Accepting labels in two languages: Relationships with exposure and language awareness

Authors

  • Dolly P. Rojo University of Texas at Austin
  • Catharine H. Echols University of Texas at Austin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18192/olbiwp.v8i0.2115

Keywords:

bilingualism, children, preschool, language development, novel labels

Abstract

In a study investigating how exposure to a non-native language influences acceptance of vocabulary from that language, English-speaking children heard novel labels from Spanish and English speakers. Children were categorized, based on their exposure to and fluency in Spanish, as minimal exposure, moderate exposure, or bilingual. Moderate-exposure children accepted labels from both speakers more frequently than minimal exposure children, and were statistically equivalent to bilinguals. Additionally, children’s language awareness was assessed; it was associated both with their willingness to accept labels across two languages and with the amount of exposure to Spanish.

References

Akhtar, N., & Menjivar, J.A. (2012). Cognitive and linguistic correlates of early exposure to more than one language. In J.B. Benson (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 42, pp. 41–78). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-394388-0. 00002-2

Akhtar, N., Mejivar, J.A., Hoicka, E., & Sabbagh, M.A. (2012). Learning foreign labels from a foreign speaker: The role of (limited) exposure to a second language. Journal of Child Language, 39, 1135–1149. doi:10.1017/S0305000911000481

Au, T.K., & Glusman, M. (1990). The principle of mutual exclusivity in word learning: To honor or not to honor? Child Development, 61, 1474–1490. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02876.x

Bialystok, E. (1988). Levels of bilingualism and levels of linguistic awareness. Developmental Psychology, 24, 560–567. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.24.4.560

Bialystok, E. (1999). Cognitive complexity and attentional control in the bilingual mind. Child Development, 70(3), 636–644. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00046

Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Bialystok, E., & Feng, X. (2009). Language proficiency and executive control in proactive interference: Evidence from monolingual and bilingual children and adults. Brain and Language, 109, 93–100. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2008.09.001

Bialystok, E., & Majumder, S. (1998). The relationship between bilingualism and the development of cognitive processes in problem solving. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19, 69–85. doi:10.1017/S0142716400010584

Cummins, J. (1978). Bilingualism and the development of metalinguistic awareness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 9, 131–149. doi:10.1177/002202217892001

Davidson, D., & Tell, D. (2005). Monolingual and bilingual children’s use of mutual exclusivity in the naming of whole objects. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 92, 25–45. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2005.03.007

Dunn, L.M., & Dunn, L.M. (1986). Test de Vocabulario Peabody. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

Dunn, L.M., & Dunn, L.M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary-III. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

Fernandez, M. (2006). Bilingual preschoolers: Implications for the development of identity and self-concept. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology, 2, 5–16.

Koenig, M., & Woodward, A. L. (2012). Toddlers learn words in a foreign language: The role of native vocabulary knowledge. Journal of Child Language, 39, 322–337. doi:10.1017/S0305000911000067

Krumm, H.J., & Jenkins E.M. (2001). Kinder und ihre Sprachen — lebendige Mehrsprachigkeit: Sprachenportraits [Children and their language — living multililingualism: Language portraits]. Vienna: Wiener VerlagsWerkstatt für Interkul- turelles Lernen und Deutsch als Fremdsprache [The Viennese Publishing Workshop for Intercultural Learning and German as a Foreign Language].

Martin, B. (2012). Coloured language: Identity perception of children in bilingual programmes. Language Awareness, 21, 33–56. doi:10.1080/09658416.2011.639888

Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2015). Multilingual awareness and heritage language education: Children’s multimodal representations of their multilingualism. Language Awareness, 24, 197–215. doi:10.1080/09658416.2015.1072208

Sá, M.H.A.E., & Melo, S. (2007). Online plurilingual interaction in the development of language awareness. Language Awareness, 16, 7–20. doi:10.2167/la356.0

Stewner-Manzanares, G. (1988). The Bilingual Education Act: Twenty years later. New Focus Series: Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education (1987–1989), no. 6. Silver Spring, MD: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Available at: ncela.ed.gov/files/rcd/BE021037/Fall88_6.pdf.

Downloads

Published

2017-08-08

Similar Articles

<< < 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.