scholarly journals Dual language development of Latino children: Effect of instructional program type and the home and school language environment

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Instructional Program ◽  
Latino Children ◽  
Program Type ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Home And School

scholarly journals Variations in the Home Language Environment and Early Language Development in Rural China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2671
Author(s):  
Yue Ma ◽  
Laura Jonsson ◽  
Tianli Feng ◽  
Tyler Weisberg ◽  
Teresa Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Conversational Turns ◽  
Home Language Environment

The home language environment is critical to early language development and subsequent skills. However, few studies have quantitatively measured the home language environment in low-income, developing settings. This study explores variations in the home language environment and child language skills among households in poor rural villages in northwestern China. Audio recordings were collected for 38 children aged 20–28 months and analyzed using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) software; language skills were measured using the MacArthur–Bates Mandarin Communicative Developmental Inventories expressive vocabulary scale. The results revealed large variability in both child language skills and home language environment measures (adult words, conversational turns, and child vocalizations) with 5- to 6-fold differences between the highest and lowest scores. Despite variation, however, the average number of adult words and conversational turns were lower than found among urban Chinese children. Correlation analyses did not identify significant correlations between demographic characteristics and the home language environment. However, the results do indicate significant correlations between the home language environment and child language skills, with conversational turns showing the strongest correlation. The results point to a need for further research on language engagement and ways to increase parent–child interactions to improve early language development among young children in rural China.

Directionality of cross-linguistic influence: Which referring choices do bilingual Ukrainian–English children make?

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roksolana Mykhaylyk ◽  
Elinor Ytterstad
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Object Language ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Significant Difference

Aims and research questions: This paper presents a new study addressing the issue of cross-linguistic influence in acquisition of referring expressions. The main research question is how to predict directionality of this influence in a dual language development. Methodology: The method is an elicited production task. We consider the phenomenon of direct object referring choices, i.e. noun, pronoun and null element, in a ‘null-object’–‘overt-object’ language pair (Ukrainian and English). Data and Analysis: Participants of the experiment are 4–6-year-old Ukrainian–English bilinguals (N20) and Ukrainian monolinguals (N21). The data are analyzed in the statistical program R, utilizing the R-library function lme4. The results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) of each direct object type. Findings: Our data reveal that while there is no significant difference in Ukrainian object types in most of the age groups, there is a considerable amount of null object usage in English at the ages of four to five. Originality: The innovative nature of this study lies in: (i) the consideration of a licit object omission at a later stage of language development (from 4 to 6 years of age); (ii) the examination of an under-investigated language combination (i.e. English and Ukrainian); and (iii) the innovative approach to linguistic data analysis (e.g. comparing OR values). Implications: Our findings suggest that the directionality of influence in dual language acquisition depends on the developmental stage, language-specific means of syntax–pragmatics interaction, and extra-linguistic input-related factors. At the early stages of development, the null-object language is likely to influence the overt-object language, especially under conditions of limited exposure to the latter.

Bi-directional communication journals as a method of caregiver support during speech and language intervention: A pilot study

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Christina Yeager Pelatti ◽  
Alison Martino ◽  
Kaitlyn P. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Mixed Methods Design ◽  
Speech And Language ◽  
Caregiver Support ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Study Offer

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the inclusion of a bi-directional communication journal between caregivers and student clinicians during a five-week summer preschool programme impacted caregivers’ perceptions and had a positive impact on their children’s language development. This study included a mixed methods design. Child participants (mean age = 4 years, 4 months) were assigned to one of four classrooms; two classrooms served as control classrooms ( n = 12 children), and two participated in the journal intervention ( n = 15 children). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaires reflecting caregivers’ perceptions of the speech and language environment and their children’s language development at the start and end of the programme. Quantitative results revealed a significant main effect of time regarding caregivers’ perceptions of their child’s language development. Thematic analysis of narrative questionnaire responses revealed three core themes including: improved communication between caregivers and student clinicians, insight about child’s routines, and application in the home environment. Overall, the results of this pilot study offer preliminary support for the use of bi-directional communication journals as a method of supporting preschoolers’ growth in speech and language skills through caregiver involvement.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHILD LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 404
Author(s):  
Viktorija Kuzina
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
General Education ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Radio Broadcasting ◽  
Education School ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Opinion Polls

Childhood is the basis for both life and language acquisition. The child language is greatly influenced by the language environment – parents and other family members, teachers, as well as movies, TV and radio broadcasting, theatre performances, books. Meanwhile exploring the world and characterizing it, the child gradually acquires the skill to use in its language synonyms, antonyms, phraseology, comparisons, learns to understand foreign origin words used on daily basis, etc.In order to establish, which factors are influencing positively the child language development, a questionnaire was worked out. Students, general education school teachers, as well as the preschool education teachers completed the questionnaire. The research on the factors influencing the children's language development was accomplished in the framework of the Norwegian project in 2015. The results of the questionnaire and opinion polls prove, the childhood stage is very significant in the child language development, and really great is the responsibility of adults (parents and teachers), to ensure that this process develops as valid, interesting and exciting for the child. One of the conditions for successful acquisition of the Latvian language vocabulary stock is the example shown by the speech of adults. The use of illiterate language must also be eliminated from schools, mass media, etc.

What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school

1982 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Brice Heath
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
Ethnography Of Communication ◽  
Literacy Narratives ◽  
Literacy Events ◽  
Narrative Skills ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Written Materials ◽  
Home And School

AbstractAbstract “Ways of taking” from books are a part of culture and as such are more varied than current dichotomies between oral and literate traditions and relational and analytic cognitive styles would suggest. Patterns of language use related to books are studied in three literate communities in the Southeastern United States, focusing on such “literacy events” as bedtime story reading. One community, Maintown, represents mainstream, middle-class school-oriented culture; Roadville is a white mill community of Appalachian origin; the third, Trackton, is a black mill community of recent rural origin. The three communities differ strikingly in their patterns of language use and in the paths of language socialization of their children. Trackton and Roadville are as different from each other as either is from Maintown, and the differences in preschoolers' language use are reflected in three different patterns of adjustment to school. This comparative study shows the inadequacy of the prevalent dichotomy between oral and literate traditions, and points also to the inadequacy of unilinear models of child language development and dichotomies between types of cognitive styles. Study of the development of language use in relation to written materials in home and community requires a broad framework of sociocultural analysis. (Crosscultural analysis, ethnography of communication, language development, literacy, narratives.)

scholarly journals Early Development of Neural Speech Encoding Depends on Age but not Native Language Status: Evidence from Lexical Tone

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-59
Author(s):  
Nikolay Novitskiy ◽  
Akshay R Maggu ◽  
Ching Man Lai ◽  
Peggy H Y Chan ◽  
Kay H Y Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Speech Encoding ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Language Environment

Abstract We investigated the development of early-latency and long-latency brain responses to native and non-native speech to shed light on the neurophysiological underpinnings of perceptual narrowing and early language development. Specifically, we postulated a two-level process to explain the decrease in sensitivity to non-native phonemes towards the end of infancy. Neurons at the earlier stages of the ascending auditory pathway mature rapidly during infancy facilitating the encoding of both native and non-native sounds. This growth enables neurons at the later stages of the auditory pathway to assign phonological status to speech according to the infant’s native language environment. To test this hypothesis, we collected early- latency and long-latency neural responses to native and non-native lexical tones from 85 Cantoneselearning children aged between 23 days and 24 months and 16 days. As expected, a broad range of presumably subcortical early-latency neural encoding measures grew rapidly and substantially during the first two years for both native and non-native tones. By contrast, longlatency cortical electrophysiological changes occurred on a much slower scale and showed sensitivity to nativeness at around six months. Our study provided a comprehensive understanding of early language development by revealing the complementary roles of earlier and later stages of speech processing in the developing brain.

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