Bilingual Environment Research Articles

Adaptive language strategies of an older sibling in bilingual German-Russian acquisition: A case study

Abstract In the beginning stages of language acquisition, children primarily learn language from their parents or main caregivers. Studies have shown that adults use a specific way of speaking when talking to young children, called child-directed speech (CDS). This type of speech has distinct characteristics across different aspects of language. Additionally, older siblings also communicate with their younger brothers and sisters. Studies suggest that even three- and four-year-olds change how they talk when interacting with younger children, like their siblings. Studies have shown that children’s speech patterns resemble those of adults, whether they grow up in monolingual or bilingual environments. However, research on bilingual language acquisition often focuses on how siblings influence the language development of younger children. In this study, we explore how children adapt their language in bilingual settings and focus on the older sibling. Specifically, we compare the speech of an older sibling, who speaks both German and Russian, when talking to their younger sibling and when talking to their parents. The study revealed the following: The girl demonstrated linguistic adaptations typical of child-directed speech in both Russian and German when interacting with her younger brother. However, these adaptations were not consistent across all linguistic categories analyzed, revealing some differences between the two languages. Notably, Katharina did not exhibit more child-directed speech features in one language over the other. Adaptive behavior was present in both Russian and German in categories such as MLU, MLU5, question constructions, and imperatives. In Russian, adaptation was also evident in coordinate constructions but not subordinate constructions, while the opposite pattern was observed in German.

An Examination on the Planning and Practice of Bilingual Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in Taiwan

Over the past few years, several reforms in language education have been outlined to implement the full-scale bilingualization of the education system in Taiwan. Among the 3392 public primary and secondary schools, nearly one-third of them have been implementing bilingual education in certain subjects. The vast majority of these schools have adopted Immersion, CLIL, or EMI as models for bilingual education. It has been argued that these exotic models cannot be “transplanted” to the education context of Taiwan, and he proposes the FERTILE model. Adopting this model as the theoretical framework, this qualitative study aims to examine how school practitioners plan and practice bilingual education in Taiwan. Data were collected through the document analysis of the progress reports from thirty-five primary and secondary schools and three focus group discussions (FGDs) with nine subject teachers. The findings show that the participants made considerable efforts to construct a bilingual environment and have an identical understanding about the strategies for bilingual instruction that emphasize subject knowledge and students’ comprehension. However, the participants experienced a diverse ecology of bilingual teacher learning communities and received differential support from the principals. Qualified and stable teaching manpower was identified as the key to sustain bilingual education. Implications to different education stakeholders are also discussed.

Perceptions of Teachers on Bilingual Education in Business Education

In the process of global integration, international cross-cultural business interactions are becoming closer, and the importance of English as an international lingua franca continues to grow. Business programmes aimed at developing both business and foreign language skills are faced with the challenge of adopting bilingualism teaching. The study adopts qualitative and quantitative research methods, mainly using literature method (referring to relevant domestic and foreign literature materials and related information retrieval), and questionnaire survey method to conduct questionnaire surveys with students and teachers in Jiangsu University of Technology. The paper intends to probe specific aspects of bilingual teaching and to give suggestions for effective ways to carry out bilingual teaching for Business Majors. This study finds that at present, in the process of bilingual teaching of business courses, there are problems or challenges such as students’ difficulties in studying in bilingual environment, insufficient studying teaching in bilingual resources and materials, cross-cultural adaptation problems, etc. In order to address these problems, programmes such as enhancing teacher preparedness, developing curriculums, developing teaching resources, providing student support services, and reviewing evaluation and assessment are proposed.

Parent-led Communication Therapy for Young Bilingual Autistic Children: A Scoping Review.

A scoping review of the literature was undertaken using JBI guidelines to map the evidence of parent-led therapy (PLT) for young autistic children (≤ 6years) raised in bilingual environments. Reviewers used Covidence to screen located sources. Sixteen papers met inclusion criteria. A strong acceleration of reports of PLT for young autistic children measured in bilingual environments was observed, with 93.8% of papers (n = 15) published since 2015. Reporting of participants' language environments (home language(s)/L1s and societal language(s)/L2s) was inconsistent. A large majority of these studies, 87.5% (n = 14) were conducted in North America or in collaboration with a North American institution. Diverse PLT programs and methodologies were identified. There is variation in demographic information collected and outcomes reported. Evidence gaps in the literature are identified and the value of undertaking systematic review on this topic is considered. This scoping review points to the necessity of further empirical research and practice that centres parents in early and specific support for autistic children raised in bilingual environments. Suggestions for improving reporting standards of language profiles are provided.

Cognitive Development in a Bilingual Environment: To Explore the Effect of L1 and L2 use on Early Cognitive Performance in Children

Cognitive Development in a Bilingual Environment: To Explore the Effect of L1 and L2 use on Early Cognitive Performance in Children

Philosophical understanding of Russian-language poetry of Central Asia and the East

Introduction: The cultures of Central Asia have been intertwined with Russian culture for many centuries. Many Russian-speaking poets of this region have left a serious contribution to the development of several cultures at the same time. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the main philosophical meanings and contexts that unite the creative heritage of Russian-speaking poets of Central Asia and the Far East.Methods: To achieve this goal, the historical method, comparative method, and hermeneutic analysis are used. The authors of the article also refer to the concept of archetypes, introduced into literary studies from the psychoanalytical approach.Results: In the course of the study, it is determined that many Russian-speaking poets of these regions adopted the Asian cultural code, in connection with which the themes of “the call of the Motherland”, “metaphysics of the Great Steppe”, “Eastern City”, nomadic way of life, as well as a special, close to Asian, perception of time and eternity appear in their texts. These archetypes were added to Russian culture mainly under the influence of Eastern trends and the activities of emigrant and bilingual poets.Conclusions: The study contributes to the study of Russian-language poetry, as well as the poetic field of Central Asia and the Far East. It also touches upon the theme of the peculiarities of the formation of the writer’s identity in a bilingual environment and the theme of the dialogue of cultures, interethnic exchange of cultural code

Machine translation in hindsight

The paper expands on the analysis of key projects adoring the machine translation (MT) hall of fame and their role in addressing practical tasks. The most successful initiatives suggest that the fledgling MT was contingent on the level of entropy, a.k.a. random nature of natural languages: the lower the indicator, the higher the predictability of the text, and by implication the efficiency of the system. It accounts for the success of the first Georgetown-IBM experiment and Canada’s METEO-1. The letter grew into a full-fledged system that for almost a quarter of the 20th century, provided English-French-English translations of weather bulletins, boasting high language predictability. Although, in between them the 1964 ALPAC report sowed a seed of doubt of the MT validity, it never aimed at killing the research area at all. On the contrary, it highlighted technics and applications, where the technology had demonstrated promising results, including raw MT, post-edited MT, and M-AT. The authors note a cyclic nature of the development of MT-powered methods and technologies. Today’s combination of resources and the way they are used are different very little from those employed in the past century. What makes them stand apart is the maturity of MT technologies, which made it through rulebased, direct, corpus-based, and knowledge-based translation to SMT and eventually to NMT. It has been established that the improved performance comes at a cost of more elaborate and larger data sets, tagged, marked up and annotated for automated use in language models. Taking advantage of these as well as artificial intelligence (AI), the authors venture into modeling basic text processing scenarios in a bilingual environment. This results in recommendations as to future paths for the improvement of MT technologies in the hands of professional translators by fine-tuning language models individually and pursuing post-editing (PEMT) and pre-editing practices paving the way for more complex transformations and lower equivalence levels.

School Performance of Rural Roma Children in a Bilingual Environment

School Performance of Rural Roma Children in a Bilingual Environment

Predictors of Chinese reading in Chinese monolingual and Chinese–English bilingual children in Mainland China

AbstractThere is a growing number of children learning to read in bilingual environments, yet research on the uniqueness of reading acquisition in these bilingual children, particularly L1 majority bilinguals, is limited. With a sample size of 690 4th-grade students, this study investigated predictors influencing L1 Chinese reading in Chinese–English bilingual children (n = 345) attending Chinese–English bilingual schools in mainland China and made comparisons with their monolingual counterparts (n = 345). The results of a multi-group path analysis revealed both similarities and differences between the two groups. In terms of Chinese reading comprehension, word reading and linguistic comprehension were significant predictors for both groups, but their relative importance differed. While there was no difference in the predictive power between the two predictors in the monolingual group, word reading held a greater contribution in the bilingual group. Regarding Chinese word reading, both morphological and orthographic awareness emerged as significant predictors in the monolingual group, whereas in the bilingual group, only morphological awareness was significant, and the contribution of phonological awareness was insignificant in either group. These findings underscore the distinct relationship between reading and its predictive constituents in bilingual students when compared to their monolingual counterparts.

The Empowering Human Resources Academically Based On Bilingual Environment At Pesantren Al Multazam and Darut Taqwa Mojokerto by Using Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Approach

The Empowering Human Resources Academically Based On Bilingual Environment At Pesantren Al Multazam and Darut Taqwa Mojokerto by Using Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Approach

Effects of environmental diversity on exploration and learning: The case of bilingualism.

Bilingual environments provide a commonplace example of increased complexity and uncertainty. Learning multiple languages entails mastery of a larger and more variable range of sounds, words, syntactic structures, pragmatic conventions, and more complex mapping of linguistic information to objects in the world. Recent research suggests that bilingual learners demonstrate fundamental variation in how they explore and learn from their environment, which may derive from this increased complexity. In particular, the increased complexity and variability of bilingual environments may broaden the focus of learners' attention, laying a different attentional foundation for learning. In this review, we introduce a novel framework, with accompanying empirical evidence, for understanding how early learners may adapt to a more complex environment, drawing on bilingualism as an example. Three adaptations, each relevant to the demands of abstracting structure from a complex environment, are introduced. Each adaptation is discussed in the context of empirical evidence attesting to shifts in basic psychological processes in bilingual learners. This evidence converges on the notion that bilingual learners may explore their environment more broadly. Downstream consequences of broader sampling for perception and learning are discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research to expand the scientific narrative on the impact of diverse environments on learning are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Mathematics and Language: A One-to-One Correspondence in Bilingual Environments

Previous research has shown that language is an essential part of the development of mathematical skills and, specifically, in solving verbal problems. We know that using a different language from one’s mother tongue is highly beneficial for students, and that language plurality and bilingualism is more and more habitual and present in current educational environments. However, what is still not clear is how it influences certain tasks, especially the most naturalistic ones, such as the formation of the concept of numbers and in tasks with a greater verbal component, such as solving problems in the early ages. The present research examined the problem-solving performance of first- and second-grade elementary education students in bilingual environments, comparing the problem solving of students whose language of instruction (LI) is the same as their mother tongue (MT) and those whose MT differs from the LI. Through an analysis of variance, the results showed that there exist differences in change and combination problems. Discrepancies in performance were also found, depending on the evolutionary moment. These results suggest that it is necessary to study how the LI can shape mathematical skills in the early years.

EFL Teachers' and Learners' Perceptions of Code-switching: The Role of Learners' L2 Proficiency Levels

Code-switching (CS) is a complex linguistic phenomenon in bilingual environments, such as English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL). In recent years, CS has been viewed as a meaningful linguistic phenomenon in ESL and EFL contexts. This research investigates EFL teachers' and learners' perceptions of the use of CS in Saudi universities. Also, this research aims to investigate the relationship between learners' perceptions of CS and their L2 proficiency levels. A quantitative approach is utilised in this research to collect data from 40 Saudi EFL teachers and 50 Saudi undergraduate EFL learners to investigate their perceptions of CS used in their EFL classrooms. Further, the researcher uses two modified Likert-type questionnaires adopted from Alkhudair (2019) to elicit teachers' and learners' perceptions of CS used in their EFL classrooms. In addition, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to determine the frequencies, percentages, and mean scores. The learners took Oxford Online Placement Tests to investigate the role of L1 in EFL classrooms. Also, SPSS was used to calculate the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to investigate a correlation between learners' L2 proficiency levels and their perceptions of using L1 in EFL classrooms. As a result, both teachers and learners showed positive attitudes towards CS in EFL classrooms. Moreover, upon investigating the relationship between learners' English language proficiency level and their perceptions of L1 use, the results suggest positive and negative correlations.

The Motivation of Bilingual Students in Mathematics and Information Technology Education

This article examines what constitutes bilingualism in school. What is education for these students. What difficulties do bilingual students face in mathematics and information technology and whether teachers succeed in motivating them. Whether education is important to them and to what extent. Is attention paid to teaching bilingual students? The role of mathematics and information technology (IT) education for the integration of students in a bilingual environment?

Проявления речевых компетенций у русскоязычных жителей-монолингвов Республики Тыва в условиях естественного тувинско-русского билингвизма

This article features monolingualism in the Tuvan-Russian bilingual community. Language acquisition, especially when it is the second language, follows psychological rather than linguistic patterns, e.g., assimilation and imitation. In this research, we made an attempt to study the individual psychological features of speech as a higher mental function. Our respondents positioned themselves as monolinguals and denied that they had an opportunity to practice their second language. The research objective was to identify and record some linguistic competencies in the Tuvan language in Russian monolinguals, as well as to conduct a qualitative analysis of their language skills. We used such diagnostic methods as clinical interview, observation, and questionnaires to obtain data on some linguistic competencies in the second non-native language spoken by monolinguals. While profiling a typical linguistic personality, we recorded some linguistic competencies in the second language that the respondents were not aware of. In the linguistic environment of the Tyva Republic, monolingualism is possible only at the early stages of cognitive development. In ontogenesis, it transforms into psychological bilingualism, and then into multilingualism. The Russian-speaking monolinguals of the Tuva Republic develop their speech competencies in a natural bilingual environment. As a result of the natural bilingual environment, Russian-speaking monolinguals develop unconscious speech competencies that actually make them bilinguals.

Socio-familial environment influence on cognitive and language development in very preterm children.

Preterm children are at increased risk of cognitive and language delay compared with term-born children. While many perinatal factors associated with prematurity are well established, there is limited research concerning the influence of the socio-familial environment on the development of preterm children. This study aims to assess the relative impact of perinatal and socio-familial risk factors on cognitive and language development at 2years corrected age (CA). This retrospective cross-sectional study included preterm infants with a gestational age <32 weeks and/or a birth weight <1500 g, who underwent neurodevelopmental assessment at 2years CA. Cognitive and language scores were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant-Toddler Development, third edition. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a multivariable model to examine the relationship between developmental delays and perinatal and socio-familial factors. The prevalence of language delay was negatively associated with daycare attendance (aOR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.07-0.85, p < 0.05) and high maternal educational levels (aOR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.05-0.93, p < 0.05) and positively associated with bilingual environments (aOR: 5.62, 95% CI: 1.46-24.3, p < 0.05). Perinatal and postnatal risk factors did not show a significant impact on cognitive or language development. The development of language appears to be more influenced by the socio-familial environment than by early perinatal and postnatal factors associated with prematurity. These findings highlight the importance of considering socio-familial factors in the early identification and intervention of language delay among preterm children.

ENGLISH-SPANISH CODE SWITCHING IN NETFLIX’S ONE DAY AT A TIME

This research examines the English-Spanish languange code switching performed by the main characters in the series One Day At A Time using Holmes’ theory. The study analyzes four primary factors driving the use of code switching by the main characters in the series: identity, social, topic, and function. Qualitative research was conducted by collecting and analyzing data from the subtitles of Netflix’s One Day At A Time season 1, 4 episodes. 25 dialogues containing code switching were carefully selected and analyzed to uncover the factors behind the code switching performed by the main characters. Among the four factors, the results of the research reveal that function factors are the most function used, which appearing in 22 dialogues. Followed by social factors in the second place with 13 dialogues. Identity factors ranked third, present in 12 dialogues, and topic factors appear in only 1 dialogue. In conclusion, this study unveils how the main characters employ code switching to navigate their bilingual environment based on the aspects of four factors. This discussion enriches the readers’ understanding of code switching within a multicultural framework.

The role of translation equivalents in bilingual word learning.

Bilingual environments present an important context for word learning. One feature of bilingual environments is the existence of translation equivalents (TEs)-words in different languages that share similar meanings. Documenting TE learning over development may give us insight into the mechanisms underlying word learning in young bilingual children. Prior studies of TE learning have often been confounded by the fact that increases in overall vocabulary size with age lead to greater opportunities for learning TEs. To address this confound, we employed an item-level analysis, which controls for the age trajectory of each item independently. We used Communicative Development Inventory data from four bilingual datasets (two English-Spanish and two English-French; total N=419) for modeling. Results indicated that knowing a word's TE increased the likelihood of knowing that word for younger children and for TEs that are more similar phonologically. These effects were consistent across datasets, but varied across lexical categories. Thus, TEs may allow bilingual children to bootstrap their early word learning in one language using their knowledge of the other language. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Bilingual children must learn words that share a common meaning across both languages, that is, translation equivalents, like dog in English and perro in Spanish. Item-level models explored how translation equivalents affect word learning, in addition to child-level (e.g., exposure) and item-level (e.g., phonological similarity) factors. Knowing a word increased the probability of knowing its corresponding translation equivalent, particularly for younger children and for more phonologically-similar translation equivalents. These findings suggest that young bilingual children use their word knowledge in one language to bootstrap their learning of words in the other language.

Cross-linguistic syntactic priming as rational expectation for syntactic repetition in the bilingual environment.

Recent research suggests that syntactic priming in language comprehension-the facilitated processing of repeated syntactic structures-arises from the expectation for syntactic repetition due to rational adaptation to the linguistic environment. To further evaluate the generalizability of this expectation adaptation account in cross-linguistic syntactic priming and explore the influence of second language (L2) proficiency, we conducted a self-paced reading study with Chinese L2 learners of English by utilizing the sentential complement-direct object (SC-DO) ambiguity. The results showed that participants exposed to clusters of SC structures subsequently processed repetitions of this structure more rapidly (i.e., larger priming effects) than those exposed to the same number of SC structures but spaced in time, despite the prime and target being in two different languages (Chinese and English). Furthermore, this difference in priming strength was more pronounced for participants with higher L2 (English) proficiency. These findings demonstrate that cross-linguistic syntactic priming is consistent with the expectation for syntactic repetition that rationally adapts to syntactic clustering properties in surrounding bilingual environments, and such adaptation is enhanced as L2 proficiency increases. Taken together, our study extends the expectation adaptation account to cross-linguistic syntactic priming and integrates the role of L2 proficiency, which can shed new light on the mechanisms underlying syntactic priming, bilingual shared syntactic representations and expectation-based sentence processing.

Ml@h-methode in Nederlands-Poolse tweetalige opvoeding op een specifiek voorbeeld – een exploratieve case-study

The strategy of raising a bilingual child, also known as family language policy (FLP), has been the subject of linguistic, psychological or sociological research for many years. One way of raising bilinguals in a family environment is the minority language at home strategy (ml@h), which is often chosen by parents who live outside their home country and both speak a minority language. Parents speak to each other and to the child in their native language and the second language is acquired by the child in situations outside the home. In this article, I will present not only theoretical considerations of bilingual upbringing but also the perspective of a person who was raised bilingually (Dutch and Polish). Opinions and reflections gathered by an individual in-depth interview will provide a glimpse of growing up in a bilingual environment from the perspective of a now-adult child. In the case described, the strategy had a positive effect. This was influenced by the parents’ conscious choice of a bilingual upbringing strategy and its consistent application, supporting the child in learning the grammar and stylistics of the minority language and providing the child with contact with the minority language before going to school.