SLHS 309 Chapter 11 Multilingual Language Development

bilingual

anyone who has some measure of proficiency in two (or more) languages; includes those who may have only oral or only literate proficiency in a second language

simultaneous bilinguals

children exposed to two languages from birth

sequential bilinguals

those who start to learn an L2 after they have learned their first language

L1

the first language a person learns, the language spoken in a child’s home

L2

the second language a person learns; the language of mainstream culture or instruction

L2 acquisition

includes second (or foreign) language learning in both naturalistic (unschooled) settings as well as classroom-based learning—the learning of a second (or subsequent) language by anyone who already has basic command of one (or more) language(s)

heritage language

the language spoken at home that is not the dominant language

dual language learner

simultaneous or sequential bilingual

English language learner (ELL)

language minority students in U.S. who are not yet proficient in English

additive bilingualism

when L2 is added to L1 and L1 continues to grow as L2 develops

subtractive bilingualism

when L2 overtakes L1 and L1 diminishes, common in immigrant families & dependent on the status of L1 in the community

How do children learn, acquire, and store each language?

learn: separate, but for later learners sometimes referencing knowledge of L1 until more proficient

acquire: separate entities and in separate systems

store: separate

code-switching

the use of two languages within the same utterance or conversational term, how multiple languages interact

rule governed and usually consistent with the grammatical rules of both languages

cross-linguistic transfer

when features of one language transfer to another

high status languages

tend to be those used in education, in the mainstream media, an din preparation to enter the professional workforce

What are the optimal conditions for acquiring two languages?

• home literacy support for both languages

• opportunities for using both languages

• high-quality education programs designed to meet L2 learners’ needs

• adequate instructional time devoted to developing L2 literacy

optimal conditions: strong home literacy support

• maximize their child’s exposure to each language rather than strictly following a one parent-one language rule

• a home environment that maximizes exposure to L1 while the school environment maximizes exposure to L2 appears to be best for additive bilingualism among minority-language speakers

• for children who are attending L2-only schools, encouraging home use of the L1 is key to maintaining L1 proficiency

exposure

for very young children, amount of __________ to a language largely determines development in that language

20%

a child appears to need at least ___% of their language input to be in a language in order to produce utterances spontaneously in that language

optimal conditions: high-quality input

• input quality matters just as much as quantity in first language acquisition as well as bilingualism

• in early years, parents should use language that is most comfortable and natural

• encouraged to improve their L2 proficiency if possible to offer more support for their children’s language development through high-quality input in L1 and L2

optimal conditions: ample opportunities for peer interaction

• children’s semantic and syntactic abilities benefit from their actual use in real-life contexts

• gives children additional opportunities to be exposed to the the target language and practice and understand conversation in a motivated way

• peers’ English proficiency level can be a resource for bilingual children’s L2 language development

• two-way immersion/dual-language programs build additive bilingualism for both groups of participants by using both languages for content-area instruction

• foreign-language immersion programs where children learn the L2 in classrooms that foster their desire to engage in meaningful interactions while fully exposed to comprehensible input,

two-way immersion/dual-language programs

one of the most natural ways to enhance meaningful peer interaction, half the students in a classroom are native speakers of English and half are native speakers of a target language—build additive bilingualism for both groups

exposure to/interaction with L1 and L2 peers, multiple opportunities to use both languages

foreign-language immersion programs

in the natural approach, children learn the L2 in classrooms fully exposed to comprehensible input (language that is made understandable to them through gesture, pictures, or other context) with recasts (repeating the child’s utterance with the correct grammar), expansions, and metalinguistic feedback rather than explicit correction of errors

learn through meaningful interactions, L1 maintained (if majority) while L2 continues to develop

supports

home language use __________ L1 while not having adverse impacts on learning the L2

optimal conditions: other environmental factors

• a cooperative learning environment is desirable: teachers’ communication-oriented instruction, peer-mediated interactions, positive parental and community engagement

• where English is the L2, the richness of their English experiences outside of school contribute to grammar and vocab

  • includes reading in English, television/computer viewing, and playing with native-speaker friends

  • school environment input is also important

How to younger learners compare to older learners?

• the younger a learner arrives to an L2-majority context, the stronger the learner’s ultimate oral skills and implicit grammatical knowledge are

• younger learners tend to show better ultimate attainment of the L2 while older learners tend to learn faster and more efficiently

• early starters only show an advantage in achieving nativelike pronunciation while older learners show an advantage in oral proficiency, reading, and writing (when hours of instruction are held constant)

What aspect of L2 learning seems the most influenced by age of first exposure?

phonology/pronunciation, younger learners tend to discriminate sounds of the L2 better than older learners

the possible critical period for nativelike pronunciation is about age 12 BUT some learners past this age can show nativelike speech perception in an L2

Who has an advantage for the attainment of grammar?

younger learners, steep decline in performance correlated with age of arrival between the ages of 12 and 18 followed by a flat trajectory after

tends to lag behind monolingual peers even for young learners

attribute young learners’ advantage to their ability to learn implicitly

grammar can be difficult due to advanced language structures

BUT its possible to attain nativelike grammatical proficiency after 12

What characteristics make someone better at learning an L2?

• word structure awareness (phonological and morphological components)

• aware of syntax differences between L2 and L1

• better able to build the L2 based on their knowledge and skills in the L1

• language learning aptitude

• motivation

What constitutes aptitude?

• working memory (phonological short-term memory and backward digit span, vocab + grammar)

• rote memory (the learner’s ability to connect the sound of new words with their meanings, vocab)

• grammatical sensitivity (recognizing patterns)

• metalinguistic awareness

• phonemic encoding ability

• implicit aptitude (sequence learning, priming, and selective attention)

For what age group is aptitude most important?

older L2 learners, found to predict L2 speaking proficiency only for those who starter immersion at age 16 or above but not younger starters

What are the three types of motivation for L2 acquisition and what affect do they have?

1. integrative motivation

2. ideal L2 self-motivation

3. instrumental motivation

all associated with more effort to learn L2, linked directly to higher L2 reading comprehension and listening/speaking skills as well as higher L2 vocab

integrative motivation

the desire to identify with the L2 language and culture

ideal L2 self-motivation

how one imagines L2 fitting into one’s sense of self

instrumental motivation

the usefulness of the L2, such as getting a job or educational placement

What are some more abstract motivators?

• context of the L2 learning experience (classroom climate or outside-of-class experiences)

• perceived vitality of the L2 community (status and attractiveness of L2 speaking community)

• attitudes toward L2 speakers

• interest in L2 culture (movies and popular music)

What are even more factors that impact L2 learning?

• literacy skills in L1

• employment of language learning strategies

  • deliberate, repeated practice

• status of languages

How does bilingual development compare to monolingual development?

generally view L1 and early L2 acquisition as very similar, learn grammatical structures in the same order and make similar errors

establish two SEPARATE linguistic systems from the very start of learning (dual-language system hypothesis)

later sequential bilinguals initially depend heavily on L1 processing strategies but eventually find specific strategies for L2

compare/contrast phonological development for bilinguals vs monolinguals

• similar accuracy in mastering two phonological systems compared to one, different errors made in different languages

• errors related to language dominance, also evidence of crosslinguistic transfer/interference at phonemic level

• bilingual children maintain the ability to discriminate sound differences in both their languages

compare/contrast vocabulary development for bilinguals vs monolinguals

• young bilinguals vocabularies develop at the same rate as monolinguals’ when both their languages are taken into account

• ALWAYS depends on amount of input

• bilingual speakers can develop sizable and deep vocab in both languages in optimal environmental conditions

compare/contrast morphosyntactic development for bilinguals vs monolinguals

• development of grammatical morphology may be somewhat slower, depends on input and bilingual children cannot hear twice as much language

• syntax tends to follow the same patterns as monolinguals

• morphosyntactic development in early childhood tends to reflect the impact of language dominance

compare/contrast pragmatic development for bilinguals vs monolinguals

• dependent on language dominance, parental practices of separating the two languages, and conversational context (free play vs formal interactions)

• bilingual children develop more sensitivity toward effective communication strategies, more attentive to speakers intent

bilingual speech perception

babies born into bilingual homes maintain the ability to discriminate speech sounds in the two languages from birth

bilingual bootstrapping

bilingual learner’s ability to use knowledge of each language to help the other one develop, and the shared conceptual knowledge that underlies this process

ex. if a child has acquired the concept of “frog” in one language, the child must only acquire a new label for the concept in the other language, rather than also having to learn the attributes that uniquely define the concept “frog”

What are cognates and false cognates?

cognates: words in different languages that share a common origin and often have similar spellings, pronunciations, and meanings

false cognates: words in different languages that appear to be very similar but actually differ considerably in meaning

What can happen to L1 after learning L2?

• in a context supportive of L1 maintenance and development, learning an L2 should have no negative effects

• L1 attrition: the loss of L1 usually due to very young children moving to an L2 dominant context (depends on exposure, status of L1, and home/community support for L1 maintenance)

• L1 stabilization: L1 proficiency reaching a plateau usually due to young children living in an L2 majority society

There are more __________ than __________ in childhood bilingualism.

advantages; disadvantages

What are the advantages of bilingualism?

• increased metalinguistic awareness

  • symbolic representation

  • word awareness

  • syntactic awareness

  • phonological awareness

• increases in executive function

  • inhibitory control

  • attention control

  • cognitive shifting

• delayed onset of dementia

• improved ability to learn new and novel words

• better developed theory of mind (increased social perspective taking)

What are the disadvantages of bilingualism?

• smaller vocabulary in each language

  • later, maybe only in minority language

• slower lexical access (comprehension and production of language)

  • milliseconds difference, no practical difference

What are educational experiences in the U.S. like?

• ELL children have lower scores on standardized education measures and increased special education referrals

• Having higher English proficiency at school entry leads to fewer social/emotional/behavioral difficulties, equal curriculum target attainment to monolinguals (better 2 years later), and reduced achievement gap