scholarly journals The Roots of Bilingualism in Newborns

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista Byers-Heinlein ◽  
Tracey C. Burns ◽  
Janet F. Werker
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Intermediate Pattern ◽  
English Monolingual

The first steps toward bilingual language acquisition have already begun at birth. When tested on their preference for English versus Tagalog, newborns whose mothers spoke only English during pregnancy showed a robust preference for English. In contrast, newborns whose mothers spoke both English and Tagalog regularly during pregnancy showed equal preference for both languages. A group of newborns whose mothers had spoken both Chinese and English showed an intermediate pattern of preference for Tagalog over English. Preference for two languages does not suggest confusion between them, however. Study 2 showed that both English monolingual newborns and Tagalog-English bilingual newborns could discriminate English from Tagalog. The same perceptual and learning mechanisms that support acquisition in a monolingual environment thus also naturally support bilingual acquisition.

scholarly journals The acquisition of dative alternation by German-English bilingual and English monolingual children

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Woods
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Interface Phenomena ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
English Monolingual

The vulnerability of the syntax–semantics interface in simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition is still up for debate; while some scholars have found crosslinguistic transfer at this interface, others found no such influence. To determine which kinds of syntax–semantics interface phenomena may be vulnerable, this study examines the acquisition and use of dative alternation by German-English bilingual children and adults compared with English monolingual children and German and English monolingual adults. The study shows that bilingual children interpret and comprehend dative constructions in English like their monolingual peers but their production of dative constructions in German is influenced by English. This suggests that syntax–semantics interface phenomena relating to the representation of verbs’ objects are vulnerable to influence. However, bilingual adults perform like monolinguals in both languages. These results suggest that any indeterminacy in the use of dative alternation in the adult state is due to L1 attrition rather than incomplete L1 acquisition.

Code-switching in parents’ everyday speech to bilingual infants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena V. Kremin ◽  
Julia Alves ◽  
Adriel John Orena ◽  
Linda Polka ◽  
Krista Byers-Heinlein
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Bilingual Communities ◽  
Apparent Reasons ◽  
At Home

Code-switching is a common phenomenon in bilingual communities, but little is known about bilingual parents’ code-switching when speaking to their infants. In a pre-registered study, we identified instances of code-switching in day-long at-home audio recordings of 21 French–English bilingual families in Montreal, Canada, who provided recordings when their infant was 10 and 18 months old. Overall, rates of infant-directed code-switching were low, averaging 7 times per hour (6 times per 1,000 words) at 10 months and increasing to 28 times per hour (18 times per 1,000 words) at 18 months. Parents code-switched more between sentences than within a sentence; this pattern was even more pronounced when infants were 18 months than when they were 10 months. The most common apparent reasons for code-switching were to bolster their infant’s understanding and to teach vocabulary words. Combined, these results suggest that bilingual parents code-switch in ways that support successful bilingual language acquisition.

Performance on Auditory and Visual Tasks of Inhibition in English Monolingual and Spanish–English Bilingual Adults: Do Bilinguals Have a Cognitive Advantage?

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie L. Desjardins ◽  
Francisco Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Incongruent Trial ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Congruent Trial ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Visual Test ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Visual Tasks ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
English Monolingual

Purpose Bilingual individuals have been shown to be more proficient on visual tasks of inhibition compared with their monolingual counterparts. However, the bilingual advantage has not been evidenced in all studies, and very little is known regarding how bilingualism influences inhibitory control in the perception of auditory information. The purpose of the current study was to examine inhibition of irrelevant information using auditory and visual tasks in English monolingual and Spanish–English bilingual adults. Method Twenty English monolinguals and 19 early balanced Spanish–English bilinguals participated in this study. All participants were 18–30 years of age, had hearing thresholds < 25 dB HL from 250 to 8000 Hz, bilaterally (American National Standards Institute, 2003), and were right handed. Inhibition was measured using a forced-attention dichotic consonant–vowel listening task and the Simon task, a nonverbal visual test. Results Both groups of participants demonstrated a significant right ear advantage on the dichotic listening task; however, no significant differences in performance were evidenced between the monolingual and bilingual groups in any of the dichotic listening conditions. Both groups performed better on the congruent trial than on the incongruent trial of the Simon task and had significantly faster response times on the congruent trial than on the incongruent trial. However, there were no significant differences in performance between the monolingual and bilingual groups on the visual test of inhibition. Conclusions No significant differences in performance on auditory and visual tests of inhibition of irrelevant information were evidenced between the monolingual and bilingual participants in this study. These findings suggest that bilinguals may not exhibit an advantage in the inhibition of irrelevant information compared with monolinguals.

Lateralization of Bilingual Digit Span Functions

1984 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumjahn Hoosain
Keyword(s):  
Digit Span ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Listening Tests ◽  
Ear Advantage ◽  
Right Ear Advantage ◽  
Chinese And English

36 Chinese-English bilingual undergraduates were tested on forward and backward digit spans in both Chinese and English in monaural listening tests. There was a significant right-ear advantage for forward digit span in Chinese but not in English, suggesting different hemispheric involvement.

Acoustic Properties of Infant-Directed Speech

2018 ◽  
pp. 92-116
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Wang ◽  
Derek M. Houston ◽  
Amanda Seidl
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Infant Language ◽  
Practical Implications

Language acquisition is a complex process that involves an interaction between learning mechanisms and the input to the child. An important component of infants’ input is infant-directed speech (IDS)—a unique speech register that caregivers use when talking to infants. IDS differs from adult-directed speech (ADS) in a variety of dimensions. This chapter examines empirical research on the acoustic properties of IDS and the role that IDS may play in supporting infant language learning. Taking the discussion of IDS function in language development to the next level, this chapter further discusses the underlying mechanisms of IDS to promote language learning and caregivers’ intentions to use this speech register. Theoretical and practical implications of this body of work are discussed and areas for future research are highlighted.

scholarly journals Input effects across domains: The case of Greek subjects in child heritage language

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelia Daskalaki ◽  
Vasiliki Chondrogianni ◽  
Elma Blom ◽  
Froso Argyri ◽  
Johanne Paradis
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
North America ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Heritage Language Acquisition ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Interface Hypothesis

A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse–pragmatic conditions are more likely to lead to non-native outcomes than strictly syntactic aspects of the language (Sorace, 2011). To test this hypothesis, we examined subject realization and placement in Greek–English bilingual children learning Greek as a heritage language in North America and investigated whether the amount of heritage language use can predict their performance in syntax–discourse and narrow syntactic contexts. Results indicated two deviations from the Interface Hypothesis: First, subject realization (a syntax–discourse phenomenon) was found to be largely unproblematic. Second, subject placement was affected not only in syntax–discourse structures but also in narrow syntactic structures, though to a lesser degree, suggesting that the association between the interface status of subject placement and its sensitivity to heritage language use among children heritage speakers is gradient rather than categorical.

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