino children in bilingual classes. Finally, these positive patterns of intergroup attitudes found in bilingual classes were not associated with any negative effects on White children’s personal self-evaluation.