Lexical-Semantic Development in Bilingual Toddlers at 18 and 24 Months

Anda, Stephanie De; Friend, Margaret

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.508363

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We interpret these results in light of theories that emphasize the interconnectedness of the two languages in the developing bilingual lexicon (DeAnda et al, 2016). Studies show that, even across languages, words that are semantically related are acquired sooner by bilingual children (Bilson et al, 2015) and are co-activated in language processing (e.g., DeAnda & Friend, 2020;Jardak & Byers-Heinlein, 2018;Singh, 2014). Moreover, young monolinguals find it easier to learn words that are phonologically similar to one another (Coady & Aslin, 2003;Demke et al, 2002;Jones & Brandt, 2019), and young bilinguals co-activate phonologically-related words both within and across languages (Von Holzen & Mani, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Cognates are advantaged over non-cognates in early bilingual expressive vocabulary development

Mitchell¹,

Tsui²,

Byers‐Heinlein³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bilingual infants grow up with the unique experience of needing to learn two words for most concepts. These words are called translation equivalents, and translation equivalents that also sound similar (e.g., banana—banane) are called cognates. Research has consistently shown that children and adults process and name cognates more easily than non-cognates. The present study explored if there is such an advantage for cognate production in bilinguals’ early vocabulary development. Using longitudinal expressive vocabulary data collected from 47 English–French bilingual infants and toddlers starting at the ages of 16–20 months up to 27 months (a total of 219 monthly administrations in both English and French), results showed that overall children produced a greater proportion of cognate words than non-cognate words on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. The findings suggest that cognate learning is facilitated in early bilingual vocabulary development. Just as in monolingual infants, these results suggest that phonological overlap supports bilingual language acquisition.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Cognates are advantaged over non-cognates in early bilingual expressive vocabulary development

Mitchell¹,

Tsui²,

Byers‐Heinlein³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The study shows that bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction may be efficacious for improving the lexical breadth and depth of bilingual kindergarten children, which may be critical for their future academic success (Dickinson et al, 2003;Han, 2012;Kieffer, 2012). Although no quantitative evidence for CLI was observed, this study provides additional evidence for the simultaneous activation of lexicons in both languages when using either language (Kroll and Stewart, 1994;Singh, 2014;De Anda and Friend, 2020), leading to CLI of lexical depth. This has implications for planning intervention, as it suggests that both languages may be used to facilitate lexical growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Crosslinguistic Influence (CLI) of Lexical Breadth and Depth in the Vocabulary of Bilingual Kindergarten Children – A Bilingual Intervention Study

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Research in recent years has explored the vocabulary size (lexical breadth) of bilingual children, but less is known about the richness of bilingual word knowledge (lexical depth), and about how knowledge of words in the two languages interact. This study explores how bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction in each language may modulate crosslinguistic influence (CLI) between the languages of bilingual kindergarten children, focusing on CLI of lexical knowledge, and which factors modulate performance.Methods: Forty-one typically developing English-Hebrew bilingual children (M = 64.63 months) participated. A bilingual adaptation of Story Champs narrative intervention program (Spencer and Petersen, 2012) was used to deliver vocabulary instruction in separate blocks of home language (HL) and school language (SL) sessions. Different intervention words were targeted in each language, but the children were tested on all target words in both languages. Lexical knowledge was assessed with a definition task four times throughout the study: prior to intervention, after each intervention block, and 4–6 weeks later. Learner characteristics (chronological age, age of onset of bilingualism and length of exposure) and proficiency in each language (standardized tests, familiarity with the vocabulary introduced in the intervention at baseline) were examined as possible modulators of performance.Results: Children showed growth in lexical breadth and depth in their HL/English after HL intervention and in lexical breadth in the SL/Hebrew following SL intervention, with CLI for semantic depth observed via a qualitative analysis, but not quantitatively. Better HL/English performance was correlated with later AoB (and shorter SL exposure) and higher HL language proficiency scores. Children with higher HL/English proficiency responded better to the SL/Hebrew intervention, gaining more than those with lower English proficiency. Children with SL/Hebrew vocabulary dominance at the outset of the study also gained more from the HL/English intervention. No correlations were found between learner characteristics and SL performance.Discussion: The current study indicates that bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction may be efficacious for improving the lexical breadth and depth of bilingual kindergarten children. It suggests that CLI may enhance bilingual children’s language learning success, and points to the importance of strengthening both languages of bilingual children.

show abstract

“…This view stems from work measuring word knowledge using referent selection tasks, in which multilingual children score lower than monolingual children (Hoff & Ribot, 2017). Yet, multilingual children show equal or enhanced skills when considering other kinds of word knowledge, such as the links between words within and across languages (De Anda & Friend, 2020; Jardak & Byers‐Heinlein, 2019) and sensitivity to the pragmatic context of words (Groba et al, 2018). By relying on referent selection as our primary window into word meanings, we underestimate multilingual children's language skills, leading to a deficit perspective when assessing multilingual word learning trajectories (López et al, 2021).…”

Section: Consequences Of the Mapping Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

The map trap: Why and how word learning research should move beyond mapping

Wojcik

Zettersten

Benitez

2022

WIRES Cognitive Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A pervasive goal in the study of how children learn word meanings is to explain how young children solve the mapping problem. The mapping problem asks how language learners connect a label to its referent. Mapping is one part of word learning, however, it does not reflect other critical components of word meaning construction, such as the encoding of lexico-semantic relations and socio-pragmatic context. In this paper, we argue that word learning researchers' overemphasis of mapping has constrained our experimental paradigms and hypotheses, leading to misconceived theories and policy interventions. We first explain how the mapping focus limits our ability to study the richness and complexity of what infants and children learn about, and do with, word meanings. Then, we describe how our focus on mapping has constrained theory development. Specifically, we show how it has led to (a) the misguided emphasis on referent selection and ostensive labeling, and (b) the undervaluing of diverse pathways to word knowledge, both within and across cultures. We also review the consequences of the mapping focus outside of the lab, including myopic language learning interventions. Last, we outline an alternative, more inclusive approach to experimental study and theory construction in word learning research.

show abstract

Lexical-Semantic Development in Bilingual Toddlers at 18 and 24 Months

Cited by 9 publications

References 57 publications

Cognates are advantaged over non-cognates in early bilingual expressive vocabulary development

Cognates are advantaged over non-cognates in early bilingual expressive vocabulary development

Crosslinguistic Influence (CLI) of Lexical Breadth and Depth in the Vocabulary of Bilingual Kindergarten Children – A Bilingual Intervention Study

The map trap: Why and how word learning research should move beyond mapping

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About