scholarly journals Patterns of Mutual Exclusivity and Retention: A Study of Monolingual and Bilingual 2-Year-Olds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joscelin Rocha-Hidalgo ◽  
Mary Feller ◽  
Olivia A. Blanchfield ◽  
Sarah Kucker ◽  
Rachel Barr
Keyword(s):  
Retention Test ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Selection Task ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Referent Selection ◽  
Cognitive Challenge ◽  
As If

When children learn their native language, they tend to treat objects as if they only have one label—a principle known as mutual exclusivity (ME). However, bilingual children are faced with a different cognitive challenge—they need to learn to associate two labels with one object. In the present study, we compared bilingual and monolingual 24-month-olds' performance on a challenging and semi-naturalistic forced-choice referent selection task and retention test. Overall, both language groups used ME at similar rates but differed on retention. Specifically, while monolingual infants showed some retention, bilingual infants performed at chance and significantly worse than their monolingual peers.

scholarly journals Development of Dutch children’s comprehension of subject and object wh-questions

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 129-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Strangmann ◽  
Anneke Slomp ◽  
Angeliek van Hout
Keyword(s):  
Selection Task ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
Discourse Context ◽  
Referent Selection ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Dutch Children

While Dutch welke ‘which’-questions are structurally ambiguous, number agreement cues can disambiguate them. Despite such agreement cues, children misinterpret object questions as subject questions (Metz et al. 2010, 2012; Schouwenaars et al. 2014). We investigated if adding another cue, specifically, topicality in a discourse context, helps the interpretation of which-questions in two groups of Dutch children (5;5, n = 15 and 8;5, n = 21). Using a referent-selection task, we manipulated number on the verb and postverbal NP to create unambiguous wh-questions. Moreover, the questions were preceded by a discourse which established a topic, relating either to the wh-referent or the postverbal NP referent. Nevertheless, both 5- and 8-year-olds misinterpreted object questions as subject questions, ignoring the number and topicality cues to resolve the (local) ambiguity of which-questions. Our results confirm the effect of a subject-first bias in children’s interpretation of wh-questions. We conclude that topicality, in combination with number agreement, is not strong enough to overrule this subject-first bias.

Understanding of Aviation Safety Pictograms among Respondents from Europe and the U.S.

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (16) ◽  
pp. 820-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Jentsch
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Aviation Safety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Passenger Safety ◽  
Pictorial Representations ◽  
The U.S

Conveying safety information to aircraft passengers is an important task for the designers of aircraft passenger safety information cards. Since the information must be understood by all passengers, regardless of native language or nationality, many designers use pictorial representations that are considered “culture free.” The current study investigated the comprehension of 13 pictograms from a sample of actual safety cards among participants from four language groups in Europe and the U.S. One-hundred-and-fifty students whose native languages were English (British and U.S.), French, or German, respectively, interpreted 13 pictograms. From their responses, three main conclusions can be drawn: 1. Conveying aviation safety information by pictorial means appears to be largely effective, as indicated by general comprehension levels above 85%. 2. While passengers may get the “essence” of a particular pictogram, it is often difficult for them to recognize specific details. 3. There are relatively small differences in the comprehension levels between participants from different language groups, pointing towards the “universality” of pictograms in conveying safety information. Future research needs to focus on identifying exactly which features of pictograms are most effective in conveying safety information, without introducing cultural or language biases.

scholarly journals Diagnostic Accuracy of Traditional Measures of Phonological Ability for Bilingual Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Fabiano-Smith ◽  
Katherine Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves ◽  
Phonological Disorders ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Good Diagnostic Accuracy

Purpose Bilingual children whose phonological skills are evaluated using measures designed for monolingual English speakers are at risk for misdiagnosis of speech sound disorders (De Lamo White & Jin, 2011). Method Forty-four children participated in this study: 15 typically developing monolingual English speakers, 7 monolingual English speakers with phonological disorders, 14 typically developing bilingual Spanish–English speakers, and 8 bilingual children with phonological disorders. Children's single-word speech productions were examined on Percentage Consonants Correct–Revised (Shriberg, Austin, Lewis, McSweeny, & Wilson, 1997a) and accuracy of early-, middle-, and late-developing sounds (Shriberg, 1993) in English. Consonant accuracy in English was compared between monolinguals and bilinguals with and without speech sound disorders. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to observe diagnostic accuracy of the measures examined. Results Percentage Consonants Correct–Revised was found to be a good indicator of phonological ability in both monolingual and bilingual English-speaking children at the age of 5;0. No significant differences were found between language groups on any of the measures examined. Conclusions Our results suggest that traditional measures of phonological ability for monolinguals could provide good diagnostic accuracy for bilingual children at the age of 5;0 years. These findings are preliminary, and children younger than 5;0 years should be examined for risk of misdiagnosis.

ЧЕТ ӨЛКӨЛҮК (ПАКИСТАНДЫК, ИНДИЯЛЫК) СТУДЕНТТЕРГЕ КЫРГЫЗ ТИЛИНИН АЛФАВИТИН ҮЙРӨТҮҮНҮН УСУЛДАРЫ

2020 ◽  
pp. 44-47
Author(s):  
Б.Т. Джалилова
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Indian Language ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Training History ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Family

Аннотация: Азыркы учурда Кыргызстанга келип, медициналык билим алууга кызыккан студенттердин көбүн Пакистан менен Индиялыктар түзөт. Тилдердин ар түрдүү тайпасына таандык болгон кыргыз тилин окуп-үйрөтүү бир топ кыйынчылыктарды жаратат. Урду тили тилдердин индия тобуна, ал эми кыргыз тили түрк тилдеринин тобуна кирет. Студенттерге кыргыз тилинин алфавитин үйрөтүүдө алар түшүнгөн араб тилинен алынып, бизде да колдонулуп жүргөн сөздөрдү мисалга келтирсек, кыргыз тилди кабыл алуусу жана биздин тилге болгон кызыгуусу артат. Аннотация: В настоящее время заметна тенденция увеличения количества иностранных студентов, которые хотят обучаться медицине в Кыргызстане. Это в основном жители Пакистана и Индии. Их обучение кыргызскому языку порождает определенные трудности, так как данные языки являются разносистемными (язык урду относится к индийской группе языков, кыргызский язык- к тюркской группе языков) индоевропейской семьи. В связи с этим, при изучении алфавита, мы предлагаем методику преподавания кыргызского языка в сравнении с родным языком студентов, находя в их языке схожие слова арабского происхождения. Annotation: Currently, there is a tendency to increase the number of foreign students who want to study medicine in Kyrgyzstan. These are mainly residents of Pakistan and India. Teaching the Kyrgyz language poses certain difficulties, as these languages are in different language groups (Urdu belongs to the Indian language group, Kyrgyz to the Turkic language group) of the Indo-European family. In this regard, when studying the alphabet, we offer teaching methods Kyrgyz language in comparison with the native language of students, finding in their language similar words of Arabic origin. Keywords: Alphabet, Urdu, Arabic, Farsi, dialect, methodology, language competence, comparative training, history of language, group of language.

Understanding Time-Compressed Speech: The Effects of Age and Native Language on the Perception of Audiotext and Menus

1993 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny DeGroot ◽  
Eileen C. Schwab
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Interactive Voice Response ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Nonnative English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Compression Rate ◽  
Time Compression ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Phone Calls ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Time compression increases the rate of speech without altering its pitch. The present study investigated time compression as a means of improving the efficiency of audiotext applications for a variety of user populations. Subjects from three age groups (20-30, 40-50, and 60-70 years old) and two native language groups (native and nonnative English speakers) interacted with a prototype of an Interactive Voice Response system. Four prototypes were constructed, each containing speech compressed at a different rate: 30%, 20%, 10%, and uncompressed. Each subject telephoned one of the prototypes to learn how to use Call Forwarding and to order another telephone service feature. Compression rate did not significantly interact with age or native language. Across compression rates, 60-year-olds spent significantly more time on the phone than did 20- and 40-year-olds. Moreover, 60-year-olds were significantly less successful at forwarding phone calls, and reported more difficulty and confusion, than other subjects. Nonnative English speakers spent significantly more time on the phone than did native English speakers. Despite this difference, nonnative speakers were just as successful at forwarding phone calls, and rated the system and the announcer just as favorably as did native speakers of English. There was no main effect of compression rate on call duration; faster speech did not result in significantly shorter phone calls.

scholarly journals impact of the socio-economic status on the German receptive noun and verb vocabulary in simultaneous bilingual children with Russian and Turkish as heritage languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 76-88
Author(s):  
Maria Antonietta Osso
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
American English ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Common Pattern ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Language Groups

A growing body of evidence shows a positive relation between the language skills of a child and the socio-economic status (SES) of his/her parents. These studies have mainly been conducted in an American English monolingual context. The current paper addresses the question of whether SES has a comparable impact on the simultaneous bilingual language acquisition. In this study, noun and verb test scores of German simultaneous bilingual children with Turkish and Russian as heritage languages are related to the SES of their parents – to verify the existence and the nature of a common pattern. The results do not show common patterns across the two heritage language groups, suggesting the existence of other confounding factors.  

A Dynamic Neural Field Model of Word Learning

2013 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa K. Samuelson ◽  
John P. Spencer ◽  
Gavin W. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Object Perception ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Neural Field ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Neural Field Model ◽  
Referent Selection ◽  
Nominal Categories ◽  
Individual Decisions

Word learning is a complex phenomenon because it is tied to many different behaviors that are linked to multiple perceptual and cognitive systems. Further, recent research suggests that the course of word learning builds from effects at the level of individual referent selection or noun generalization decisions that accumulate on a moment-to-moment timescale and structure subsequent word learning behaviors. Thus, what is needed for any unified theory of word learning is 1) an account of how individual decisions are made across different contexts, including the details of how objects are encoded, represented, and selected in the course of a word learning behavior; and 2) a mechanism that builds on these individual, contextually specific decisions. Here, the authors present a Dynamic Neural Field (DNF) Model that captures processes at both the second-to-second and developmental timescales and provides a process-based account of how individual behaviors accumulate to create development. Simulations illustrate how the model captures multiple word learning behaviors such as comprehension, production, novel noun generalization (in yes/no or forced choice tasks), referent selection, and learning of hierarchical nominal categories. They also discuss how the model ties developments in these tasks to developments in object perception, working memory, and the representation and tracking of objects in space. Finally, the authors review empirical work testing novel predictions of the model regarding the roles of competition and selection in forced-choice and yes/no generalization tasks and the role of space in early name-object binding.

scholarly journals Bilingual’s Advantages of not Using Mutual Exclusivity

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity

It is a known fact that monolingual children will take advantage of the principle of mutual exclusivity (ME) in the process of early word learning, i.e., the names of two different objects are mutually exclusive (one label for one referent). With the help of ME, they can expand their vocabulary effectively with a rapid speed. However, for bilingual children, it seems this principle is not that friendly to them, since they are exposed to two languages at the same time, so there could be at least two labels for the same referent. Hence bilingual children may be confused and encounter difficulties in learning words, which will slower their word learning process. This paper tries to, based on earlier research, probe into the question that how bilingual children acquire words without the help of ME, and explore whether there are advantages of not using ME in word learning for bilingual children.

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