Monolingual English-speaking Children Research Articles

Linguistic Influences on Mathematical Development: How Important Is the Transparency of the Counting System?

Wales uses languages with both regular (Welsh) and irregular (English) counting systems. Three groups of 6- and 8-year-old Welsh children with varying degrees of exposure to the Welsh language—those who spoke Welsh at both home and school; those who spoke Welsh only at home; and those who spoke only English—were given standardized tests of arithmetic and a test of understanding representations of two-digit numbers. Groups did not differ on the arithmetic tests, but both groups of Welsh speakers read and compared 2-digit numbers more accurately than monolingual English children. A similar study was carried out with Tamil/English bilingual children in England. The Tamil counting system is more transparent than English but less so than Welsh or Chinese. Tamil-speaking children performed better than monolingual English-speaking children on one of the standardized arithmetic tests but did not differ in their comparison of two-digit numbers. Reasons for the findings are discussed.

Performance on nonlinguistic visual tasks by children with language impairment

ABSTRACTThe performance of 8- to 13-year-old monolingual English-speaking children with language impairment (LI) on seven nonlinguistic tasks was compared with two groups of typically developing children, monolingual English-speaking children, and proficient Spanish–English sequential bilingual children. Group differences were apparent, with a key finding that the LI group was observably slower than both typical groups in mental rotation and arithmetic, and also slower than the typical monolingual group in odd man out, pattern matching, and form completion. Overall, the response time (RT) increased equivalently across groups as task difficulty increased. Chronological age and perceptual–motor speed contributed to task performance, especially for the shorter tasks. RT trajectories across the 6-year age span showed that task RT decreased with age, but with greater variability for longer tasks that may also be more vulnerable to the effect of experience.

Counting Span and the Identification of Primary Language Impairment

In recent research, verbal working memory has been proposed as a primary area of deficit for children with language impairment (LI), and therefore a source of more sensitive assessment measures. In addition, research on non-linguistic tasks has suggested that children with LI may have deficits that extend beyond the linguistic domain. These dual lines of research can be connected to the drive for non-biased assessment tasks for children with diverse language learning experiences (such as bilingual children), because linguistic tasks may be intrinsically biased against such children. To investigate the usefulness of a working-memory task with a minimal linguistic load as a potential screening tool for children with primary LI. Three groups of children aged 7;10-13;11 participated in the study: monolingual English-speaking children with LI, typical monolingual English-speaking children, and typical Spanish-English bilingual children with several years of English experience. Performance of the three groups on the Counting Span task was explored through group comparisons and likelihood ratios. Children with LI had significantly lower Counting Span Set score accuracy than either typical group, with the monolingual and bilingual groups showing equivalent task performance. However, results from likelihood ratios showed that Counting Span accuracy did not have compelling diagnostic power when the entire age group was considered. Children with less than 67% accuracy were only three times more likely to be from the LI group than from either of the two typical groups. In addition to language status (typical or LI), chronological age was a key contributor to Counting Span performance in this age group. Likelihood ratios for children aged 10;0 and above showed that children with less than 67% accuracy were nine times more likely to come from the LI group than the typical groups. This intermediate diagnostic ability suggests that performance on the Counting Span alone is insufficient to identify LI among linguistically diverse learners. However, Counting Span may be a very useful component of a larger LI assessment battery, particularly for children over the age of 10;0.

Processing wh-dependencies in a second language: a cross-modal priming study

This study investigates the real-time processing of wh-dependencies by advanced Greek-speaking learners of English using a cross-modal picture priming task. Participants were asked to respond to different types of picture target presented either at structurally defined gap positions, or at pre-gap control positions, while listening to sentences containing indirect-object relative clauses. Our results indicate that the learners processed the experimental sentences differently from both adult native speakers of English and monolingual English-speaking children. Contrary to what has been found for native speakers, the learners' response pattern was not influenced by individual working memory differences. Adult second language learners differed from native speakers with a relatively high reading or listening span in that they did not show any evidence of structurally based antecedent reactivation at the point of the indirect object gap. They also differed from low-span native speakers, however, in that they showed evidence of maintained antecedent activation during the processing of the experimental sentences. Whereas the localized priming effect observed in the high-span controls is indicative of trace-based antecedent reactivation in native sentence processing, the results from the Greek-speaking learners support the hypothesis that the mental representations built during non-native language processing lack abstract linguistic structure such as movement traces.

Acquisition of #sC clusters in Spanish-English bilingual children

We evaluate productions of word-initial /s/ clusters (#sC clusters) in English by 40 Spanish-English bilingual children (aged 2;11 – 4;5). These clusters have been studied considerably in research on the phonology of English and related languages because of their unusual patterning. Specifically, #sC clusters violate several phonotactic and/or universal constraints on syllable structure. Monolingual English-speaking children also show production patterns for these clusters that are quite different from those of other clusters. Yet to be fully explored, however, is how these clusters pattern in the speech of English-speaking children who also speak another language that prohibits #sC clusters, such as Spanish. We evaluate Spanish-English bilingual children's productions of #sC clusters to compare their production patterns with the findings of previous research. Results generally indicate that these children's production patterns are consistent with cross-linguistic predictions related to sonority and sonor...

English Language Narratives of Filipino Children.

The current study focuses on describing the English language narrative skills of children who have been exposed to the Filipino language. Eight children between the ages of 6;0 (years;months) and 7;7 who spoke primarily English but who were exposed to the Filipino language at home participated. Each child produced three narrative samples based on wordless picture books. Samples were analyzed for narrative complexity as well as measures of productivity and grammaticality. The complexity of children's narratives was comparable to that reported in the literature for monolingual English-speaking children. Grammaticality measures show use of an average of 16.55% Filipino-influenced English forms across three stories. The observed patterns of Filipino-influenced English were predictable based on the comparison of English and Filipino structures. Variability in maze use was related to the amount of exposure to Filipino. Care should be taken to evaluate grammaticality with respect to nonstandard English forms predicted by the rules of the language in contact with English. Further, maze use may be related to level of exposure to another language and should be further explored when using such information in language evaluation.

Synthesized Speech Intelligibility in Sentences

Research comparing the intelligibility of human and synthesized speech among both young children and adults has indicated that synthesized speech results in a degrading of intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to compare speech intelligibility of high-probability sentences produced using DECtalk Perfect Paul and live speech among monolingual English-speaking and bilingual children. Twenty typically developing children between the ages of 4;5 (years;months) and 6;2 participated. Ten children (6 boys and 4 girls) were monolingual English speakers. The remaining ten children (4 boys and 6 girls) were bilingual. Their reproduction of modeled sentences produced in English via live speech and synthesized speech were analyzed to determine the intelligibility of each speech type. The results indicated that for both groups of children, performance was significantly better in the live speech condition. Results further revealed that the intelligibility decrement for synthesized speech was substantially greater for bilingual speakers. For bilingual children, even higher quality synthesized speech may present a greater challenge than it does for monolingual English-speaking children. Possible strategies to enhance intelligibility are discussed.

Phonological Skills of Children Adopted from China: Implications for Assessment

Little is known about the acquisition of English phonology by children adopted from China. Data are summarized from three recent studies with a focus on the phonological skills of children adopted from China as infants or toddlers. Two longitudinal studies (combined n = 8) described early phonological behaviors (e.g., babbling, phonetic inventories), and found substantial individual variation. In spite of this variation by 3 years of age, nearly all of the children were performing at a level comparable to nonadopted monolingual English-speaking peers. No clear relationship between the early behaviors and outcome at age 3 was found. The third study provided descriptions of the phonological skills of preschoolers ( n = 25) who had been adopted 2 or more years earlier, and found that only a few had persistent phonological delays. Errors were predominantly common developmental errors frequently observed in nonadopted monolingual English-speaking children. These findings suggest that tests and measures developed for monolingual English-speaking children may be used cautiously with children adopted as infants or toddlers who have been in their permanent homes for 2 or more years. Prior to that time, assessment should focus on independent analyses of phonological behaviors with consideration of the child's chronological age, length of exposure to English, and development in other language domains.

Preschool Children's Pitch-Matching Accuracy in Relation to Participation in Cantonese-Immersion Preschools

This study is an investigation of the degree to which preschool children enrolled in Cantonese-immersion preschools in three areas of the United States differed from their monolingual counterparts in pitch-matching accuracy. In a 2003 study, I found that in monolingual American English-speaking children, pitch-matching accuracy was most significantly predicted by the mean speech frequency of the voice, speech range, and age. In the present study, 20 children from the first study were matched solely by age and sex to 20 immersion children (N = 40). Results indicated that participation in the Cantonese-immersion programs most significantly affected overall pitch-matching accuracy (p < .001), with age as the strongest predictor of singing the lower notes in the study (p = . 04). Implications of these findings in relation to physiological vocal development and vocal use are also discussed.

The acquisition of the English plural morpheme by native Mandarin Chinese-speaking children.

Although the acquisition of the English plural morpheme by monolingual English-speaking children (L1 learners) has been studied extensively, little is known about the processes through which native speakers of other languages (L2 speakers) acquire the English plural morpheme. To understand the similarities and differences between L1 and L2 English plural morpheme acquisition, 10 native Mandarin-speaking children who immigrated to the United States between ages 5 and 16 years were followed for 5 years. Their proficiency in English plural morpheme production was measured by a picture description task and by their spontaneous speech. In contrast to L1 learners who master the plural morpheme within 3 years of age, only 7 of these 10 L2 learners did so after 5 years of English exposure. Age of initial exposure to English and language environment explained individual differences to some extent. Participants' speech illustrated all error types made by L1 learners; however, L2 learners more frequently marked the same noun inconsistently in the same testing session, and more often overgeneralized the plural morpheme in singular or mass noun contexts. Differences between L2 learners and L1 learners with specific language impairment are also discussed.

Language and Literacy: Children's Experiences in Multilingual Environments

The present study investigates the language use and literacy practices of 36 children (aged three-and-a-half, seven and 11) from a Gujerati and Urdu-speaking Muslim community in north-east London. These experiences are explored in the children's three-generation families, in the community and in school through interviews, recordings and observations. They are related to the children's educational achievement and whether or not they make use of a local community cultural and religious centre. The findings suggest that children who have access to the culture and leisure facilities of a community centre maintain a higher level of linguistic vitality in Gujerati and are more creative story tellers in both Gujerati and English than children who do not have these opportunities. Support for Gujerati in the home is oral rather than literacy-based and does not have a significant direct impact on children's achievement in literacy. Support for literacy in English is related to books, and does have a positive impact. Overall, by age 11, children are performing above the norms for monolingual English-speaking children of a similar background, are fluent speakers of a dialect of Gujerati and are becoming literate in Urdu for religious purposes.

Word Definition Skills in Spanish-Speaking Children with Language Impairment

Recent research has shown that children's formal definition skills correlate with school achievement. However, performance on word definition tasks may also relate to children's previous educational and language experiences. Available data are based mostly on monolingual English-speaking children and are not appropriate to identify the needs of children from other language or cultural backgrounds. This study compared the word definition skills of Spanish-speaking children with and without language impairment using a qualitative analysis. The results revealed great individual differences in the use of formal definitions within groups and specific language needs in the children with language impairment. Rather than focusing solely on children's lexical knowledge, which may be sensitive to differences in cultural and educational experience, clinicians should focus on assessing the communicative aspects of the task.

Phonological awareness and spelling abilities of Cantonese–English bilingual children

The phonological awareness of 36 Cantonese-English bilingual children, aged between 3 & 10 years, was compared with matched monolingual English-speaking children. A battery of phonological awareness tasks was used that assessed syllable awareness, onset-rime awareness, phoneme awareness, reading & spelling. The only task differentiating monolingual & bilingual preschool children was rhyme awareness, the monolingual children performing better than the bilingual children. A comparison of the school-age children indicated that the monolingual children performed better in terms of number of plausible spelling errors, nonword spelling, nonword reading, visual rhyme recognition, phoneme manipulation & spoonerisms. Previous research on children learning two phonologically similar languages (eg, English-French, Italian-English) has reported that bilingual children have superior phonological awareness. The conflicting findings reported are discussed in terms of the following factors: spoken phonological structure; type of orthography; & literacy teaching strategies. It was concluded that each of these factors plays a role in determining the phonological awareness skills of bilingual children. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 43 References. Adapted from the source document

Prevalence of specific language impairment in kindergarten children.

This epidemiologic study estimated the prevalence of specific language impairment (SLI) in monolingual English-speaking kindergarten children. From a stratified cluster sample in rural, urban, and suburban areas in the upper midwest, 7,218 children were screened. The language screening failure rate was 26.2%. Children who failed the screening and a similar number of controls were then administered a diagnostic battery (n = 2,084) that provided for a diagnosis of SLI using common diagnostic standards. Results provided an estimated overall prevalence rate of 7.4%. The prevalence estimate for boys was 8% and for girls 6%. Variation in prevalence was found among children of different racial/cultural backgrounds; however, these background variables were found to be correlated with parental education, which was also associated with SLI. The parents of 29% of the children identified as SLI reported they had previously been informed that their child had a speech or language problem. The prevalence estimates obtained fell within recent estimates for SLI, but demonstrated that this condition is more prevalent among females than has been previously reported. Also, the clinical identification of these children remains low among kindergarteners.

The Effects of Metacognitive Reading Strategy Training on the Reading Performance and Student Reading Analysis Strategies of Third Grade Bilingual Students

Abstract Studies conducted over the last decade provide evidence that linguistically diverse children continue to lag behind monolingual English-speaking children in reading performance (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs, 1989–90). At the same time, additional research provides evidence that bilingual Spanish dominant students use fewer cognitive strategies than children who communicate through the use of only one communication system (Padron, 1985). The bilingual Spanish dominant students in this experimental study were taught to use metacognitive reading strategies while reading in Spanish. Primary findings indicated that, following training in metacognitive Spanish reading strategies, Spanish dominant bilingual children improved in the area of reading performance on the La Prueba Spanish reading test and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills English reading test. Post interview results of the Burke Reading Interview, translated into Spanish, showed increases in the frequency of Spanis...

Initial Sound/Letter Correspondences in Children's Early Written Productions

Abstract The purposes of this study were to find out (a) whether the early literacy development of monolingual English-speaking children is similar to the development of Spanish-speaking children, as described by Ferreiro and Teberosky (1982), and b) whether English-speaking children also construct a syllabic hypothesis to establish initial sound/letter correspondences, or if they rather construct a consonantal hypothesis, as Kamii, Long, Manning and Manning (1990) suggest. Forty-nine preschoolers and kindergartners were individually asked to write at least six words and one sentence, and then to interpret their own productions. The developmental levels were found to be the same as in Ferreiro and Teberosky (1982). The study suggests that American children also construct the syllabic hypothesis. However, some differences were found in the way American children use letters at the syllabic and subsequent levels.

Questioning Patterns and Language Proficiency in Bilingual Students

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between the relative language proficiency and the types of questions, as speech acts, produced by bilingual children in different settings. The main premise of the study was that in studying language proficiency of bilingual children, a holistic perspective should be used, and the whole language repertoire, in both languages and in different settings, should be taken into account. The subjects of the study were six third grade students attending a self-contained maintenance bilingual program in a midwest city. Video and audio taped data collected in the classroom and in informal settings were coded and analyzed for the study. The data showed that children produced the same question repertoire as previously found in studies with monolingual English-speaking children and adults. There were differences in the type of question patterns used both in Spanish and English and across settings. It is suggested that further study of the use of different speech acts, ...