Mixed-language input and infant volubility: Friend or foe?

Abstract

Language mixing is a common feature of many bilingually-raised children's input. Yet how it is related to their language development remains an open question. The current study investigated mixed-language input indexed by observed (30-second segment) counts and proportions in day-long recordings as well as parent-reported scores, in relation to infant vocal activeness (i.e., volubility) when infants were 10 and 18 months old. Results suggested infants who received a higher score or proportion of mixed input in one-on-one social contexts were less voluble. However, within contexts involving language mixing, infants who heard more words were also the ones who produced more vocalizations. These divergent associations between mixed input and infant vocal development point for a need to better understand the causal factors that drive these associations.

Language Distance Moderates the Effect of a Mixed-Language Environment on New-Word Learning for 4-Year-Old Children

“…The relation remained significant after removing the effect of the English-only blocks. Moreover, within contexts involving language mixing, infants who heard more words were also the ones who produced more vocalizations [24]. Bail et al reported a positive correlation between total vocabulary and conceptual vocabulary in both of the languages that the toddler in 3 of 15 their study had been exposed to and the degree of language mixing of the parents during a 13 min play session [25].…”