bilingualism and socialization

why do people say wrong things about bilingualism

• Lack of education/knowledge about language learning in general

• Political reasons – movement for laws banning bilingual education (Arizona)

• Social reasons - knowing English or “proper English” could be attributed to being more success in attaining work in the United States; many immigrants come to the United States to find a means of supporting their family (jobs)

What does someone need to be a successful bilingual language learner? (someone with TD language skills)

• Intact cognitive abilities

• Rich linguistic environment

why do people say wrong things about bilingualism

• Lack of education/knowledge about language learning in general

• Political reasons – movement for laws banning bilingual education (Arizona)

• Social reasons - knowing English or “proper English” could be attributed to being more success in attaining work in the United States; many immigrants come to the United States to find a means of supporting their family (jobs)

What does someone need to be a successful bilingual language learner? (someone with TD language skills)

• Intact cognitive abilities

• Rich linguistic environment

intact cognitive abilities are used to recognize patterns in the language/s being learned to be able to learn _______, ________ and ______________ of a language

semantic, syntactic and phonological rules

rich linguistic environment:

• what does it do?

• there is examples of what in each language?

• what does it encourage?

• Stimulates and encourages communication

• Examples of different language structures in each particular language

• Encourages language output

Exposed to one language, and then the other

sequential bilingual

Exposed to 2 languages in their first few months/years of life (Genesee, 1989) The exact age is still debatable, but researchers tend to agree at or before 3 years old

simultaneous bilingual

• in both cases of bilingualism (sequential or simultaneous) there will be variability in the ______ and ________ that the second language is introduced

• Exposure to each language is variable within and across…

• Recently this has become less important, of more importance is a persons level of linguistic ability in each language ___________ – the person’s input and output in each language

• timing and conditions

• both groups (sequential or simultaneous)

• at that point in time (during the assessment)

There is variability in the ____ and _____ at which children acquire their languages

rate and order

Potential impact of ____________________ that alter the developmental trajectory of both languages ex?

multiple additional external factors

grandma and grandpa move in vs a child constantly receives both languages

The majority of the literature and knowledge available to us about bilingual language is for ______________ because controlling for the infinite number of variables and then taking into account the variability in bilinguals is a daunting task

specific age ranges

examples of variables in bilingualism

age of acquisition, time spent abroad, input and output

In thinking about language acquisition – bilingual or monolingual – __________ and _____________ are not always discussed

socialization and contextual factors

Beyond a rule based system, languages are bound to a person’s identity and communicative contexts. examples?

where they live, where they came from etc.

Understanding the sociological contexts in which learning two languages occurs is important for us to better understand what?

each bilingual’s development

Bilingualism changes over _________

a lifespan; but we all have different levels of proficiency

__% of the US population is bilingual, mostly Spanish English bilinguals and this number continues to grow

17%

Minority languages in the US are typically viewed as being of _______ than English, e.g. Spanish, Urdu

lower status

Exception: Spanish in Miami’s “Little Havana”

Here Spanish is not viewed as below the English language

Variability -Degrees of Bilingualism - Continuums

A capital letter would represent someone that is more monolingual in a certain language (language A or language B) smaller letters are representative of a person’s degree of bilingualism in that language

*think of bilingualism as more of a continuum than a yes/no checkbox

is a bilingual 2 monolinguals in one?

no, they can change the trajectory

Elective vs. Circumstantial

• An elective bilingual chooses to become bilingual (e.g., a student in college)

• People also learn another language because they have to, circumstantial (immigrants that come to the US for work opportunities)

Language is central to the process of learning culture

Language Socialization

Learning two languages at the same time (typically presented at birth or within the first few years of life)

simultaneous bilinguals

Develop 1 language, then another (no agreement as to when the second language has to be introduced; typically at or around preschool age)

Sequential (Successive) Bilinguals

Monolingual Spanish parental input + English in community ≠

following directions, answer questions, interact with other in two languages

exposure to two languages and the expectation to interact in both

simultaneous bilingual children

one language until they begin attending school; they have 2nd language input but are not always required to interact in the home in that language

sequential bilingual children

which has uniform input?

monolingual

for bilingual input

• Separate language by ____ or ____

• _______ trying to spend more time in one language or another

• Potential difficulty ________ the language being used; evidence of influence from one language to the other in the output (word order etc.)

• person or place

• imbalance

• monitoring

are sequential and simultaneous bilingual equivalent to monolingualism?

no, a monolingual has more opportunities and time

their time spent is not equivalent

T/F Simultaneous and sequential bilinguals are equivalent to one monolingual

false; Bilinguals spend less time overall (input and output) of their two languages than a monolingual spends with one across a lifetime; this can also be expressed as a bilingual speaker has less experience with two languages than a monolingual does with one language

what determines where they may initially fall on a continuum of bilingualism

time and the quality of exposure

Someone’s place on the bilingualism continuum will _____ over time

change; it changes over the lifespan!

*important

Main factors to consider in the development of language

• Acculturation

• Maternal Ed and SES status

• Length of time in the US

• Home language experience

As families “_________” the use of their language changes, majority of Latino families exhibit a complete shift to monolingual English by the third generation

acculturate

Considering English speakers and bilinguals, we know that ____________ consistently affects children’s language and literacy development

maternal education

More educated mother/parent =

higher vocabulary, more advanced language abilities than children with less educated mothers/parents

______________ also affects children’s language abilities and opportunities to become bilingual

________ they are when the immigrate the more likely they are to use English

length of time in the US

the younger

__% decline in the probability of bilingualism per additional year in the country - due to increased _________ to and use of English when entering school and the community

1%; exposure

___________ to the second language matters

age of exposure

which type of learners have a better time learning the second language and why?

sequential because they have a strong foundation in one already

does english need to be spoken at home for the child to develop English?

no, but Spanish or the home language needs to be spoken at home or it will be lost over time (language attrition)

The important second part to a very important question during an evaluation –

What language does your child hear?/In what language do they respond?

_______ have reduced or banned bilingual education

Arizona

• Children that come to school speaking SPN and don’t know ENG will take them at least ___ years to communicate at an interpersonal level (basic interpersonal communication)

• It will take about ___ years before they have enough of an ENG foundation to learn fully in ENG (cognitive- academic language proficiency)

• 2-3

• 5-7

The probability of bilingualism declines __% for each year of residence in the U.S

1%

_______ socioeconomic status promotes bilingualism

higher

Gender, __% more girls than boys tend to become bilingual

6%

Being Latino, ___% greater probability of being bilingual than those from other cultures

51%

Students involved in learning in a second language before 5-7 years of using language are put at ________ risk

academic

Children recognize when their native language is not valued and develop a preference for ______

english

Children as early as __ begin to make their own choices about language use

2

Negative views toward early simultaneous bilingualism influence choice to …

emphasize one language

__________ is considered by some to be the most critical factor in promoting bilingualism

positive view

Attitudes that bilingualism supports academics, provide an advantage in the job market, and help form an authentic identity promote the use of …

both the native and second language

bilingualism promoted better _______ and _______

expression and self esteem

cognitive benefits of bilingualism

Heightened sensitivity to semantic relationships (Stroop task), better phonological awareness abilities, greater awareness of linguistic rules and structures, etc.

Monolingual English learning infants can discriminate between /ba/ and /pa/, evidenced through increased sucking rates (1 month – 4 months old)

this is similar for?

infants in other languages

Infants in other languages have been found to cry that matches their _________________

native language prosody

Infants exhibit basic computational abilities that help them detect regularities in language

statistical learning

tracking statistical probability of elements that co occur in a language

One example:?

sound patterns

ERP

Event-related potential

the brains ability to respond to a stimulus

infants heard tri syllabic “pseudo words” randomly, more variability from the last syllable of one word to the first syllable of the next word

Infants exhibited greater ERP’s for the first syllable of new pseudo words – they were sensitive to the transition from the last syllable to a new first syllable

what is the takeaway?

infants are sensitive to syllabic changes

The ability to differentiate languages exists _____

early on

infants before the age of 12 months can distinguish subtle differences between phonemes; even some that are not present in their language/s

what then happens?

around their first birthday, they tend to lose this ability and become more in tune with their language or languages they are primarily immersed in