Polish–English bilingual children overuse referential markers: MLU inflation in Polish-language narratives

2020 ◽  
pp. 014272372093376
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Otwinowska ◽  
Marcin Opacki ◽  
Karolina Mieszkowska ◽  
Marta Białecka-Pikul ◽  
Zofia Wodniecka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Dp Structure ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Cross Language

Polish and English differ in the surface realization of the underlying Determiner Phrase (DP): Polish lacks an article system, whereas English makes use of articles for both grammatical and pragmatic reasons. This difference has an impact on how referentiality is rendered in both languages. In this article, the authors investigate the use of referential markers by Polish–English bilingual children and Polish monolingual children. Using the LITMUS-MAIN picture stories, the authors collected speech samples of Polish–English bilinguals raised in the UK ( n = 92, mean age 5;7) and compared them with matched Polish monolinguals ( n = 92, mean age 5;7). The analyses revealed that the bilinguals’ mean length of utterance (MLU) in Polish was significantly higher than that of the monolinguals because the bilinguals produced significantly more referential markers (especially pronouns) which inflated their MLU. The authors posit that the non-standard referentiality used by the bilinguals in Polish is caused by cross-language transfer at the syntax–pragmatics interface. When producing narratives in Polish, Polish–English bilinguals overuse referential markers as cohesive devices in their stories, which is not ungrammatical, but pragmatically odd in Polish. Bilinguals tend to do this because they are immersed in English-language input, rich in overt pronouns. Thus, in the process of realizing the surface features of the Polish DP they partly rely on an underlying English DP structure.

Cross-language comparisons of maze use in Spanish and English in functionally monolingual and bilingual children

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA M. BEDORE ◽  
CHRISTINE E. FIESTAS ◽  
ELIZABETH D. PEÑA ◽  
VANESSA J. NAGY
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Cross Language

Maze use appears to be higher in bilingual speakers than in their functionally monolingual peers. One question is whether this is due to the speaker's bilingual status or to the characteristics of the bilingual's language(s). Narratives for 22 Spanish–English bilingual 4–6-year-olds and their functionally monolingual age-matched peers were analyzed for maze use. Bilingual and functionally monolingual children used similar percentages and patterns of mazes. Children produced more grammatical revisions in Spanish than English. Bilingual and functionally monolingual children used similar grammatical revision strategies in Spanish and English. Children's maze use in each language was correlated with measures of language productivity such as mean length of utterance and number of words used in the sample. These findings suggest that the role of language is important in maze use and that bilingual children do not necessarily have greater levels of linguistic uncertainty than do their functionally monolingual peers.

An Introductory Examination of Speech Disfluencies in Spanish–English Bilingual Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter During Narratives

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-141
Author(s):  
Cristina Rincon ◽  
Kia Noelle Johnson ◽  
Courtney Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Preliminary Data ◽  
Diagnostic Information ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Developmental Stuttering ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the frequency and type of speech disfluencies (stuttering-like and nonstuttering-like) in bilingual Spanish–English (SE) children who stutter (CWS) to SE children who do not stutter (CWNS) during narrative samples elicited in Spanish and English to provide further diagnostic information for this population and preliminary data toward an expansion of this study. Method Participants included six bilingual SE children (three CWS, three CWNS) ranging in age from 5 years to 7;5 (years;months) and recruited from the surrounding Houston, Texas area. Participants provided a narrative sample in English and Spanish. The frequency of speech disfluencies was tabulated, and mean length of utterance was measured for each sample. Results Results indicate that both talker groups exceed the diagnostic criteria typically used for developmental stuttering. Regardless of the language being spoken, CWS participants had a frequency of stuttering-like speech disfluencies that met or exceeded the diagnostic criteria for developmental stuttering that is based on monolingual English speakers. The CWNS participants varied in meeting the criteria depending on the language being spoken, with one of the three CWNS exceeding the criteria in both languages and one exceeding the criteria for percentage of stuttering-like speech disfluencies in one language. Conclusion Findings from this study contribute to the development of more appropriate diagnostic criteria for bilingual SE-speaking children to aid in the reduction of misdiagnoses of stuttering in this population.

Vowel development in young Mandarin-English bilingual children

Phonetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
High Group ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Vowel Systems ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract This study examined the development of vowel categories in young Mandarin -English bilingual children. The participants included 35 children aged between 3 and 4 years old (15 Mandarin-English bilinguals, six English monolinguals, and 14 Mandarin monolinguals). The bilingual children were divided into two groups: one group had a shorter duration (<1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-low group) and one group had a longer duration (>1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-high group). The participants were recorded producing one list of Mandarin words containing the vowels /a, i, u, y, ɤ/ and/or one list of English words containing the vowels /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, u, ʊ, o, ɑ, ʌ/. Formant frequency values were extracted at five equidistant time locations (the 20–35–50–65–80% point) over the course of vowel duration. Cross-language and within-language comparisons were conducted on the midpoint formant values and formant trajectories. The results showed that children in the Bi-low group produced their English vowels into clusters and showed positional deviations from the monolingual targets. However, they maintained the phonetic features of their native vowel sounds well and mainly used an assimilatory process to organize the vowel systems. Children in the Bi-high group separated their English vowels well. They used both assimilatory and dissimilatory processes to construct and refine the two vowel systems. These bilingual children approximated monolingual English children to a better extent than the children in the Bi-low group. However, when compared to the monolingual peers, they demonstrated observable deviations in both L1 and L2.

scholarly journals Narrative abilities in early successive bilingual Slovak–English children: A cross-language comparison

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
SVETLANA KAPALKOVÁ ◽  
KAMILA POLIŠENSKÁ ◽  
LENKA MARKOVÁ ◽  
JAMES FENTON
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Research ◽  
First Language ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Skill Transfer ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Narrative Skills ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Narrative Performance ◽  
Cross Language

ABSTRACTThis study investigates macrostructure skill transfer in successive bilingual children speaking Slovak and English, a new language combination for narrative research. We examined whether narrative performance reflected language dominance and assessed relationships between nonword repetition (NWR) and narrative skills within and across languages. Forty typically developing Slovak–English bilingual children (mean age = 5 years, 10 months) were evaluated for microstructure and macrostructure performance in both languages through story telling and retelling tasks. In addition, NWR was assessed in Slovak, the children's first language (L1). Macrostructure scores were higher in their L1 than in their second language (L2), but comprehension did not differ across languages. L1 NWR was significantly related to L1 microstructure scores, but not to L1/L2 macrostructure or L2 microstructure. Implications for assessing bilingual children's language are discussed.

Decontextualized language production in two languages: An investigation of children's word definition skills in Korean and English

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER YUSUN KANG
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Korean And English ◽  
Schooling Experience ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Word Definition

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to identify factors that contribute to bilingual children's decontextualized language production and investigate how schooling experience and bilingualism affect the development of this skill. The word definition skills of seventy Korean–English bilingual children whose first language was Korean, yet who had been schooled in English, were analyzed. The findings indicate that contrary to the results from previous studies, the participants' decontextualized language production was much better in their home language than in their school language, when considering both the formal linguistic structure and the communicative adequacy of their word definitions. In addition, limited cross-language transfer across tasks was present and cross-language contribution was observed only in the children's ability to achieve communicative adequacy, but not in their ability to construct conventional definition syntax. The results are discussed in terms of the linguistic and typological distance between the two languages and the potential effects of language-learning contexts.

scholarly journals Difficulties using standardized tests to identify the receptive expressive gap in bilingual children's vocabularies

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
TODD A. GIBSON ◽  
LINDA JARMULOWICZ ◽  
D. KIMBROUGH OLLER
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
English Language ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Old Spanish ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
The Us ◽  
English Speaking

Receptive standardized vocabulary scores have been found to be much higher than expressive standardized vocabulary scores in children with Spanish as L1, learning L2 (English) in school (Gibson et al., 2012). Here we present evidence suggesting the receptive-expressive gap may be harder to evaluate than previously thought. We compared the performance of 116 six-year-old Spanish–English bilingual children in the US to 30 monolingual Spanish-speaking peers in Mexico across two Spanish-language standardized picture naming tests and one standardized picture pointing test. The performance of 134 monolingual English-speaking peers was compared using similar English-language tests. Results revealed the presence and magnitude of a receptive-expressive gap was largely dependent on the tests used. These discrepant results likely exist because widely-used standardized tests do not offer comparable normed scores. We review possible test norming practices that may have contributed to these results and suggest guidelines to determine a meaningful receptive-expressive gap for bilingual children.

Subsyllabic unit preference in young Chinese children

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIN WANG ◽  
CHENXI CHENG
Keyword(s):  
Similarity Judgment ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Language Differences ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Pattern Of Performance ◽  
Chinese And English

ABSTRACTWe reported three experiments investigating subsyllabic unit preference in young Chinese children. In Experiment 1, a Chinese sound similarity judgment task was designed in which 48 pair of stimuli varied in terms of shared subsyllabic units (i.e., vowel, body, rime, onset-coda). Grade 1 Chinese-speaking monolingual children judged pairs with shared body units most similar. In Experiment 2, the sound similarity judgment tasks in Chinese and English were tested on a group of Chinese–English bilingual children. Grade 1 children judged shared-body pairs most similar in Chinese and shared-rime pairs most similar in English. In both experiments, preschool children showed a similar pattern of performance to the Grade 1 children in the Chinese task. In Experiment 3, sound matching tasks in Chinese and English were designed. Grade 1 bilingual children again showed a preference for matching body over rime in Chinese, and for matching rime over body in English. Taken together, these results support the hypotheses that the subsyllabic unit preference in Chinese is driven by the spoken language properties, and that there exist cross-language differences in processing spoken syllables.

scholarly journals Production of Spanish Grammatical Forms in U.S. Bilingual Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 975-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisa Baron ◽  
Lisa M. Bedore ◽  
Elizabeth D. Peña ◽  
Samantha D. Lovgren-Uribe ◽  
Amanda A. López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Object ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Relative Difficulty ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Grammatical Morphemes ◽  
Object Clitics ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose The purpose of this analysis was to understand how grammatical morpheme production in Spanish for typically developing Spanish–English bilingual children relates to mean length of utterance in words (MLUw) and the extent to which different bilingual profiles influence order of grammatical morpheme acquisition. Method Participants included 228 Spanish–English bilingual children ages 4;0–7;6 (years;months). Grammatical morpheme accuracy was evaluated using an experimental version of the Bilingual English–Spanish Assessment (Peña, Gutiérrez-Clellen, Iglesias, Goldstein, & Bedore, 2014). MLUw data were calculated from children's narrative samples. Production accuracy of plural nouns, singular and plural definite articles, preterite tense, imperfect aspect, direct object clitics, prepositions, subjunctive, and conjunctions was calculated and analyzed as a function of MLUw in Spanish. Level of accuracy on these forms was compared for Spanish-dominant and English-dominant groups. Results Accuracy was significantly associated with MLUw. The relative difficulty of Spanish grammatical morphemes is highly similar across different bilingual profiles. Conclusions There are common elements of Spanish that are easy (imperfect, plural nouns, singular articles, conjunctions), medium (plural articles, preterite), or hard (prepositions, direct object clitics, subjunctive), regardless of whether a child is a Spanish-dominant or English-dominant bilingual.

The predictors of foreign-accentedness in the home language of Polish–English bilingual children

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAGDALENA WREMBEL ◽  
MARTA MARECKA ◽  
JAKUB SZEWCZYK ◽  
AGNIESZKA OTWINOWSKA
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Speech Patterns ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
Perceived Age

We investigated the speech patterns and accentedness of Polish–English bilingual children raised in Great Britain to verify whether their L1 Polish would be perceived as different from that of monolinguals matched for age and socioeconomic status. To this end, Polish-language speech samples of 32 bilinguals and 10 monolinguals (a 3:1 ratio, MAge = 5.79) were phonetically analysed by trained phoneticians and rated by 55 Polish raters, who assessed the degree of native accent, intelligibility, acceptability and perceived age. The results show significant differences in the phonetic performance of bilingual and monolingual children – both in terms of atypical speech patterns uncovered in the phonetic analysis and in terms of the holistic accentedness ratings. We also explored the socio-linguistic predictors of accent ratings in bilingual speech and found that the amount of L1 Polish input was the main predictor of accentedness in children's L1 Polish speech, while L2 English input was marginally significant. (149)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document