scholarly journals Language Comprehension in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista Byers-Heinlein ◽  
Casey Lew-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
School Success ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Infants And Toddlers ◽  
Phonetic Perception

Infants and toddlers grow up in a variety of language environments—for example, some are monolingual and some are bilingual—but nearly all children develop the ability to understand the language(s) around them. In this chapter, we trace children's path to language comprehension, from listening in infancy, to phonetic perception, speech segmentation, word learning, vocabulary development, and finally understanding language in real time. For both monolinguals and bilinguals, developing fluency in language comprehension in infancy and toddlerhood sets the stage for later language and school success.

scholarly journals Are translation equivalents special? Evidence from simulations and empirical data from bilingual infants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Ka Ying Tsui ◽  
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero ◽  
Esther Schott ◽  
Krista Byers-Heinlein
Keyword(s):  
Computational Model ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Close Match ◽  
Translation Equivalent ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Model Predictions

The acquisition of translation equivalents is often considered a special component of bilingual children’s vocabulary development, as bilinguals have to learn words that share the same meaning across their two languages. This study examined three contrasting accounts for bilingual children’s acquisition of translation equivalents relative to words that are first labels for a referent: the Avoidance Account whereby translation equivalents are harder to learn, the Preference Account whereby translation equivalents are easier to learn, and the Neutral Account whereby translation equivalents are similar to learn. To adjudicate between these accounts, Study 1 explored patterns of translation equivalent learning under a novel computational model — the Bilingual Vocabulary Model — which quantifies translation equivalent knowledge as a function of the probability of learning words in each language. Study 2 tested model-derived predictions against vocabulary data from 200 French–English bilingual children aged 18–33 months. Results showed a close match between the model predictions and bilingual children’s patterns of translation equivalent learning. At smaller vocabulary sizes, data matched the Preference Account, while at larger vocabulary sizes they matched the Neutral Account. Our findings show that patterns of translation equivalent learning emerge predictably from the word learning process, and reveal a qualitative shift in translation equivalent learning as bilingual children develop and learn more words.

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.

scholarly journals Do Bilinguals Acquire Similar Words to Monolinguals? An Examination of Word Acquisition and the Similarity Effect in Japanese–English Bilinguals’ Vocabularies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-182
Author(s):  
Aya Kutsuki
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Category ◽  
Word Acquisition ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Similarity Effect ◽  
Japanese English

Previous research has paid much attention to the overall acquisition of vocabularies among bilingual children in comparison to their monolingual counterparts. Much less attention has been paid to the type of words acquired and the possible transfer or cross-linguistic effects of the other language on vocabulary development. Thus, this study aims to explore similarities and dissimilarities in the vocabularies of simultaneous bilinguals and Japanese monolinguals and considers the possible cross-linguistic similarity effect on word acquisition. Six simultaneous Japanese–English bilingual children (mean age = 34.75 months (2.56)) were language–age-matched with six Japanese monolinguals; their productive vocabularies were compared regarding size and categories. Additionally, characteristic acquired words were compared using correspondence analyses. Results showed that, although delayed due to the reduced inputs, young bilinguals have a similar set of vocabularies in terms of word category as monolinguals. However, bilingual children’s vocabularies reflect their unevenly distributed experience with the language. Fewer interactive experiences with language speakers may result in a lower acquisition of interactive words. Furthermore, there is a cross-linguistic effect on acquisition, likely caused by form similarity between Japanese katakana words and English words. Even between languages with great dissimilarities, resources and cues are sought and used to facilitate bilingual vocabulary acquisition.

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 Preschoolers Flexibly Shift Between Speakers' Perspectives During Real‐Time Language Comprehension

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Khu ◽  
Craig G. Chambers ◽  
Susan A. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Language Comprehension

scholarly journals Do parents provide a helping hand to vocabulary development in bilingual children?

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valery LIMIA ◽  
Şeyda ÖZÇALIŞKAN ◽  
Erika HOFF
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Parental Response ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Child Gesture ◽  
Do So

AbstractMonolingual children identify referents uniquely in gesture before they do so with words, and parents translate these gestures into words. Children benefit from these translations, acquiring the words that their parents translated earlier than the ones that are not translated. Are bilingual children as likely as monolingual children to identify referents uniquely in gesture; and do parental translations have the same positive impact on the vocabulary development of bilingual children? Our results showed that the bilingual children – dominant in English or in Spanish – were as likely as monolingual children to identify referents uniquely in gesture. More importantly, the unique gestures, when translated into words by the parents, were as likely to enter bilingual and monolingual children's speech – independent of language dominance. Our results suggest that parental response to child gesture plays as crucial of a role in the vocabulary development of bilingual children as it does in monolingual children.

Sociaal Milieu, Leeftijd en Sekse en de Taalvaardigheid in Het Nederlands Van Allochtone en Autochtone Basisschoolleerlingen

1990 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Anne Kerkhoff ◽  
Jaap Dronkers
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
School Success ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
School Career ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Parental Class

The results of a secondary analysis of the relationships between Dutch language proficiency and educational attainment of Dutch primary school children with different ethnic backgrounds are presented. Three groups of pupils are studied: 32 monolingual speakers of the Dutch standard language, 75 bilingual children speaking a Dutch dialect and standard Dutch and 39 bilingual non-indigenous children belonging to different ethnic groups. All children started their school career in the Netherlands. Main results are 1) the structure of Dutch language proficiency is equal for the three groups; 2) the effects of parental class on language proficiency differ between the three groups; 3) the effects of Dutch language proficiency on educational attainment are equal for the three groups and 4) 75% of the differences in Dutch language proficiency and school success can be explained by differences in social class.

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