Bilingual Language Acquisition Research Articles

The relationship between executive function, age of L2 acquisition and speech disfluencies in bilinguals

Disfluencies signal errors in speech processes. Research in typically fluent monolinguals indicates a correlation between disfluencies and specific executive function (EF), including cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, working memory (WM), and attention. However, these relationships have not been systematically explored in bilinguals. This study investigates the relationship between these EF components, age of language acquisition and disfluencies in bilinguals. Two types of disfluencies were examined: stalling, where articulation is delayed until the speech plan is ready, and advancing, that is, the articulation of incomplete speech plans. A total of 120 English speech samples based on simulated job interviews from 20 typically fluent adult Spanish-English bilinguals were transcribed and coded for disfluencies. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit span was used to measure cognitive flexibility/inhibitory control, and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Color-Word Interference Test was used to assess WM/attention. Findings indicate correlations between stalling disfluencies and cognitive flexibility/inhibitory control, advancing disfluencies and WM/attention, and age of acquisition and both stalling and advancing disfluencies.

Intonation of polar questions in German-dominant heritage speakers of Italian

Abstract In heritage language (HL) research, prosodic aspects of heritage speakers (HSs) speech have only recently started to receive attention and the results have been mixed. While some studies report cross-linguistic influence (CLI) for HL intonation, others consider it robust. The present study contributes to this debate and examines the intonational patterns of polar questions (PolQs) in the two languages of 30 HSs of Italian with German as majority language. This language combination displays overlapping and distinct intonational patterns in PolQs, making intonation potentially subject to CLI in bilingual language acquisition. The results of an elicited production task indicate that HSs maintain a systemic difference between their two languages. In German, HSs produce PolQs in a monolingual like manner. In Italian of HSs, both monolingual-like performance and CLI from German has been observed. Early Italian use is beneficial for monolingual-like outcomes in the HL.

Language Assessment in Bilingual Turkish-Speaking Preschoolers With Developmental Language Disorders: A Tutorial

Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a common childhood disorder that hinders children from functioning in other developmental areas, such as social–emotional and cognitive domains. Consequently, a comprehensive speech and language assessment of children is of great importance. Of concern, however, is the challenge for speech and language pathologists to assess the speech and language skills of bilingual children. This article aims to inform clinicians, researchers, and other experts working with bilingual Turkish-speaking children with DLD about bilingual language assessment. Method: The current literature on Turkish–English bilingual language acquisition and bilingual language assessment is reviewed, and the general characteristics of bilingual development are reported. In order to understand how the first language affects the second language, a contrastive analysis of the Turkish and English languages is summarized. A case study is described to highlight essential factors to take into account when creating a comprehensive language assessment battery for Turkish, covering all areas impacted by DLD. Results: The results of the proposed language assessment protocol are analyzed, and its practical use is discussed. Additionally, the case study child's strengths and the skills requiring support are interpreted with regard to their implications for daily life activities and prospective academic requirements. Conclusions: This tutorial highlights the importance of comprehensive language assessment for the differential diagnosis of DLD in bilinguals as the most essential step to develop an appropriate intervention program and counseling procedures. Such assessment considers individual as well as cultural differences of children and their family members.

Developing Dual Language Skills and Intercultural Communication Strategies in a Bilingual Learning Environment: Investigating a Project Based Learning Programme

This study investigated a project-based learning approach and explored developing bilingual language skills and enhanced intercultural communication within an existing Bilingual Learning Community. The study mainly looked at the increased importance of bilingualism and intercultural understanding needed to be successful in a global society. It investigated the effectiveness of using Project-based learning to promote these essential skills and competencies. The research used a mixed methods approach that integrated qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. The study took place in an international school setting in China within a bilingual learning community using English and Chinese, project-based learning, and STEM activities to enhance language proficiency and intercultural understanding. The qualitative component of the study involved interviews with various teachers involved in the Bilingual Learning Community study, and the specific students in the classes were analysed regarding their understanding of intercultural communication. Questionnaires gathered information about the teacher’s and student’s knowledge of the concepts. Observations and comprehensive notes were utilised, and natural interactions with students were encouraged so they could be observed under normal circumstances. The quantitative phase employed pre-and post-tests to measure the students’ language proficiency and focused explicitly on developing cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) skills. These tests also measured the student’s intercultural learning and competencies. The data collected was analysed using statistical methods. These statistical methods determined the effectiveness of Project-based Learning as a pedagogy to promote bilingual language acquisition and develop intercultural understanding and communication. The findings of this study contributed to the existing body of knowledge on bilingual learning communities, intercultural understanding, and Project-based learning. The study also significantly contributed to the theoretical scientific knowledge by creating a detailed framework with descriptors that related to bilingual language development for students and intercultural communication competence that other scholars could develop further. It was also expected to contribute significantly to applied scientific knowledge. It provided practical information about the students' language skills, communicative behaviours, and difficulties when dealing with problems and will be helpful for teachers in China and abroad.

Unpacking the Bilingual Mind: How Code Mixing and Switching Facilitate Language Processing among Bilingual Learners

Language is a dynamic system shaped by evolving concepts, social contexts, and user experiences. This research delves into the intricate relationship between code-switching and code-mixing, exploring their impact on bilingual language acquisition. The study differentiates between code-switching, the complete shift between languages, and code-mixing, the integration of elements from both languages within a single utterance. It acknowledges the role of these phenomena in bridging communication gaps and facilitating self-expression for bilingual learners. It highlights studies conducted in the Philippines, emphasizing the prevalence of code-switching in urban areas and its potential benefits in language learning environments. This case study aimed to meticulously examine the interplay between code-switching and code-mixing, particularly their influence on bilingual learners’ communication strategies, language development, as well as their cognitive benefits. By shedding light on these phenomena, the study can contribute to a deeper understanding of bilingual language acquisition processes and inform effective language teaching methods, particularly in multilingual contexts like the Philippines.

Home language environment and bilingual acquisition in preschoolers from low-income homes: differential impact of language and literacy related factors

ABSTRACT This paper explores home language environment and bilingual language acquisition of 3- to 4-year-old children who come from low-income homes, based on the results of a questionnaire and a battery of bilingual language tests taken by 32 Chinese and Malay preschoolers in Singapore. Assessments included receptive vocabulary, depth of vocabulary, phonological awareness and print concept in both English and Mother Tongue (Chinese or Malay). The results were different for language and literacy factors. Home language use had no impact on test scores. However, literacy-related factors showed significant impact on nearly all the test results in both languages of the bilingual child. Reasons for lack of impact of home language use could be the quality of language used at home, inaccuracies in parent reports and the long hours that parents spend working outside the home. The authors conclude with emphasising the need for early reading intervention in order to improve bilingual language acquisition.

Subject realization in Greek preschool learners of English

Languages differ in their realization of the subject argument: non-null-subject languages, like English, require subjects to be phonologically overt; rather, null-subject languages, like Greek, allow the subject to be overt or null. This cross-linguistic difference can lead to the transfer of grammatical properties across languages during bilingual language acquisition. The direction of crosslinguistic transfer is known to be affected by structural overlap and linguistic dominance. This exploratory study was conducted to establish whether structural overlap or linguistic dominance affect the production patterns of Greek children who acquire English at preschool. If structural overlap determines the direction of transfer, then children will overuse overt subjects in Greek; if dominance determines the direction of transfer, then children will overuse null subjects in English. Two groups of Greek children (between 3;6–4;5 and 4;6–5;8) attending a monolingual English immersion programme in Greece participated in a novel oral elicitation task that tested their use of null and overt subjects in both languages. Both groups produced significantly more null and fewer overt subjects in English than an English monolingual control group, but the same number of null and overt subjects in Greek as a Greek monolingual control group. This finding suggests that the preschoolers, who start learning English at 3;0 years, experience crosslinguistic transfer from Greek, their dominant language, to English – thus highlighting the role that dominance plays in determining the direction of crosslinguistic transfer among successive bilingual children.

Acquiring the Dutch Plural in a Bilingual Setting: Investigating the Effects of Language Dominance, Overlap, and Variability

In this study, we aimed to deepen the understanding of the circumstances under which crosslinguistic influence occurs, by focusing on the acquisition of the Dutch plural by two- and three-year old children who attend bilingual Dutch-English daycare. In doing so, we explored the roles of variability, overlap and language dominance as these are all factors that have been linked to the occurrence of crosslinguistic influence in studies on bilingual language acquisition and language contact. We investigated the expectation that young children who are exposed to English might show a stronger preference for -s pluralization in Dutch, because of the partial overlap in Dutch and English pluralization. In total, a group of 95 children that grew up with only Dutch and/or English at home and attended bilingual (Dutch-English) daycare (51 females, 44 males, mean age = 3;6 years) participated in an elicited production task. Results showed that no clear-cut evidence for unidirectional crosslinguistic influence from English to Dutch could be found in the form of -s overgeneralizations. However, we did find evidence for the role of variability in this domain of language, since children made more overgeneralizations when rhyme and sonorancy contradicted. Also, English exposure seemed to facilitate correct production of the -s affix, and children who overgeneralized the -s affix were mostly children that were exposed to the English language at home, suggesting that language dominance does play a role in preference for the -s affix.

Reflect, Reframe, and Re-Imagine Theory and Practice in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences: Introduction to the Forum.

Reflect, Reframe, and Re-Imagine Theory and Practice in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences: Introduction to the Forum.

Keeping track of language: Can monolingual and bilingual infants associate a speaker with the language they speak?

AbstractBilingual infants acquire languages in a variety of language environments. Some caregivers follow a one‐person‐one‐language approach in an attempt to not “confuse” their child. However, the central assumption that infants can keep track of what language a person speaks has not been tested. In two studies, we tested whether bilingual and monolingual 5‐, 12‐ and 18‐month‐olds spontaneously form language‐person associations. In both studies, infants were familiarized with a man and a woman, each speaking a different language, and tested on trials where they either spoke the same language or switched to a different language. In Study 1, infants only heard the speaker, and in Study 2, infants saw and heard the speaker. Bilinguals and monolinguals did not look longer for Switch compared to Same trials; there was no evidence in this task that infants form person‐language associations spontaneously. Thus, our results did not support a central assumption of the one‐person‐one‐language approach, although we cannot rule out that infants do form this association in more naturalistic contexts.Highlights This study investigated whether infants keep track of the language a person speaks, a skill that would be especially relevant in bilingual language environments. In a familiarization‐test paradigm, monolinguals and bilinguals aged 5‐, 12‐, and 18‐months did not notice when a person switched languages. The results call in question whether person‐language associations help bootstrap early bilingual language acquisition.

Investigação em Bilinguismo. Caminhos percorridos e perspetivas futuras

This article presents a brief discussion of the key questions which were in the focus of interest in research on bilingualism in the last five decades, particularly in the field of bilingual language acquisition. We highlight how the initially negative view of bilingualism has changed based on scientific evidence. The overview starts with a discussion of some of the paths already taken in research on bilingualism, with a focus on the major findings concerning bilingual language development and the consequences of these findings for current views of bilingualism. The discussion moves, then, to the current research questions in this field, discussing the different methodologies used, as well as specific advances in the area of clinical linguistics. We conclude with a discussion on the topics that we believe still need further investigation, namely the nature of the interactions between the language systems of bilingual speakers and the role of the age of onset of bilingualism.

Language separation and stable syntactic knowledge: verbs and verb phrases in bilingual children’s narratives

The present study analyses written narratives of 60 Portuguese-German bilingual children between 8 and 15 years living in Switzerland, in both their languages. Portuguese is the children’s heritage language (HL) and German the environmental language. The analysis focusses on the children’s lexical, morphological and structural knowledge in the verb domain (verb types, agreement morphology, verbal tense, word order within the VP, orthography) and aims to determine the role of language dominance, general proficiency, current age and age of onset of bilingualism (AoO) in bilingual language acquisition at later stages of development (i.e., at school-age). The results show that the bilingual children display stable syntactic and morphological knowledge in both their languages. Lexical knowledge is positively correlated with age and proficiency. Morphological and syntactic deviations are residual in both languages and not correlated with AoO. No effects of cross-linguistic influence are observed. We only find performance differences between the Portuguese and the German corpus at the level of orthography. We conclude that in the analysed age span children have received enough exposure to both languages to develop stable morphological and syntactic knowledge, at least in the verb domain.

Diversity in bilingual child language acquisition research: A commentary on.

Kidd and Garcia (2022) report that language acquisition studies are skewed towards monolingual and English-speaking populations. This commentary considers Kidd and Garcia's arguments in light of our research on mother-preschooler discourse and non-verbal communication in Thai monolingual and Thai-English bilingual children. We discuss lessons learned from testing linguistically diverse children and underscore the importance of research on non-WEIRD populations. We advocate for the inclusion of children who speak understudied languages and those who speak multiple languages in developmental science.

Connectivity in Narratives of Turkish-English and Turkish-Russian Bilinguals

The present study draws on the narrative production of the Turkish-English and Turkish-Russian bilingual children in an attempt to examine whether the use of connectivity elements in the oral narratives of the bilingual children diverges from that of monolingual Turkish children. In particular, the study aimed to examine the use of temporal connectivity elements in the oral narratives of the Turkish-English and Turkish-Russian bilingual children in comparison to Turkish monolingual children focusing on the use of tense/aspect markers utilized to anchor narratives, temporal converbs used to link clauses in narratives, and also temporal connectors used to link clauses. The data were collected from two bilingual groups, Turkish-Russian (Group 1) and Turkish-English (Group 2), consisting of five children each and the control group consisting of seven monolingual Turkish children. The analysis of the data revealed that the Turkish-English and Turkish-Russian bilingual children performed differently than their Turkish monolingual counterparts in how consistently they used tense/aspect markers to anchor their narratives and in how they used converbial markers to indicate the sequentiality of the events in their narratives. The results are discussed in relation to prior research and the typological peculiarities of the languages. Keywords: bilingual language acquisition, Russian-Turkish, TurkishEnglish, connectivity, narratives

The Association of Sentence Imitation with Other Language Domains in Bilingual Children

AbstractThe association of sentence imitation with other language domains has been of interest to researchers and clinicians for decades. Sentence imitation taps both working memory and linguistic competence. Working memory refers to the ability to recall and manipulate linguistic information making sentence imitation a clinical marker for language ability. Meanwhile, research on the application of sentence imitation with bilingual language pairs is still emerging. This article reports a study on a large sample of Maltese children brought up in an early bilingual language acquisition context. It analyses correlations between a sentence imitation task, verbal comprehension, narrative (story retelling), phonological awareness, and two measures of a phonology test: percentage consonants correct and the inconsistency score. Data were collected from a total of 241 children, aged 24 to 72 months, who were selected randomly from the public birth register. The subtests administered were part of a test battery, namely, the Maltese–English Speech Assessment (MESA) and the Language Assessment for Maltese Children (LAMC). Correlations were calculated for the sentence imitation scores with specific language subtest scores; significant correlations were identified as well as with chronological age. Regression analysis indicated that the sentence imitation subtest of LAMC is a predictor for verbal comprehension and even stronger predictor for phonological awareness. It was concluded that performance on a sentence imitation task is a valid and reliable indication of Maltese bilingual children's language ability.

The effects of language input on word order in German as a heritage and majority language

ABSTRACT This study addresses the question of how the main factors related to input—including the environment in which children are exposed to both languages, the relative timing of the onset of the exposure to them and the amount of input—affect bilingual language acquisition at primary-school age. We examined the data of 42 German Polish bilinguals who had acquired German from birth and German monolinguals, comparing on the one hand simultaneous bilingual children speaking German as a majority language with simultaneous bilinguals who speak German as a heritage language and, on the other hand, comparing heritage speakers of German who are simultaneous bilinguals with those who are sequential bilinguals. We studied their word order patterns in German, specifically the position of verb and negation, by dint of several tasks including acceptability judgment, forced choice, sentence repetition, and narrative tasks. The results revealed the effect of all three factors on word order patterns used by bilinguals between the ages of 7 and 13. The performance of simultaneous bilingual heritage speakers varies across the tasks. We conclude that they have problems inhibiting their stronger language in tasks that place higher demands on processor, leading to a non-target-like performance in their weaker language in producing narratives.

Assessment of minority language skills in English-Irish-speaking bilingual children: A survey of SLT perspectives and current practices.

An increasing number of children in the UK and Ireland are growing up speaking more than one language. The many advantages of bilingualism are acknowledged; however, this increased linguistic diversity presents particular challenges for speech and language therapists (SLTs). The case is often more complex with speakers of minority languages such as Welsh and Irish, which are acquired almost exclusively in bilingual contexts. Lack of appropriate standardized assessments for bilinguals is a key issue for SLTs internationally; however, little is known about the practices, personal perspectives or wider challenges faced by SLTs in assessing minority language skills. We focus on SLTs working with English-Irish bilinguals across Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) where status, use and exposure to Irish differ significantly. To investigate the perceptions and practices of SLTs in NI and the ROI in the assessment of bilingual English-Irish-speaking children. A 33-item online survey was distributed to SLTs working with children in community settings in NI and the ROI. A total of 181 SLTs completed the survey. The majority of respondents had bilingual English-Irish-speaking children on their caseloads; however, less than one-quarter had assessed Irish language skills. Responses indicate confusion as to whether best-practice guidelines applied in this particular context where the majority of speakers have English as their first language and limited domains of exposure to Irish outside of the education system. Resources available to assess Irish language skills were found to be limited. Informal analysis of language samples emerged as the most popular assessment tool. SLTs in the ROI had a significantly higher level of competence in the Irish language than SLTs in NI. This reduced the challenge of assessment. Many SLTs reported scoring assessments standardized on monolingual populations when assessing English language skills in bilingual English-Irish-speaking children. Our findings highlight the challenges faced by SLTs in meeting best-practice guidelines in the assessment of speakers of minority languages such as Irish. Further work is needed to ensure clinicians and other professionals have access to information and enhanced training on bilingual language acquisition in minority language contexts and implications for assessment and diagnosis. This study underlines the need for further research on the acquisition of minority languages as well as the development of alternative assessment tools to assist SLTs in meeting the needs of this population. What is already known on the subject Existing research indicates that SLTs face challenges in assessing bilingual clients. Lack of assessment resources is a global issue, particularly with respect to minority languages. Emerging research indicates that SLTs and other professionals are dissatisfied with current resources for assessing Irish-speaking bilinguals and are struggling to meet best-practice guidelines. What this paper adds to existing knowledge The status of the Irish language differs significantly between NI and the ROI, while English is the dominant language in both areas. This study provides the first exploration of current assessment practices for bilingual English-Irish-speaking children as reported by SLTs across both regions. The challenges of assessing bilingual clients in many other countries are mirrored by SLTs in NI and the ROI. The majority of children acquiring Irish are doing so in a specific context: the immersion education setting. This raises uncertainty for SLTs about whether the definition of bilingualism actually applies. Despite clinicians and clients sharing the same majority language, the complexity of minority language assessment remains. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? SLTs require specific support and resources to help them meet the assessment needs of bilingual English-Irish-speaking children. Ongoing education and training are required for clinicians and other professionals to facilitate understanding of the complexities surrounding bilingual speakers of minority languages and the application of best-practice guidelines. A greater understanding of the context in which children are acquiring Irish and the impact this may have on their acquisition of English would further support clinicians in identifying speech, language and communication needs in this population.

Does Linguistic Similarity Affect Early Simultaneous Bilingual Language Acquisition?

Abstract It is well established that L2 acquisition is faster when the L2 is more closely related to the learner’s L1. In the current study we investigated whether language similarity has a comparable facilitative effect in early simultaneous bilingual children. The similarity between each bilingual child’s two languages was determined using phonological and typological scales. We compared the vocabulary size of bilingual toddlers learning different pairs of languages. Results show that the vocabulary size of bilingual children is indeed influenced by similarity: the more similar the languages, the larger the children’s vocabulary.

Code-switching in parents’ everyday speech to bilingual infants

Code-switching is a common phenomenon in bilingual communities, but little is known about bilingual parents' code-switching when speaking to their infants. In a pre-registered study, we identified instances of code-switching in day-long at-home audio recordings of 21 French-English bilingual families in Montreal, Canada, who provided recordings when their infant was 10 and 18 months old. Overall, rates of infant-directed code-switching were low, averaging 7 times per hour (6 times per 1,000 words) at 10 months and increasing to 28 times per hour (18 times per 1,000 words) at 18 months. Parents code-switched more between sentences than within a sentence; this pattern was even more pronounced when infants were 18 months than when they were 10 months. The most common apparent reasons for code-switching were to bolster their infant's understanding and to teach vocabulary words. Combined, these results suggest that bilingual parents code-switch in ways that support successful bilingual language acquisition.

Longitudinal Developments in Bilingual Second Language Acquisition and First Language Attrition of Speech: The Case of Arnold Schwarzenegger

The purpose of this investigation was to trace first (L1) and second language (L2) segmental speech development in the Austrian German–English late bilingual Arnold Schwarzenegger over a period of 40 years, which makes it the first study to examine a bilingual’s speech development over several decades in both their languages. To this end, acoustic measurements of voice onset time (VOT) durations of word-initial plosives (Study 1) and formant frequencies of the first and second formant of Austrian German and English monophthongs (Study 2) were conducted using speech samples collected from broadcast interviews. The results of Study 1 showed a merging of Schwarzenegger’s German and English voiceless plosives in his late productions as manifested in a significant lengthening of VOT duration in his German plosives, and a shortening of VOT duration in his English plosives, closer to L1 production norms. Similar findings were evidenced in Study 2, revealing that some of Schwarzenegger’s L1 and L2 vowel categories had moved closer together in the course of L2 immersion. These findings suggest that both a bilingual’s first and second language accent is likely to develop and reorganize over time due to dynamic interactions between the first and second language system.