Multilingual Toddlers’ Vocabulary Development in Two Languages: Comparing Bilinguals and Trilinguals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lynn Côté ◽  
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero ◽  
Krista Byers-Heinlein
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Input Quantity ◽  
Third Language ◽  
French And English ◽  
Multiple Languages

Many children grow up hearing multiple languages, learning vocabulary words in each. How does the number of languages being learned affect multilinguals’ vocabulary development? In a pre-registered study, we compared productive vocabularies of bilingual (n =170) and trilingual (n =20) toddlers aged 17–33 months growing up in a bilingual community where both French and English are spoken. We hypothesized that because trilinguals have reduced input in French and English due to time spent hearing their third language, they would have smaller French–English vocabulary sizes than bilinguals. Trilinguals produced on average 2/3 of the number of words in these languages that bilinguals did, however this difference was not statistically robust due to large levels of variability. Follow-up analyses did, however, indicate a relationship between input quantity and vocabulary size. Our results indicate that similar factors contribute to vocabulary development across toddlers regardless of the number of languages being acquired.

Multilingual toddlers’ vocabulary development in two languages: Comparing bilinguals and trilinguals

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. CÔTÉ ◽  
Ana Maria GONZALEZ-BARRERO ◽  
Krista BYERS-HEINLEIN
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Input Quantity ◽  
Third Language ◽  
French And English ◽  
Multiple Languages

Abstract Many children grow up hearing multiple languages, learning words in each. How does the number of languages being learned affect multilinguals’ vocabulary development? In a pre-registered study, we compared productive vocabularies of bilingual (n = 170) and trilingual (n = 20) toddlers aged 17–33 months growing up in a bilingual community where both French and English are spoken. We hypothesized that because trilinguals have reduced input in French and English due to time spent hearing their third language, they would have smaller French–English vocabulary sizes than bilinguals. Trilinguals produced on average 2/3 of the number of words in these languages that bilinguals did: however, this difference was not statistically robust due to large levels of variability. Follow-up analyses did, however, indicate a relationship between input quantity and vocabulary size. Our results indicate that similar factors contribute to vocabulary development across toddlers regardless of the number of languages being acquired.

scholarly journals Learning to Read in Multiple Languages: A Study Exploring Allophone Students’ Reading Development in French Immersion

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-28
Author(s):  
Renée Bourgoin ◽  
Joseph Dicks
Keyword(s):  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Third Language ◽  
English Reading ◽  
French And English ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
Multiple Languages

This article describes a two-year study of the French and English reading development of seven elementary French immersion (FI) students who spoke a home language that is neither English nor French. Given the critical role of literacy in school success and the growing number of third language (L3) learners entering FI, this study focused on L3 learners’ reading experiences. Standardized reading measures were administered in English and in French and think-aloud protocols and interviews were conducted with students. Results suggest that L3 students are similar to, if not stronger than, their bilingual peers with respect to English and French reading ability. They also relied on their knowledge of other languages to support French reading development and evidence of metalinguistic and metacognitive insights is presented. A number of classroom implications for teaching reading in diverse FI classrooms are included.

scholarly journals Infant-directed speech from seven to nineteen months has similar acoustic properties but different functions

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 1035-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina KALASHNIKOVA ◽  
Denis BURNHAM
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Speech Quality ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Communicative Development ◽  
Three Components

AbstractThis longitudinal study assessed three acoustic components of maternal infant-directed speech (IDS) – pitch, affect, and vowel hyperarticulation – in relation to infants’ age and their expressive vocabulary size. These three individual components were measured in IDS addressed to infants at 7, 9, 11, 15, and 19 months (N = 18). All three components were exaggerated at all ages in mothers’ IDS compared to their adult-directed speech. Importantly, the only significant predictor of infants’ expressive vocabulary size at 15 and 19 months was vowel hyperarticulation, but only at 9 months and beyond, not at 7 months, and not pitch or affect at any age. These results set apart vowel hyperarticulation in IDS to infants as the critical IDS component for vocabulary development. Thus IDS, specifically the degree of vowel hyperarticulation therein, is a vehicle by which parents can provide the most optimal speech quality for their infants’ linguistic and communicative development.

The Organisation of Multilingual Miscellanies

Insular Books ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ad Putter
Keyword(s):  
French Language ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
French And English ◽  
Multiple Languages

This chapter examines the use of multiple languages, and particularly the co-existence of English and French items, in one and the same codex, focusing on miscellanies from the 13th to the 15th centuries. It argues that the question of whether scribes mixed French and English texts in manuscript miscellanies depended not just on chronology but also on the types of text they copied. To substantiate this case, I compare the situation of romances, which rarely circulated with French-language companions in manuscript, with those of lyrics, which mixed freely with French lyrics. The association of the lyric with francophone culture explains why English and French lyrics continued to be copied alongside each other in medieval manuscripts.

scholarly journals “I smile, but Without Showing My Teeth”: The Lived Experience of Cleft, Lip, and Palate in Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 799-807
Author(s):  
Asgjerd Litleré Moi ◽  
Harald Gjengedal ◽  
Kari Lybak ◽  
Hallvard Vindenes
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Additional Surgery ◽  
Multidisciplinary Perspective

Objective: To explore and describe the experience of growing up with unilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP) in adults. Design: Face-to-face interviews. Giorgi’s phenomenological method was used for analysis. Participants: Twenty-one (mean age: 40.8 years) adults treated for unilateral CLP during childhood and adolescence participated in the study. Results: Growing up with CLP meant to become aware of bodily otherness. The possible reactions from peers early in life complicated the striving for inclusion outside the close family. Being self-confident, clever in school, physically fit, and having trusted friends represented barriers against teasing and bullying. Nevertheless, the reflected image, in mirrors, windows, and photos, reminded the participants of the objectifying looks from others and often led to bodily adjustments that persisted into adulthood. The trajectory of treatment was not questioned during childhood, and the participants accepted the decisions on care made by experts and parents. Although problems related to the cleft could persist or return after the termination of ordinary treatment, a more hesitant view on the possible benefits of additional surgery was typical in adulthood. Conclusions: In retrospect, growing up with a unilateral CLP was found to have been an unquestioned part of the adult participants’ childhood, a burden that they feared would, to some extent, also be passed to their own children. However, the CLP had not prevented them from achieving goals and satisfaction in life. The occurrence of persisting psychological, functional, and esthetic challenges in adults suggests the need for an individualized, lifelong, and multidisciplinary perspective on CLP follow-up.

A longitudinal study of vocabulary size and composition in low risk preterm children

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Pérez-Pereira ◽  
Raquel Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Growth Curve ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Preterm Children

The vocabulary size and composition of one group of full-term and three groups of low risk preterm children with different gestational ages (GA) were longitudinally compared at 10, 22 and 30 months of age. Expressive vocabulary development was assessed through the CDI. Cognitive development was also assessed at 22 months (Batelle Developmental Inventory), and data concerning biological and environmental characteristics of the children were also obtained. Growth curve analyses indicated that there were no significant differences in vocabulary size or percentage of word categories among GA groups. Regression analyses showed that word production and cognitive scores measured at 22 months were the main predictors of total vocabulary and word categories at 30 months. Gender, maternal education and GA did not contribute in a significant way to the variance of use of the vocabulary categories or vocabulary size. Therefore, GA does not seem to affect vocabulary development and composition when biomedical complications associated to prematurity are excluded.

scholarly journals Vocabulary development in Greek children: a cross-linguistic comparison using the Language Development Survey*

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINA F. PAPAELIOU ◽  
LESLIE A. RESCORLA
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Normative Sample ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Word Use ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Us Children

ABSTRACTThis study investigated vocabulary size and vocabulary composition in Greek children aged 1 ; 6 to 2 ; 11 using a Greek adaptation of Rescorla's Language Development Survey (LDS; Rescorla, 1989). Participants were 273 toddlers coming from monolingual Greek-speaking families. Greek LDS data were compared with US LDS data obtained from the instrument's normative sample (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Vocabulary size increased markedly with age, but Greek toddlers appeared to get off to a slower start in early word learning than US children. The correlation between percentage word use scores in Greek and US samples was moderate in size, indicating considerable overlap but some differences. Common nouns were the largest category among the fifty most frequent words in both samples. Numbers of adjectives and verbs were comparable across languages, but people and closed-class words were more numerous in the Greek sample. Finally, Greek late talkers showed similar patterns of vocabulary composition to those observed in typically developing Greek children.

scholarly journals Categorising ultra-processed foods in large-scale cohort studies: evidence from the Nurses’ Health Studies, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Growing Up Today Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Khandpur ◽  
Sinara Rossato ◽  
Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier ◽  
Mengxi Du ◽  
Euridice M. Steele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Grocery Store ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Health Studies

Abstract This manuscript details the strategy employed for categorising food items based on their processing levels into the four NOVA groups. Semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) from the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS) I and II, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Growing Up Today Studies (GUTS) I and II cohorts were used. The four-stage approach included: (i) the creation of a complete food list from the FFQs; (ii) assignment of food items to a NOVA group by three researchers; (iii) checking for consensus in categorisation and shortlisting discordant food items; (iv) discussions with experts and use of additional resources (research dieticians, cohort-specific documents, online grocery store scans) to guide the final categorisation of the short-listed items. At stage 1, 205 and 315 food items were compiled from the NHS and HPFS, and the GUTS FFQs, respectively. Over 70 % of food items from all cohorts were assigned to a NOVA group after stage 2. The remainder were shortlisted for further discussion (stage 3). After two rounds of reviews at stage 4, 95⋅6 % of food items (NHS + HPFS) and 90⋅7 % items (GUTS) were categorised. The remaining products were assigned to a non-ultra-processed food group (primary categorisation) and flagged for sensitivity analyses at which point they would be categorised as ultra-processed. Of all items in the food lists, 36⋅1 % in the NHS and HPFS cohorts and 43⋅5 % in the GUTS cohorts were identified as ultra-processed. Future work is needed to validate this approach. Documentation and discussions of alternative approaches for categorisation are encouraged.

scholarly journals Categorizing ultra-processed food intake in large-scale cohort studies: evidence from the Nurses’ Health Studies, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Growing Up Today Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Khandpur ◽  
Sinara Rossato ◽  
Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier ◽  
Mengxi Du ◽  
Euridice Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Cohort Studies ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Processed Food ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Health Studies

AbstractObjectiveThere is limited description and documentation of the methods used for the categorization of dietary intake according to the NOVA classification, in large-scale cohort studies. This manuscript details the strategy employed for categorizing the food intake, assessed using food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), of participants in the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS) I and II, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), and the Growing Up Today Studies (GUTS) I and II into the four NOVA groups to identify the ultra-processed portion of their diets.MethodsA four-stage approach was employed: (1) compilation of all food items from the FFQs used at different waves of data collection; (2) assignment of food items to a NOVA group by three researchers working independently; (3) checking for consensus in categorization and shortlisting food items for which there was disagreement; (4) discussions with experts and use of additional resources (research dieticians, cohort-specific documents, online grocery store scans) to guide the final categorization of the short-listed items.ResultsAt stage 1, 205 and 315 food items were compiled from the adult and GUTS FFQ food lists, respectively. Over 70% of food items from all cohorts were assigned to a NOVA group after stage 2 and the remainder were shortlisted for further discussion (stage 3). Two rounds of reviews at stage 4 helped with the categorization of 96.5% of items from the adult cohorts and 90.7% items from the youth cohort. The remaining products were assigned to a non-ultra-processed food group and ear-marked for sensitivity analyses. Of all items in the food lists, 36.1% in the adult cohorts and 43.5% in the GUTS cohorts were identified as ultra-processed.ConclusionAn iterative, conservative approach was used to categorize food items from the NHS, HPFS and GUTS FFQ food lists according to their grade of processing. The approach relied on discussions with experts and was informed by insights from the research dieticians, information provided by cohort-specific documents, and scans of online supermarkets. Future work is needed to validate this approach.

scholarly journals Perceptive evaluation of the severity of dysphonia among Lebanese bilingual subjects

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 892
Author(s):  
Reina Remman ◽  
Nayla Matar ◽  
Michèle Puech
Keyword(s):  
Voice Quality ◽  
Common Occurrence ◽  
Early Step ◽  
Third Language ◽  
French And English ◽  
Lebanese Arabic ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Native Tongue

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Perceptive analysis of voice represents a basic and fundamental early step in the process of evaluating voice quality. Several factors seem to affect the results. Prominent among them is bilingualism, a common occurrence among Lebanese youths who frequently speak a second or third language in addition to their native tongue Arabic.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This study aims to find pertinent information for the characterization of the severity of dysphonia depending on the language spoken by Lebanese bilingual subjects. The intent is to try to appreciate if voice seems more dysphonic in the Lebanese language compared to French and English. The sample comprises twenty-two Lebanese dysphonic women, aged between twenty and sixty years. They all read a text in Lebanese Arabic and another one in French or in English, depending on the languages that they use on a regular basis. Voice recordings are rated by four expert listeners. Two listening sessions are organized using the G, R and B criteria of Hirano’s GRBAS scale.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Results show that the voice appears more dysphonic with a more pronounced roughness when reading in French for bilingual French/Arabic subjects than it is for English/Arabic persons reading in English. However, the patients speaking French and Arabic appear to be more dysphonic as a group compared to the patients speaking English and Arabic.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> It is important to enlarge the number of participants to get more accurate results. However, the suggested corpus in Lebanese Arabic seems to be adapted for the evaluation of voice quality.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document