Polish Vocabulary Development in 2-Year-Olds: Comparisons With English Using the Language Development Survey

Abstract

Vocabulary acquisition appeared to be slower in Polish than in English, probably because of the complexity of the language. However, the languages were very similar with respect to vocabulary composition findings.

Ratunku! or Just Tunku! Evidence for the Reliability and Concurrent Validity of the Language Use Inventory–Polish

“…However, when it comes to mastering language, Polish is considered to be one of the more difficult to acquire (Dąbrowska & Tomasello, 2008). For example, studies report slower vocabulary acquisition in Polish 2-year-olds as compared to English-speaking children (Rescorla, Constants, Białecka-Pikul, Stępień-Nycz, & Ochał, 2017;Smoczyńska et al, 2015). Nevertheless, large individual differences in vocabulary size and a significant gender effect have been found for Polish children, consistent with data for English-speaking children of the same age (Rescorla et al, 2017).…”

“…For example, studies report slower vocabulary acquisition in Polish 2-year-olds as compared to English-speaking children (Rescorla, Constants, Białecka-Pikul, Stępień-Nycz, & Ochał, 2017;Smoczyńska et al, 2015). Nevertheless, large individual differences in vocabulary size and a significant gender effect have been found for Polish children, consistent with data for English-speaking children of the same age (Rescorla et al, 2017). Considering further gender differences in the development of language, girls seem to have an advantage over boys during the first 3 years of life (Acredolo & Goodwyn, 1988;Bornstein, Cote, et al, 2004;David & Wei, 2008;Fenson et al, 2007).…”

“…Good, reliable adaptation can enable the development of a more complete, detailed picture of the emergence of Polish language skills, extending current findings to include the functional use of means of communication by Polish children in their everyday settings. Moreover, assessment of pragmatic language skills in children from different countries and cultures can expand ongoing debate as to whether children acquiring different languages manifest universal versus language-specific patterns of development (Evans & Levinson, 2009;Rescorla et al, 2017;Rescorla, Frigerio, Sali, Spataro, & Longobardi, 2014;Slobin, 1985). For example, using the LUI-Polish, we can determine whether there is a similar, rapid increase in the attainment of the pragmatic functions of language captured by its subscales between the ages of 2 and 4 years as observed with the LUI-English, whether children's use of gestures decreases as spoken language increases, and whether associations between pragmatic and vocabulary abilities at 3 years of age are observed.…”

“…Third, to examine concurrent validity, we calculated the correlations between (a) children's LUI-Polish scores at 20 months and scores from two other questionnaires, the Questionnaire for Communication and Early Language (QCEL; Camaioni et al, 1991) at 22 months and the Language Development Survey (LDS; Rescorla et al, 2017) at 24 months, and also between the LUI-Polish and spontaneous speech measures at 24 months and (b) the LUI-Polish at 32 months and the two measures of vocabulary comprehension and production at 36 months. Based on previous results (see Matthews, Binney, & Abbot-Smith, 2018, for a review), we expected significant, positive correlations between the LUI-Polish and the other language and gesture measures.…”

Advances in the Assessment of Young Bilinguals: Comments on Floccia Et Al

“…Rescorla and colleagues have used a different vocabulary checklist, the Language Development Survey (LDS, Rescorla, ), to assess vocabulary knowledge in young monolingual children in English, Greek, Polish, European Portuguese, and Italian. The first words produced by children from these different language backgrounds overlapped substantially (Rescorla, Constants, Białecka‐Pikul, Stępień‐Nycz, & Ochal, ; Rescorla, Nyame, & Dias, ). The first words of typically developing children and late talkers also are highly similar (Rescorla, Alley, & Christine, ).…”