What you hear and what you say: language performance in Spanish–English bilinguals

Abstract Purpose. This study assesses the factors that contribute to Spanish and English language development in bilingual children. Method. Seven hundred and fifty-seven Hispanic prekindergarten and kindergarten-age children completed screening tests of semantic and morphosyntactic development in Spanish and English. Parents provided information about their occupation and education as well as their children's English and Spanish exposure. Data were analyzed using zero-inflated regression models (comprising a logistic regression component and a negative binomial or Poisson component) to explore factors that contributed to children initiating L1 and L2 performance and factors that contributed to building children's knowledge. Results. Factors that were positively associated with initiating L1 and L2 performance were language input/output, free and reduced lunch, and age. Factors associated with building knowledge included age, parent education, input/output, free and reduced lunch, and school district. Conclusion. Amount of language input is important as children begin to use a language, and amount of language output is important for adding knowledge to their language. Semantic development seemed to be driven more by input while morphosyntax development relied on both input and output. Clinicians who assess bilingual children should examine children's language output in their second language to better understand their levels of performance.

[1]  H. Craig,et al.  Oral language expectations for African American children in grades 1 through 5. , 2005, American journal of speech-language pathology.

[2]  G. Yeni-Komshian,et al.  Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition , 1999 .

[3]  V. Gutiérrez-Clellen,et al.  Understanding child bilingual acquisition using parent and teacher reports , 2003, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[4]  J. Cummins.  D. KIMBROUGH OLLER REBECCA E. EILERS (eds), Language and literacy in bilingual children. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2002. Pp. vii+310. ISBN 1-85359-571-3 (hbk), 1-85359-570-5 (pbk). , 2004 .

[5]  V. Marchman,et al.  Concurrent validity of caregiver/parent report measures of language for children who are learning both English and Spanish. , 2002, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[6]  D. Thal,et al.  Validity of a parent report measure of vocabulary and syntax for preschool children with language impairment. , 1999, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[7]  Erika Hoff,et al.  Socioeconomic status and cultural influences on language. , 2005, Journal of communication disorders.

[8]  A. D. Houwer.  Parental language input patterns and children's bilingual use , 2007, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[9]  C. Hammer,et al.  Bilingual children's language abilities and early reading outcomes in Head Start and kindergarten. , 2007, Language, speech, and hearing services in schools.

[10]  Arturo E. Hernandez,et al.  Balancing bilinguals: lexical-semantic production and cognitive processing in children learning Spanish and English. , 1999, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[11]  S. Suter.  Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children , 2005, European Journal of Pediatrics.

[12]  E. Bates,et al.  A comparison of the transition from first words to grammar in English and Italian , 1999, Journal of Child Language.

[13]  M. Crago,et al.  Lexical acquisition over time in minority first language children learning English as a second language , 2008, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[14]  Ping Li,et al.  Language history questionnaire: A Web-based interface for bilingual research , 2006, Behavior research methods.

[15]  J. Flege,et al.  Amount of native-language (L1) use affects the pronunciation of an L2 , 1997 .

[16]  E. Bates,et al.  Balancing bilinguals II: lexical comprehension and cognitive processing in children learning Spanish and English. , 2002, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[17]  Virginia P. Collier.  How Long? A Synthesis of Research on Academic Achievement in a Second Language , 1989 .

[18]  Letitia R. Naigles,et al.  How children use input to acquire a lexicon. , 2002, Child development.

[19]  Elizabeth Bates,et al.  Books Recieved , 2022, CL.

[20]  Rebecca J. Panagos.  Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children , 1998 .

[21]  D. Oller,et al.  Chapter 1: Assessing the Effects of Bilingualism: A Background , 2002 .

[22]  G. Jia,et al.  Acquisition of english grammatical morphology by native mandarin-speaking children and adolescents: age-related differences. , 2007, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[23]  Josiane F. Hamers,et al.  Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy , 1985 .

[24]  Erika Hoff,et al.  Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children , 2008 .

[25]  Jonathan M. Campbell,et al.  Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test , 2010 .

[26]  L. Bedore,et al.  Parent and teacher rating of bilingual language proficiency and language development concerns , 2011, International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism.

[27]  H. Gomes,et al.  Concordance rates between parent and teacher clinical evaluation of language fundamentals observational rating scale. , 2008, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[28]  J. Reznick,et al.  The validity of a parent report instrument of child language at twenty months , 1989, Journal of Child Language.

[29]  J. S. Johnson,et al.  Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language , 1989, Cognitive Psychology.

[30]  M. Restrepo,et al.  Identifiers of predominantly Spanish-speaking children with language impairment. , 1998, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[31]  J. Graham,et al.  How Many Imputations are Really Needed? Some Practical Clarifications of Multiple Imputation Theory , 2007, Prevention Science.

[32]  V. Marchman,et al.  The language-specific nature of grammatical development: evidence from bilingual language learners. , 2004, Developmental science.

[33]  M. Rice,et al.  The Acquisition of Tense in English: Distinguishing child second language from first language and specific language impairment. , 2008, Applied psycholinguistics.

[34]  Doris Aaronson,et al.  Long-term language attainment of bilingual immigrants: Predictive variables and language group differences , 2002 .

[35]  R. Suro.  The Rise of the Second Generation: Changing Patterns in Hispanic Population Growth , 2003 .

[36]  J. A. Calvin.  Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables , 1998 .

[37]  E. Bates,et al.  Continuity in lexical and morphological development: a test of the critical mass hypothesis , 1994, Journal of Child Language.