The cognitive development of young dual language learners: A critical review

Barac, Raluca; Bialystok, Ellen; Castro, Dina C.; Sánchez, Marta

doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.02.003

Cited by 358 publications

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“…50, No. 9, 2242-2254 0012-1649/14/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037161 2242 graphically similar monolingual children in numerous domains of cognitive functioning, especially those related to inhibitory/cognitive control and metalinguistic awareness (see Barac, Bialystok, Castro, & Sanchez, 2014, for a review). Although it is clear that being fully bilingual is an advantage, and that early English proficiency is helpful, the processes and predictors that help ELLs learn English and become bilingual, especially among young children in poverty, are not at all clear.…”

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confidence: 99%

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

Winsler¹,

Kim²,

Richard³

2014

Developmental Psychology

122

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This article analyzes the role that individual differences in children's cognitive, Spanish competence, and socio-emotional and behavioral skills play in predicting the concurrent and longitudinal acquisition of English among a large sample of ethnically diverse, low-income, Hispanic preschool children. Participants assessed at age 4 for language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral skills were followed through kindergarten. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that Spanish-speaking preschoolers with greater initiative, self-control, and attachment and fewer behavior problems at age 4 were more successful in obtaining English proficiency by the end of kindergarten compared to those initially weaker in these skills, even after controlling for cognitive/language skills and demographic variables. Also, greater facility in Spanish at age 4 predicted the attainment of English proficiency. Social and behavioral skills and proficiency in Spanish are valuable resources for low-income English language learners during their transition to school.Keywords: English language learner (ELL), dual language learner, Latino/Hispanic, social skills, English acquisitionThe number of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States has been increasing progressively in recent years. ELL enrollment in schools more than doubled between 1997 and 2008 (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2010). Hispanic children, who speak Spanish as their first language (L1), make up the largest proportion of ELL students in today's schools (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Given that (a) Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States; (b) disproportionately high numbers of Hispanic children live in poverty (Chau, Thampi, & Wight, 2010); and (c) Hispanic children, as a group, struggle with relatively poor educational achievement, Garcia and Jensen (2009) argued that young Hispanic children constitute an urgent demographic imperative requiring considerable research and policy attention.One of the key questions has to do with the conditions under which, and the speed with which, young Hispanic children acquire English. Depending on the pattern and timing of exposure to and support for both English and Spanish in the early years, there are many possible language outcomes for such children-some become fully bilingual fairly early on in childhood, learning English and maintaining Spanish in the process; some remain predominantly Spanish speakers with only limited English proficiency; and some become fully competent in English at the expense of Spanish. The current article examines child-level predictors of progress toward proficiency in English during pre-K and kindergarten among Spanish-speaking children in poverty. ELL children who become fully proficient in English, and who do so earlier in their educational career, do better later in school than those who continue to struggle with English proficiency (Halle, Hair, Wandner, McNamara, & Chien, 2012). Of course, English proficiency is only one of th...

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confidence: 99%

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

Winsler¹,

Kim²,

Richard³

2014

Developmental Psychology

122

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“…First, being bilingual has been broadly construed in research on bilingualism and cognition and does not refer to equal mastery in or equal amount of exposure to two languages. In fact, research has shown that individuals who are equally fluent in two languages are rare [49]. Furthermore, research with typically-developing children has shown that children with limited but regular exposure to a second language enjoyed some bilingual advantage [50].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Bilingual Experience on The Literacy Development of Struggling Readers

Kuo

Chen²,

Ko³

2016

IPCDD

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The rapid increase in linguistic diversity in schools worldwide over the past two decades has prompted a new generation of research on the impact of early bilingual experience on the literacy development of young children. So far, the field has concentrated on such impact among typically-developing children. In this editorial, we argue that this line of research should be expanded to focus on struggling readers, or children at-risk for reading disabilities. Documented similarities in the distinctive linguistic and cognitive profiles of struggling readers who are monolingual and bilingual, combined with mounting evidence for bilingual advantage in verbal and non-verbal abilities, have led us to hypothesize that delay in reading development among struggling readers may be mitigated by bilingual experience through three mechanisms: a) enhanced attention control that allows for more efficient use of working memory during reading; b) increased sensitivity to linguistic structures; and c) availability of compensatory reading strategies through literacy development of a second language. These three mechanisms are explicated in this editorial to call for a new research agenda in the field of childhood and developmental disorder.

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“…Depuis, un nombre considérable d'études a exploré un large éventail de capacités cognitives et langagières qui se développent en fonction du bilinguisme. De nombreux avantages cognitifs, de nature verbale et non verbale, liés à l'expérience bilingue à l'enfance ont été identifiés (voir par exemple, Abutalebi & Clahsen, 2015;Barac, Bialystok, Castro, & Sanchez, 2014;Calvo & Bialystok, 2014;Crivello et al, 2016;Haznedar, 2015;Kempert, Saalbach, & Hardy, 2011;Kroll & Bialystok, 2013;Nicolay & Poncelet, 2013). Dans le domaine du langage, les capacités qui relèvent de la conscience métalinguistique, concept qui a attiré l'attention de nombreux linguistes et psycholinguistes (pour une revue, voir Jessner, 2006;Pinto & El Euch, 2015) occupent une place privilégiée.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…: Brédart & Rondal, 1982;Donaldson, 1978;Hakes, 1980;Karmiloff-Smith, 1992;Tunmer, Pratt, Herriman, 1984) mettent l'accent sur les aspects généraux de la dimension métalinguis-tique, comme étant basée sur des processus d'abstraction croissante, la plupart des travaux récents (ex. : Antoniou, Grohmann, Kambanaros, & Katsos, 2016;Barac et al, 2014;Blom et al, 2014;Kroll & Bialystok, 2013) sont plutôt basés sur la conceptualisation de Bialystok (2001Bialystok ( , 2004Bialystok ( , 2009Bialystok ( , 2011Bialystok ( , 2015. En effet, Bialystok refuse une vision monolithique de la conscience métalin-guistique.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Développement métalinguistique chez de jeunes enfants bilingues comparés à des monolingues

Pinto

Euch

2017

OLBIWP

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RésuméNous présentons deux études sur le développement métalinguistique d'enfants bilingues, les uns italien-anglais, les autres italien-français, avec un même test métalinguistique en plusieurs versions linguistiques. La première étude, menée dans des classes de maternelles et primaires à Londres, a impliqué 118 enfants de quatre et cinq ans, dont 64 bilingues simultanés italien-anglais, et 54 monolingues anglais, tous issus d'un milieu socioculturel favorisé. Les bilingues ont obtenu des résultats mé-talinguistiques significativement supérieurs aux monolingues, indépen-damment de la version linguistique du test (italienne ou anglaise). La deuxième étude a impliqué 101 enfants de cinq ans, dont 47 bilingues italien-français (31 simultanés et 16 consécutifs) fréquentant une école française à Rome, et 54 monolingues, dont 27 étaient des monolingues italiens testés à Rome en version italienne et 27 des monolingues français, testés en version française à Paris. Comme dans la première étude, tous les enfants appartenaient à un milieu favorisé. Les résultats ont montré que les bilingues ont eu de meilleurs résultats que les monolingues indépendamment de la version du test et de la distinction entre simultanés et consécutifs. CAHIERS DE L'ILOB OLBI WORKING PAPERS AbstractThis paper reports on two studies on metalinguistic development in bilingual Italian-English and Italian-French children, with the use of the same metalinguistic test in different linguistic versions. The first study, conducted in preschool and primary-level classes in London, involved 118 four-and five-year old children, 64 Italian-English bilinguals and 54 English monolinguals, all belonging to a privileged sociocultural background. Bilinguals significantly outperformed monolinguals irrespective of the linguistic version of the test, Italian or English. The second study involved 101 children, 47 of whom were five-year-old Italian-French bilinguals (31 simultaneous and 16 consecutive), enrolled in a French school in Rome, and 54 were monolinguals. Twenty-seven were monolingual Italians tested in Rome in Italian and 27 were monolingual French, tested in Paris in French. All the participants belonged to a privileged milieu. Again, the bilinguals outperformed the monolinguals irrespective of the linguistic version of the test and of the simultaneous/consecutive distinction.

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The cognitive development of young dual language learners: A critical review

Cited by 358 publications

References 106 publications

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

The Impact of Bilingual Experience on The Literacy Development of Struggling Readers

Développement métalinguistique chez de jeunes enfants bilingues comparés à des monolingues

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