A preliminary study of the relationship between working memory, language experience, and grammatical skill in dual language learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110349
Author(s):  
Kimberly C Jenkins ◽  
Raquel T Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between verbal short-term and working memory, language experience, and English tense-marking skill in Spanish L1-English L2 dual language learners (DLLs). Methodology: Ten Spanish-English DLLs, in kindergarten and first grade, participated in the study. Children completed the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment, a narrative retell task in English, and verbal memory tasks. Parents provided information regarding language input and output in the home and school environment. Data and analysis: Correlational analyses were conducted to examine relationships between English and Spanish input/output, forward and backward digit span, assessed in English and Spanish, and the accurate and productive use of English tense morphemes in various linguistic contexts. Conclusions: Study outcomes indicated varied use of English tense morphemes among DLLs. Additionally, a strong, positive association was found between the use of a variety of distinct tense forms and verbal working memory performance. Originality: This study is the first investigation to examine verbal short-term and working memory and home language experience to advance our understanding of the specific child internal and external factors that may account for the variability in tense marking during English second language acquisition. Significance: This research provides further insight to the effects of individual differences on the acquisition of second language grammatical skill during childhood.

English Narrative Language Growth Across the School Year: Young Spanish–English Dual Language Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Wood ◽  
Mary Claire Wofford ◽  
Clariebelle Gabas ◽  
Yaacov Petscher
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
School Year ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Language Growth ◽  
Story Elements

This study aimed to describe the narrative retell performance of dual language learners (DLLs) in the fall and spring of the school year and examine predictive relationships. Participants included 74 DLLs in kindergarten and first grade from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Microstructural measures included number of different words (NDW), words per minute (WPM), and verb accuracy. Macrostructural measures included number of total story elements and number of different types of story elements. Path analysis models were used to test the relations among variables. Findings indicated that narrative measures were sensitive to developmental differences across the school year. Fall NDW performance in narrative retells was moderately related to both spring NDW and the total number of macrostructural elements in the spring. Spring WPM was uniquely predicted by fall WPM. Authors concluded that narrative retells are sensitive to developmental differences across a school year for DLLs. Findings support the use of narrative retell measures as a promising tool to examine and describe English language growth of young DLLs within a school year.

Zero Anaphora in Second Language Acquisition:A Comparison among Three Varieties of English

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Williams
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Zero Anaphora ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the use of zero anaphora in the English production of three speaker groups: native speakers, second language learners, and speakers of a non-native institutionalized variety. General discourse function for zero anaphora is found to be similar across speaker groups, although in many cases, ungrammatical by prescriptive standards. In addition, there are important quantitative and structural differences between the native speakers and non-native speakers in how this device is used. The results suggest that the relationship between performance data and second language acquisition needs to be reexamined. In particular, it cannot be assumed that spontaneous production of a given form isa direct indicator of acquisition and conversely, that non-production is necessarily proof of non-acquisition.

Preschool Language Experience of Dual Language Learners and English Monolingual Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Young Choi ◽  
Craig K. Van Pay ◽  
Constance Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Preschool Language ◽  
Preschool Classrooms ◽  
Language Environment

This study explored the quantitative language experiences of dual language learners (DLLs; n = 19) and English monolinguals (EM; n = 13) in preschool classrooms where English is the primary language of instruction. Using the Language ENvironment AnalysisTM system as a primary tool, we analyzed an average of 34 hours of recordings collected over 5 to 8 days for each participating child (Mage = 52 months) in 6 classrooms. Results showed that DLLs spoke as much as EMs but heard less adult talk overall and had more 5-minute recording segments with zero adult-child conversations than their English EM peers during typical preschool days. When we focused on adult-child conversational contexts, DLLs, relative to EMs, heard less adult talk during conversations that were child-initiated but not during conversations that were adult-initiated. Follow-up analyses also showed that teachers talk more and longer when they initiated conversations than when children initiated conversations for both DLLs and EMs, while children spoke more in child-initiated conversations. Study implications and future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Does Critical Period Affect Bilingual Advantage for Working Memory and Metacognition?

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Kexuan Huang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Experience Questionnaire

There have been many studies exploring the advantages that bilingualism confers to individuals’ working memory and metacognition (see Ransdell, 2006; Del Missier et al., 2010). The hypothesis of language critical period states that if no language learning and teaching happen during the critical period, an individual will never be able to fully grasp any language to a full extent (Fromkin et al., 1974). This study investigates whether late bilingualism (second language acquisition after the critical period) will positively affect a person’s working memory and metacognition just like early bilingualism (second language acquisition before the critical period) does. Sixty Chinese persons between the ages of 18 and 35 participated in my online experimental protocol, including a language experience questionnaire, a reading comprehension exam, and a reading span task. I found that late bilingualism poses a similar advantage to an individual’s working memory as early bilingualism, while it negatively affects an individual’s metacognitive awareness of their own language ability. 

scholarly journals Language and Literacy Together: Supporting Grammatical Development in Dual Language Learners With Risk for Language and Learning Difficulties

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Bedore ◽  
Elizabeth D. Peña ◽  
Christine Fiestas ◽  
Mirza J. Lugo-Neris
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Reading Difficulties ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Early Interventions ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose Early Interventions in Reading (Vaughn et al., 2006), the only literacy intervention with demonstrated effectiveness for U.S. dual language learners, was enhanced to support the development of oral language (vocabulary, grammar, and narrative) and literacy, which we refer to as “Language and Literacy Together.” The primary focus of this study is to understand the extent to which grammatical skills of bilinguals with risk for language and/or reading difficulties improve in the Language and Literacy Together intervention. Method Fifteen first-grade dual language learners with risk for language and/or reading difficulties participated in an enhanced version of Early Interventions in Reading in Spanish. Children completed pre- and postintervention evaluations in Spanish and English, including grammatical testing from the Bilingual English Spanish Oral Screener (Peña et al., 2008) and narrative evaluation Test of Narrative Language story prompts (Gillam & Pearson, 2004; Gillam et al., n.d.). Data from six comparison participants with typical language skills who completed pre- and posttesting demonstrate the stability of the measures. Results The intervention group made gains in English and Spanish as evidenced by significant increases in their cloze and sentence repetition accuracy on the Bilingual English Spanish Oral Screener Morphosyntax subtest. They increased productivity on their narratives in Spanish and English as indexed by mean length of utterance in words but did not make gains in their overall grammaticality. Conclusions Structured intervention that includes an emphasis on grammatical elements in the context of a broader intervention can lead to change in the production of morphosyntax evident in both elicited constructions and narrative productivity as measured by mean length of utterance in words. Additional work is needed to determine if and how cross-linguistic transfer might be achieved for these learners.

scholarly journals Dual language experience enhances neural activation variability during an fMRI reading and language task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Malins ◽  
Hailey D'Silva ◽  
Gigi Luk ◽  
Arturo E. Hernandez ◽  
Stephen J. Frost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neural Variability ◽  
The Impact

Previous work has shown that experience speaking more than one language in childhood is associated with decreased intra-individual neural variability in electrophysiological responses during a low-level speech perception task. However, no study has yet evaluated the impact of dual language experience on variability in fMRI responses during a higher-level spoken and written language processing task. In the current study, we calculated trial-by-trial variability in neural activation during an fMRI task that involved deciding whether spoken or printed English words matched pictures of items. We compared trial-by-trial neural activation variability between two groups of 8-15 year-old children: a group of dual language learners (N = 24; 11 female) who were Spanish-dominant and acquiring English, and a group of monolingual learners who were English-dominant (N = 17; 9 female). We found that when controlling for a variety of language, general cognitive, and demographic measures, neural activation variability for printed words was greater in the dual language learners compared to the monolingual learners in the right middle frontal gyrus, a brain region previously associated with attentional control. This finding highlights how neural variability offers a window of opportunity to examine experience-dependent mechanisms during human development, and motivates future research on bilingual language processing.

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