Bilingual Preschool Research Articles

The combination of words in compound nouns by Spanish-Japanese bilingual children: Transfers in unambiguous structure

Aims and Objectives: The current study’s aim was to test the ambiguity and dominance theories of transfer by examining compound noun production and comprehension by bilinguals acquiring Spanish and Japanese, as the word order of nominal compounds in these languages is always reversed, making them grammatically and theoretically unambiguous. Methodology: Ten Spanish-Japanese bilingual preschoolers completed production and comprehension elicitation tasks. Data and Analysis: The research subjects’ reversal rates were compared with those of age- and vocabulary-matched Japanese monolinguals. Findings/Conclusions: The results demonstrate that transfers occur from Spanish to Japanese in both production and comprehension, and that there are no dominance effects on the degree of cross-linguistic influence. Originality: There have been no previous studies on cross-linguistic transfer in Spanish-Japanese bilingual children. Significance/Implications: Transfer and directionality are not affected by relative vocabulary level; the concept of dominance should be (re)considered carefully especially for young bilinguals whose language inputs are greatly imbalanced and variable. Moreover, what is considered grammatically unambiguous by adults may be ambiguous for children acquiring such knowledge bilingually, which raises the need to consider structures in both languages as affecting the acquisition of language in young bilinguals.

Story grammar elements and causal relations in the narratives of Russian-Hebrew bilingual children with SLI and typical language development

BackgroundWhile there is general agreement regarding poor performance of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) on microstructure measures of narrative production, findings on macrostructure are inconsistent. PurposeThe present study analyzed narrative abilities of Russian-Hebrew bilingual preschool children with and without SLI, with a particular focus on story grammar (SG) elements and causal relations, in order to identify macrostructure features which distinguish bilingual children with SLI from those with typical development. MethodNarratives were collected from 35 typically developing bilinguals (BiTD) and 14 bilinguals with SLI (BiSLI) in both Russian/L1 and Hebrew/L2 using a retelling procedure (LITMUS-Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives) (Gagarina, Klop, Kunnari, Tantele, Välimaa, Balčiūnienė, Bohnacker, & Walters, 2012). Each story contained three episodes, and each episode introduced a different protagonist with explicitly stated Goals (G), Attempts (A) and Outcomes (O). Causal relations assessed included Enabling, Physical, Motivational, and Psychological relations, following Trabasso & Nickels (1992). Each Goal-Attempt-Outcome (GAO) episode was examined for the use of SG elements and causal relations. Results. Group differences emerged for both aspects of macrostructure. For causal relations, narratives of BiSLI children contained fewer Enabling and Physical relations, and differed qualitatively from those of BiTD children. For SG elements, BiSLI children referred to fewer SG elements than BiTD children in the first episode, but performed like BiTD children in the second and the third episodes. ConclusionsStory grammar elements in specific episodes along with Enabling and Physical causal relations distinguish the narratives of children with BiSLI from those with BiTD, which stresses the importance of examining wider array of macrostructure features in narratives.

The matter of silence in early childhood bilingual education

The relationship between silence as non-speech and bilingualism in early childhood education is intricate. This article maps this relationship with the help of diverse theoretical entrances to a video-recorded everyday episode from a bilingual (Spanish–Swedish) preschool in Sweden. Though this, three alternative readings of silence are produced. Thinking with Deleuzian philosophy, the aim is to consider how the different readings of silence require different understandings of both time and language and allow different bilingual child subjectivities. The different readings present silence as development, strategy and intensity. Thinking with different dimensions of language as well as Chronos and Aion as different notions of time, the article shows that silence as development and silence as strategy are individually, chronologically and linguistically oriented readings. These allow viewing the bilingual child as more or less competent, active and powerful in relation to adults. Furthermore, silence as intensity is collectively produced as well as temporally unbounded, and produces the bilingual child, as involved in several material–semiotic relations capable of amazement. It is discussed whether, due to the evasive and inconsistent nature of silence, all three readings are equally (im)possible. Nevertheless, they produce different effects and raise different questions concerning bilingual educational practice in the early years.

English Verb Accuracy of Bilingual Cantonese-English Preschoolers.

Knowledge of verb development in typically developing bilingual preschoolers may inform clinicians about verb accuracy rates during the 1st 2 years of English instruction. This study aimed to investigate tensed verb accuracy in 2 assessment contexts in 4- and 5-year-old Cantonese-English bilingual preschoolers. The sample included 47 Cantonese-English bilinguals enrolled in English preschools. Half of the children were in their 1st 4 months of English language exposure, and half had completed 1 year and 4 months of exposure to English. Data were obtained from the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001) and from a narrative generated in English. By the 2nd year of formal exposure to English, children in the present study approximated 33% accuracy of tensed verbs in a formal testing context versus 61% in a narrative context. The use of the English verb BE approximated mastery. Predictors of English third-person singular verb accuracy were task, grade, English expressive vocabulary, and lemma frequency. Verb tense accuracy was low across both groups, but a precocious mastery of BE was observed. The results of the present study suggest that speech-language pathologists may consider, in addition to an elicitation task, evaluating the use of verbs during narratives in bilingual Cantonese-English bilingual children.

Heritage language exposure impacts voice onset time of Dutch–German simultaneous bilingual preschoolers

This study assesses the effects of age and language exposure on VOT production in 29 simultaneous bilingual children aged 3;7 to 5;11 who speak German as a heritage language in the Netherlands. Dutch and German have a binary voicing contrast, but the contrast is implemented with different VOT values in the two languages. The results suggest that bilingual children produce ‘voiced’ plosives similarly in their two languages, and these productions are not monolingual-like in either language. Bidirectional cross-linguistic influence between Dutch and German can explain these results. Yet, the bilinguals seemingly have two autonomous categories for Dutch and German ‘voiceless’ plosives. In German, the bilinguals’ aspiration is not monolingual-like, but bilinguals with more heritage language exposure produce more target-like aspiration. Importantly, the amount of exposure to German has no effect on the majority language's ‘voiceless’ category. This implies that more heritage language exposure is associated with more language-specific voicing systems.

Vocabulary growth in Armenian–English bilingual kindergarteners

Four-year-old ( n = 20) and five-year-old ( n = 22) bilingual children were tested twice in six months on Armenian (minority language) and English (majority language) picture identification and picture naming tasks to examine receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in both languages. Parental education, Armenian/English language exposure, and nonverbal cognitive ability were also measured as potential predictors of vocabulary. Children showed growth over time in all four vocabulary tasks. However, less growth was observed in Armenian expressive task than in others, which indicated a preference to use English. Armenian language exposure was the unique predictor of Armenian picture identification and picture naming, whereas English language exposure was the unique predictor of English picture identification.

Expansive learning in teachers’ professional development: a case study of intercultural and bilingual preschools in Chile

ABSTRACT As colonial legacies, racial dynamics, lingering discrimination, and even violence against Indigenous people and children, especially the Mapuche people (the focus of this study and the largest Indigenous group in the country), continue in Chilean society, research on how their teachers learn and how they perceive their learning has become even more necessary. Understanding the learning development of educators in Intercultural and Bilingual Education (IBE) preschools for the education of Indigenous peoples is the focus of this study. In this context, the overall research question of this study is: What learning occurs for teachers in IBE preschools in the Metropolitan Region, Chile and how does this learning happen? Using Engestrom’s expansive learning model (2001) and an ethnographic approach, this study found peer learning to be a critical but untapped resource for teacher learning in this setting, and also found there to be differences between Mapuche and non Mapuche teachers’ understandings of the goals of their learning. Implications point to setting up teacher learning based on a model of peer learning which focuses on Mapuche educators contributing more than they currently do to the learning of non-Mapuche teachers in IBE preschools.

Screening Bilingual Preschoolers for Language Difficulties: Utility of Teacher and Parent Reports.

The utility of parent and teacher reports for screening 3 types of bilingual preschoolers (English-first language [L1]/Mandarin-second language[L2], Mandarin-L1/English-L2, or Malay-L1/English-L2) for language difficulty was investigated in Singapore with reference to measures of reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity in an English-medium kindergarten setting. The index tests were teachers' ratings of the English language ability of 5-year-olds (N = 85) on the Bilingual Language Assessment Battery (BLAB): Preschool Teacher Report (Pua, Lee, & Rickard Liow, 2013) and parents' ratings of their child's home language ability (N = 78 English-L1, Mandarin-L1, or Malay-L1) on the BLAB: Preschool Parent Report (Pua, Lee, & Rickard Liow, 2013). The reference standards were objective measures of single-word receptive vocabulary (80 items) and expressive vocabulary (140 items) in the child's L1 and L2, as proxies for language ability. BLAB Teacher Reports for the English receptive and expressive subscales showed concurrent validity for all 3 bilingual groups, as well as generally high sensitivity and specificity. In contrast, BLAB Parent Reports for L1 receptive ability failed to show significant correlations with the objective measures of receptive vocabulary. Subjective teacher ratings may be an effective method of screening bilingual preschoolers for language difficulty, thereby prompting referral to clinicians.

Dynamic Assessment of Narratives: Efficient, Accurate Identification of Language Impairment in Bilingual Students.

This study investigated the classification accuracy of a concentrated English narrative dynamic assessment (DA) for identifying language impairment (LI). Forty-two Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten to third-grade children (10 LI and 32 with no LI) were administered two 25-min DA test-teach-test sessions. Pre- and posttest narrative retells were scored in real time. Using a structured intervention approach, examiners taught children missing story grammar elements and subordination. A posttest was administered using a parallel story. Four classification predictors were analyzed: posttest scores, gain scores, modifiability ratings, and teaching duration. Discriminant function analysis indicated that an overall modifiability rating was the best classifier, with 100% sensitivity and 88% specificity after 1 DA session and 100% sensitivity and specificity after 2 sessions. Any 2 combinations of posttest scores, modifiability ratings, and teaching duration for just 1 session resulted in sensitivity and specificity rates over 90%. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to identify clinically usable cutoff points. Post hoc exploration indicated that similar results could be obtained after only one 5-10-min teaching cycle, potentially further abbreviating the DA process. Concentrated English narrative DA results in high classification accuracy for bilingual children with and without LI. This efficient version of DA is amenable to clinical use.

The multiple modes of ideological becoming: an analysis of kindergarteners’ appropriation of school language and literacy discourses

ABSTRACTThis study explores Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of ideological becoming (IB) in a bilingual (Korean and English) kindergarten classroom. For Bakhtin, IB is the process of appropriating authoritative discourse as one’s own dialogic interactions. In our study, we view the literacy and language discourses of schooling as one type of authoritative discourse that students appropriate as their own in the process of IB. Additionally, Bakhtin’s focus on language is extended in our study to include other modes of communication, such sounds, symbols, gestures, drawings, and artifacts that children use to make meaning with each other. The study found that students’ appropriation of the authoritative discourse of schooling relied on multimodal forms of communication as part and parcel to the process of IB. Thus, this study illuminates how oral languages (in this case, Korean or English or the informal patois combining the two) provide only one mode in the complex process of internalizing authoritative discourse; the multiple modes of IB surpass a language-centric view. Students’ creative adaptations of other’s voices as their own through multimodal channels of communication may not always include oral or written language.

“There is No Need for Translation: She Understands”: Teachers’ Mediation Strategies in a Bilingual Preschool Classroom

In this study, we explored how major theoretical principles and concepts in the mediation strategies of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory are realized in an Arabic−Hebrew preschool in Israel. The aim of this study was to examine how teachers encourage children to use their second language (L2) during teacher−child conversations. In particular, as a response to relatively low motivation for L2 (Arabic) use, the teachers’ mediation was intended to encourage children to use Arabic.The study participants were one Hebrew model teacher, one Arabic model teacher, and children using either Hebrew or Arabic as their first language (L1). We applied a thematic analysis as the methodological framework. Data were collected during one academic year, including video recordings of the teacher−child conversations, and were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The following content categories were extracted: explicit request for use of the L2, managing the children's demand for direct translation, the teacher as a model for the L2 learner, and contributions from language experts. The observation showed that the teachers applied diverse mediation strategies, such as scaffolding, identification of the child's zone of proximal development, and modeling. Avoidance of direct translation was intended to activate children's zone of proximal development and to boost their involvement in L2 learning.

Playing the game and speaking the right language: Language policy and materiality in a bilingual preschool activity

AbstractWhat are the material-semiotic relationships between a language policy and a table game activity in a bilingual preschool? Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the aim of this article is to explore this question, working with both human and nonhuman aspects of the activity, symmetrically, at the same level. The game playing activity takes place at a bilingual, Spanish-Swedish preschool in Sweden, which adopts a 50-50 approach in daily interaction. In interplay with video recordings, field notes and Actor-Network Theory, four different actor-network scenes of the activity are produced. Children, teacher, game pieces, die, cards, linguistic and other elements are described in the same language, as well as symmetrically drawn together in material-semiotic relations. The results indicate that the activity revolves mainly around two different, multilayered, and sometimes conflicting interests: to play the game and to speak the right language. The article describes the interrelatedness between these interests and how bilingualism emerges, transforms and becomes temporarily different in the relations of the actor-network. The approach opens up new avenues for understanding different constructions of bilingualism not in terms of a flexible-separate dichotomy but as entangled with one another in material-semiotic relations, which may illuminate creative potentials in the relations of policy and practice rather than implementation.

Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning in Bilingual Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Preliminary Intervention Approach

This article will describe a bilingual preliminary treatment method currently being utilized in a clinical research study to teach vocabulary to bilingual (Spanish/English) preschool aged (four to six years old) children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The objective of this treatment method is to advance English vocabulary while supporting the native language abilities of English learners (ELs). In this bilingual treatment method, Spanish and English are used within the session, which includes the reading of books in English and Spanish and the teaching of vocabulary in English and Spanish.

A Pilot Study of Dynamic Assessment of Vocabulary in German for Bilingual Preschoolers in Switzerland

The vocabulary subtest of the Dynamic Assessment of Preschoolers’ Proficiency in Learning English (DAPPLE) was adapted in German and administered to 6 typically developing and 6 language-impaired bilingual preschoolers in Switzerland, as part of a short pilot project. The children were, also, assessed with a standardized test of vocabulary. Our aim was to determine whether the dynamic test would lead to a more accurate classification of the two groups (and their linguistic skills) than the standardized test. Overall, the findings confirm our initial question and are in line with the results of the DAPPLE study. This small-scale study may, therefore, be considered as a successful-initial-version of the vocabulary part of the DAPPLE in German. It, also, provides the basis for the creation of a more elaborate version of the DAPPLE battery and of a more comprehensive dynamic screening of bilingual children’s ability to learn German. Future adaptations and improvements are discussed.

Relationships between proficiency with grammatical morphemes and emotion regulation: a study of Mandarin–English preschoolers

ABSTRACTPrevious research mainly with monolingual children shows a positive relationship between English skills and emotion regulation. No study to date has examined if or how learning of grammatical morphemes might be associated with emotion regulation among bilingual preschoolers. This study examined how Mandarin-English bilingual preschoolers performed on three grammatical morphemes of plurals, past tense, present tense and whether the performance on the three morphemes was associated with emotion regulation. An elicitation task was used to assess proficiency in the three morphemes, and the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) and the Disappointing Gift task were used to assess emotion regulation. The results indicate that Mandarin-English bilingual preschoolers had difficulties with all the three morphemes but they had a higher proficiency level on plurals than on past and present tense. Their proficiency in past and present tense was positively correlated with emotion regulation as measured by the ERC.

Expanding the Horizons for Critical Literacy in a Bilingual Preschool Classroom: Children’s Responses in Discussions with Gender-Themed Picture Books

The current study explores how picture books can be used in bilingual classrooms to support more critical understandings of gender stereotypes by preschool children. The research uses a reader-response perspective that stresses the importance of the reader’s role in interpreting texts as well as sociocultural theory to analyze the social dynamics of teacher–child interactions. The participants were four-year-old, Korean–English bilingual children attending a Korean Language School in the midwest of the USA. The findings suggested that literary discussions about gender-themed picture books using both Korean and English languages promoted children’s critical thinking about gender roles. By sharing empirical examples of children’s authentic discussions, the study provides early childhood teachers with insights on how gender-themed picture books can be used as a medium to open up authentic discussions about gender roles in bilingual settings. Through valuing children’s responses to the reading of the picture books, the teachers encourage children to become more active learners. Their personal responses were valued in discussions, and they began to see themselves as having the authority to make judgments about what they read.

The Impact of Bilingualism on the Creative Capabilities of Kindergarten Children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

<p class="apa">Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that encounter the issue of bilingualism due to the spread of private schools that offer programs in different languages. This research is an attempt to investigate the impact of bilingualism on the creative capabilities (Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Details) of kindergarten children in Riyadh. It aims at identifying the differences in the creative competences among children (monolingual and bilingual) in Saudi Arabia. To achieve the goals of the study, the researcher used the experimental method, as it is convenient to the nature of the study. She used the scale of Torrance of creative capacity in order to identify the creative abilities of children. The sample was randomly chosen and divided into two groups: the bilingual group (n = 40), and the control monolingual group (n = 40). Results showed that there were statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of monolingual kindergarten children and the mean scores of bilingual kindergarten children in some creative capabilities in favor of monolingual children of the study. In light of the findings, the researcher recommended the need of resolving the controversy over the issue concerning when children can start to learn a foreign language.</p>

DEFINING CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING CULTURAL AND DIALOGIC DEVELOPMENT OF BILINGUAL PRESCHOOLERS

This paper examines an issue of cultural and dialogical development of bilingual children. The preschooler period is an essential time for learning a second language and forming ethnical and cultural components of education. The need for bicultural and bilingual education is urgent and vivid in Transbaikal Siberia region of Russian Federation as it is a multinational territory. Russian is the official language, and numerous members of the indigenous group of Buryat speak Buryat (minority) language. The study focuses on the Transbaikal Agin-Buryat preschooler institutions. Linguistic, cultural, and person-oriented approaches are used. The authors discuss criteria for evaluating cultural and dialogic development of bilingual preschoolers, taking into consideration that such a process is determined by a child’s identification of self in social relations and his or her ability to construct interactive dialogue using native and non-native languages. The study shows that cultural and dialogic development of a preschooler can be successful in a bilingual educational environment.

Bilingual preschool children’s second-language vocabulary development: The role of first-language vocabulary skills and second-language talk input

Aims: In this study, we aimed to examine whether five-year-old children with varying first-language (L1) vocabulary skills benefitted differentially from second-language (L2) teacher-led group talk and peer-play talk when acquiring L2 vocabulary in preschool contexts. Design: The participants were 26 bilingual children, speaking Turkish (L1) and Norwegian (L2), who participated in a longitudinal study. At age five, they experienced variability in the amount and diversity of the L2 talk they were exposed to in interactions with teachers and peers. Data and analysis: Preschool L2 talk exposure was assessed by calculating the density of word tokens and word types in video-taped teacher-led group talk and in peer-play talk. The children’s vocabulary skills were assessed in L1 at age five and in L2 at ages four, five, six, seven and 10, using translated versions of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III. To obtain a more reliable estimate of the children’s L2 vocabulary skills we used data from all time points to fit a longitudinal growth model. Findings: Children with more developed L1 vocabulary skills who were exposed to teacher-led talk and peer-play talk with a high density of tokens had more developed L2 vocabulary skills at age five. This interaction effect remained after controlling for maternal education. Originality: Few previous studies, if any, have analyzed whether the interaction effects between L1 vocabulary skills and L2 exposure may impact L2 vocabulary skills; that is, whether children with more developed L1 vocabulary skills are more prepared to make use of the L2 environment. Implications: Interdependency among languages may be mediated by classroom talk quality. Rather than limiting the discussion of L1–L2 relations to issues of direct transfer, future research should include children’s experiences with using socio-pragmatic skills when interpreting word meaning.

The Longitudinal Effect of Bilingual Immersion Schooling on Cognitive Control and Intelligence*

Throughout the past century, the effects of bilingualism on general cognition have been extensively explored. Studies evolved from a negative to a more positive perspective, but longitudinal assessments of effects of bilingualism are scarce. This study investigated the long‐term effect of becoming a bilingual on the development of general intelligence and cognitive control. We followed 27 five‐year‐old children initiating bilingual kindergarten and 27 age‐matched controls enrolled in monolingual kindergarten. The two groups were similar with regard to socioeconomic status. At baseline, both groups spoke only French and performed equally on measures of intelligence, cognitive control, and verbal fluency. One year later, all children were tested again. Results revealed that, after 1 year, both groups improved similarly on verbal fluency and cognitive control. However, only children attending bilingual kindergarten improved significantly on intelligence, indicating that cognitive practice gained from acquiring a second language may improve general cognitive abilities assessed by intelligence tests, outside the verbal domain.