Measuring Word Learning Ability in Sequential Bilingual Children

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract The purpose of this article is to look at the word learning skills in sequential bilingual children—children who learn two languages (L1 and L2) at different times in their childhood. Learning a new word is a process of learning a word form and relating this form to a concept. For bilingual children, each concept might need to map onto two word forms (in L1 and in L2). In case studies, I present 3 typically developing Hmong-English bilingual preschoolers' word learning skills in Hmong (L1) and in English (L2) during an 8-week period (4 weeks for each language). The results showed gains in novel-word knowledge in L1 and in L2 when the amount of input is equal for both languages. The individual differences in novel word learning are discussed.

Effect of speaker certainty on novel word learning in monolingual and bilingual children

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 883-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
MILIJANA BUAC ◽  
AURÉLIE TAUZIN-LARCHÉ ◽  
EMILY WEISBERG ◽  
MARGARITA KAUSHANSKAYA
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
Linguistic Backgrounds ◽  
Novel Words

In the present study, we examined the effect of speaker certainty on word-learning performance in English-speaking monolingual (MAge = 6.40) and Spanish–English bilingual (MAge = 6.58) children. No group differences were observed when children learned novel words from a certain speaker. However, bilingual children were more willing to learn novel words from an uncertain speaker than their monolingual peers. These findings indicate that language experience influences how children weigh cues to speaker credibility during learning and suggest that children with more diverse linguistic backgrounds (i.e., bilinguals) are less prone to prioritizing information based on speaker certainty.

scholarly journals Sonority-Related Novel Word Learning Ability of Children With Cochlear Implants With Optimal Oral Language Exposure

Ear & Hearing ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1715-1731
Author(s):  
Yasmeen Hamza ◽  
Areti Okalidou ◽  
Ann Dierckx ◽  
Astrid van Wieringen
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Novel Word Learning

The effect of noise on novel word learning in sequential bilingual children

2006 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 3322-3322
Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan ◽  
Kathryn Kohnert ◽  
Peggy Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Novel Word Learning

scholarly journals Acceptance of lexical overlap by monolingual and bilingual toddlers

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1517-1530
Author(s):  
Marina Kalashnikova ◽  
Aimee Oliveri ◽  
Karen Mattock
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Lexical Competence

Aims and Objectives: Mutual exclusivity refers to children’s assumption that there are one-to-one correspondences between words and their referents. It is proposed to guide the process of fast-mapping when children encounter novel words in referentially ambiguous situations. However, children are often required to suspend this default assumption and accept lexically overlapping labels, which is particularly common for bilingual children who learn multiple labels for most referents in their environment. Previous research has shown that school-aged bilinguals are more successful at learning overlapping labels than monolinguals, but the mechanisms underlying the development of this word-learning ability remain unknown. Methodology: This study investigated the ability to accept lexical overlap in monolingual and bilingual two-and-a-half-year-old children and its relation to children’s lexical competence. Children’s ability to retain two novel labels assigned to a novel referent was assessed in an interactive lexical overlap paradigm. In addition, parental inventories were used to measure children’s receptive vocabulary size and patterns of language exposure and use. Data and analysis: Data were collected from 68 (34 monolingual and 34 bilingual) children between 26 and 34 months of age. Binomial logistic regressions were used to assess the effects of children’s language background and their individual lexical competence (receptive vocabulary for monolinguals and bilinguals, and conceptual vocabulary size and degree of bilingualism for bilinguals). Findings: Results showed that vocabulary size was a significant predictor of lexical overlap performance for monolingual children, but this was not the case for bilinguals. Originality: These findings are the first to indicate that the individual linguistic experience of growing up monolingual or bilingual shapes the mechanisms that underlie the development and usage patterns of early word-learning strategies. Limitations: This study leaves open the question of what aspect of growing up bilingual leads children to develop word-learning strategies that are shaped by their linguistic experience.

Fast mapping by bilingual preschool children

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
PUI FONG KAN ◽  
KATHRYN KOHNERT
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
L1 And L2

ABSTRACTPrevious studies show that young monolingual children's ability to ‘fast map’ new word forms is closely associated with both their age and existing vocabulary knowledge. In this study we investigate potential relationships between age, fast mapping skills and existing vocabulary knowledge in both languages of developing bilingual preschool children. Participants were twenty-six typically developing children, ages 3 ; 0 to 5 ; 3. All children learned Hmong as their primary home language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Fast mapping and vocabulary knowledge tasks were administered in L1 and L2. For vocabulary knowledge, scores were comparable in L1 and L2; for fast mapping, scores were somewhat greater in L1 than L2. In contrast to previous findings with monolingual children, fast mapping performance was not related to age or existing vocabulary knowledge in either Hmong or English. There were, however, significant positive and negative cross-language correlations between L1 fast mapping and L2 vocabulary.

Novel Word Learning in Children With Hearing Impairment

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 630-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margie Gilbertson ◽  
Alan G. Kamhi
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Novel Word Learning

This study examined novel word-learning abilities in young school-age children with mild-to-moderate hearing losses. We questioned whether degree of hearing loss or measures of language and phonological processing abilities were more likely to be related to novel word-learning ability. Subjects were 20 children with hearing impairment (M = 9:0) and 20 children with normal hearing (M = 6:5) matched for receptive vocabulary knowledge. Children were administered measures of language and phonological processing. The novel word-learning task consisted of an acquisition and retention phase in which children received a series of trials to learn to produce four novel words. Half of the children with hearing impairment performed comparably to the children with normal hearing on all of the measures obtained, whereas the other 10 children with hearing impairment performed more poorly than the higher functioning children with hearing impairment and all of the children with normal hearing on most of the measures of language, phonological processing, and novel word learning. Degree of hearing loss was not related to language or word-learning abilities. These findings suggest that the population of children with mild-to-moderate hearing loss may contain two distinct groups: a group of normally developing children who have a hearing loss and a group of children with language impairment who have a hearing loss. The implications of this categorization will be discussed.

scholarly journals Can We Enhance Statistical Learning? Exploring Statistical Learning Improvement in Children with Vocabulary Delay

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-567
Author(s):  
Dongsun Yim ◽  
Yoonhee Yang
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Learning Improvement ◽  
Group Score ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Novel Word Learning

Objectives: If statistical learning ability is critical for language acquisition and language development, it is necessary to confirm whether enhancing statistical learning ability can improve the children’s language skills. The present study investigated whether children with and without vocabulary delay (VD) show a difference in improving statistical learning (SL) tasks manipulated with implicit, implicit*2 and explicit conditions, and with visual and auditory domains; and also explores the relationship among SL, vocabulary, and quick incidental learning (QUIL).Methods: A total of 132 children between 3 to 8 years participated in this study, including vocabulary delayed children (N= 34) and typically developing children (N = 98). Participants completed SL tasks which were composed of three exposure conditions, and Quick incidental learning (QUIL) tasks to tap the novel word learning ability.Results: The VD group score was significantly lower than the TD group in the explicit condition of the auditory statistical learning task, and there was a significant correlation between QUIL and SL_auditory (implicit*2) only in the TD group.Conclusion: These results may explain that the TD group was ready to accept the explicit cues for learning as a domain-specific (auditory) benefit, and their auditory SL ability can be closely linked to vocabulary abilities. The current study suggests one possibility; that the VD group can increase the statistical learning ability through double auditory exposures. The novel quick incidental learning in the TD group was supported by the statistical learning, but this was not seen in the VD group.

Phonological Measures for Bilingual Spanish-English–Speaking Preschoolers: The Language Combination Effect

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Leah Fabiano-Smith ◽  
Chelsea Privette ◽  
Lingling An
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Spanish Phonology ◽  
The Individual

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic accuracy of traditional measures of phonological ability developed for monolingual English-speaking children with their bilingual peers in both English and Spanish. We predicted that a composite measure, derived from a combination of English and Spanish phonological measures, would result in higher diagnostic accuracy than examining the individual phonological measures of bilingual children separately by language. Method Sixty-six children, ages 3;3–6;3 (years;months), participated in this study: 29 typically developing bilingual Spanish-English–speaking children ( x = 5;3), five bilingual Spanish-English–speaking children with speech sound disorders ( x = 4;6), 26 typically developing monolingual English-speaking children ( x = 4;8), and six monolingual English-speaking children with speech sound disorders ( x = 4;9). Children were recorded producing single words using the Assessments of English and Spanish Phonology, and productions were phonetically transcribed and analyzed using the Logical International Phonetics Program. Overall consonants correct–revised; accuracy of early-, middle-, and late-developing sounds; and percent occurrence of phonological error patterns in both English and Spanish were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curves and support vector machine models were applied to observe diagnostic accuracy, separately and combined, for each speaker group and each language. Results Findings indicated the combination of measures improved diagnostic accuracy within both the English and Spanish of bilingual children and significantly increased accuracy when measures from both languages of bilingual children were combined. Combining measures for the productions of monolingual English-speaking children did not increase diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion To prevent misdiagnosis of speech sound disorders in bilingual preschoolers, the composite phonological abilities of bilingual children need to be assessed across both gross and discrete measures of phonological ability. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16632604

Word learning in monolingual and bilingual children: The influence of speaker eye-gaze

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ishanti Gangopadhyay ◽  
Margarita Kaushanskaya
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Word Retention ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Novel Words

Abstract The current study examined the impact of a speaker's gaze on novel-word learning in 4-5-year old monolingual (N = 23) and bilingual children (N = 24). Children were taught novel words when the speaker looked at the object both times while labeling it (consistent) and when the speaker looked at the object only the first time (inconsistent). During teaching, bilingual children differentiated between the target object (that matched the label) and non-target object (that did not match the label) earlier than the monolingual children on trials without eye-gaze information. However, during testing, monolingual children showed more robust retention of novel words than bilingual children in both conditions. Findings suggest that bilingualism shapes children's attention to eye-gaze during word learning, but that, ultimately, there is no bilingual advantage for utilizing this cue in the service of word retention.

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