Semantic satiation among bilinguals.
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Multilingualism↗
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Physical and emotional well-being of custodial grandparents in Latino families.
This study of 74 Latino grandparents rearing their grandchildren in New York City, found poverty rates to be roughly three times those of grandparent caregivers nationwide and rates of self-reported poor health and depression to be twice as high. Correlates of depression included young age, poor health, greater life stress, few informal supports, and rearing grandchildren with special needs. Intervention needs and directions for future research are discussed.
Adolescent↗
A pilot study of aphasia among bilinguals.
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Aphasia↗
An encoding-complex approach to numerical cognition in Chinese-English bilinguals.
We present a model of the cognitive architecture of basic numerical skills in adult Chinese-English bilinguals. The model is based on data reported by Campbell, Kanz, and Xue (1999) and combines Dehaene and Cohen's triple-code theory with Campbell and Clark's encoding-complex approach to modeling number processing. Participants were required to name, add or multiply Arabic or Mandarin numerals and to respond in English or Chinese. They also performed magnitude comparisons on pairs of Arabic or Mandarin numerals. The proposed model of their performance on this set of tasks assumes 1) that number processing is modular with respect to representational code (e.g., visual, visuo-spatial, verbal) rather than with respect to numerical function, 2) task-specific communication between representational codes is interactive rather than additive, and 3) memory for arithmetic facts is at least partially language-based and our Chinese-English bilinguals possessed both Chinese and English-language number-fact representations. We provide new analyses of the arithmetic data and a review of research on the role of language in simple arithmetic to substantiate our claims about linguistic codes for number-fact memory.
Adult↗
Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages.
The ability to acquire and use several languages selectively is a unique and essential human capacity. Here we investigate the fundamental question of how multiple languages are represented in a human brain. We applied functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine the spatial relationship between native and second languages in the human cortex, and show that within the frontal-lobe language-sensitive regions (Broca's area), second languages acquired in adulthood ('late' bilingual subjects) are spatially separated from native languages. However, when acquired during the early language acquisition stage of development ('early' bilingual subjects), native and second languages tend to be represented in common frontal cortical areas. In both late and early bilingual subjects, the temporal-lobe language-sensitive regions (Wernicke's area) also show effectively little or no separation of activity based on the age of language acquisition. This discovery of language-specific regions in Broca's area advances our understanding of the cortical representation that underlies multiple language functions.
Adult↗
Brain potential and functional MRI evidence for how to handle two languages with one brain.
Bilingual individuals need effective mechanisms to prevent interference from one language while processing material in the other. Here we show, using event-related brain potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), that words from the non-target language are rejected at an early stage before semantic analysis in bilinguals. Bilingual Spanish/Catalan and monolingual Spanish subjects were instructed to press a button when presented with words in one language, while ignoring words in the other language and pseudowords. The brain potentials of bilingual subjects in response to words of the non-target language were not sensitive to word frequency, indicating that the meaning of non-target words was not accessed in bilinguals. The fMRI activation patterns of bilinguals included a number of areas previously implicated in phonological and pseudoword processing, suggesting that bilinguals use an indirect phonological access route to the lexicon of the target language to avoid interference.
Adult↗
Does Broca's play by the rules?
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Frontal Lobe↗
What's in control of language?
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Caudate Nucleus↗
Neural correlates of second-language word learning: minimal instruction produces rapid change.
Adult second-language (L2) learning is often claimed to be slow and laborious compared to native language (L1) acquisition, but little is known about the rate of L2 word learning. Here we report that adult second-language learners' brain activity, as measured by event-related potentials (ERPs), discriminated between L2 words and L2 'pseudowords' (word-like letter strings) after just 14 h of classroom instruction. This occurred even while the learners performed at chance levels when making overt L2 word-nonword judgments, indicating that the early acquisition of some aspects of a new language may be overlooked by current behavioral assessments.
Adult↗
Spontaneous and imitated productions in Spanish-speaking children with phonological disorders.
PURPOSE: Research examining the relationship between spontaneous and imitated productions for phonological analysis has indicated that the inclusion of imitated productions may overestimate children's phonological abilities. Previous research in this area has included only English-speaking children. The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, differences there were in the spontaneous and imitated productions of Spanish-speaking children with phonological disorders. METHOD: Twelve Spanish-speaking children with phonological disorders (5 boys and 7 girls), ranging in age from 3;1 (years;months) to 4;9 (M = 3;11), participated in the study. Their spontaneous and imitated productions, based on a sample of single words, were analyzed to determine which elicitation task yielded the more adult-like production. Differences in consonant accuracy between the two tasks were analyzed, as was the shift in error type from spontaneous to imitated productions. RESULTS: The results indicated that spontaneous and imitated productions were identical in 62% of the cases, an imitated production was more adult-like than a spontaneous one in 25% of the cases, and a spontaneous form was more adult-like than an imitated one in approximately 13% of the cases. Consonant accuracy for some children also varied as a function of elicitation task. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: For additional diagnostic and prognostic value, speech-language pathologists can incorporate imitated responses in their analyses.
Articulation Disorders↗
Speech, language, and hearing in developing bilingual children: from practice to research.
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Child↗
Grammatical morphology in children learning English as a second language: implications of similarities with specific language impairment.
PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine whether the expressive language characteristics of typically developing (TD) children learning English as a second language (ESL) have similarities to the characteristics of the English that is spoken by monolingual children with specific language impairment (SLI), and whether this could result in the erroneous assessment of TD English-language learners (ELLs) as language impaired. METHOD: Twenty-four TD language-minority children who had been learning ESL for an average of 9.5 months participated in the study. The children's accuracy and error types in production of the following grammatical morphemes were examined in spontaneous and elicited speech: third person singular [-s], past tense [-ed], irregular past tense, BE as a copula and auxiliary verb, DO as an auxiliary verb, progressive [-ing], prepositions in and on, plural [-s], and determiners a and the. The elicitation probes were part of a recently developed standardized test for identifying language impairment, the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI; M. Rice & K. Wexler, 2001). RESULTS: The ELLs' accuracy rates and error patterns with the grammatical morphemes were similar to those that have been reported for same-age monolingual children with SLI, in both spontaneous and elicited speech. In addition, the ELL's elicitation probe scores were compared to the criterion scores and group means from the sample of monolingual children used to develop the TEGI and their performance on the TEGI was in the range of the clinical population even though there is no reason to suspect that any of these children is language impaired. Both analyses point to the possibility that TD ELLs could be mistaken as language impaired. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results provide information that can be used to set appropriate expectations of error patterns and rate of grammatical development in the early stages of ESL learning. The results also emphasize how the use of English standardized tests with nonnative English-speakers is not a good practice, and suggestions are given for points to consider when assessing ELLs.
Child↗
Phonological skills in predominantly English-speaking, predominantly Spanish-speaking, and Spanish-English bilingual children.
PURPOSE: There is a paucity of information detailing the phonological skills of Spanish-English bilingual children and comparing that information to information concerning the phonological skills of predominantly English-speaking (PE) and predominantly Spanish-speaking (PS) children. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between amount of output (i.e., percentage of time each language was spoken) in each language and phonological skills in Spanish-English bilingual children and PE and PS children. METHOD: Fifteen typically developing children, ranging in age from 5;0 (years;months) to 5;5 (mean = 5;2), participated in the study. The participants consisted of 5 PE speakers, 5 PS speakers, and 5 bilingual (Spanish-English) speakers. A single-word assessment was used to gather information on phonological skills (consonant accuracy, type and frequency of substitutions, frequency of occurrence of phonological patterns [e.g., cluster reduction], accuracy of syllable types [e.g., CV, CVC, CCV, etc.]), and type and rate of cross-linguistic effects. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was no significant correlation between amount of output in each language and phonological skills either in the Spanish skills of PS children and Spanish-English bilingual speakers or in the English skills of PE children and Spanish-English bilingual speakers. In addition, there was no significant difference in segmental accuracy, syllabic accuracy, or percentage of occurrence of phonological patterns between either the Spanish skills of PS children and Spanish-English bilingual speakers or the English skills of PE children and Spanish-English bilingual speakers. Finally, the children showed a limited number of cross-linguistic effects. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Results from this study indicate no link between parent estimates of language output and phonological skill and demonstrate that Spanish-English bilingual children will have commensurate, although not identical, phonological skills as compared to age-matched PS and PE children.
Analysis of Variance↗
Classroom noise and children learning through a second language: double jeopardy?
PURPOSE: Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of classroom noise on attention and speech perception in native Spanish-speaking second graders learning English as their second language (L2) as compared to English-only-speaking (EO) peers. METHOD: Study 1 measured children's on-task behavior during instructional activities with and without soundfield amplification. Study 2 measured the effects of noise (+10 dB signal-to-noise ratio) using an experimental English word recognition task. RESULTS: Findings from Study 1 revealed no significant condition (pre/postamplification) or group differences in observations in on-task performance. Main findings from Study 2 were that word recognition performance declined significantly for both L2 and EO groups in the noise condition; however, the impact was disproportionately greater for the L2 group. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Children learning in their L2 appear to be at a distinct disadvantage when listening in rooms with typical noise and reverberation. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists should collaborate to inform teachers, help reduce classroom noise, increase signal levels, and improve access to spoken language for L2 learners.
Attention↗
Vietnamese children and language-based processing tasks.
PURPOSE: Vietnamese children's performance on language-based processing tasks of fast-mapping (FM) word-learning and dynamic assessment (DA) word- and rule-learning tasks were investigated. METHOD: Twenty-one first- and second-generation Vietnamese preschool children participated in this study. All children were enrolled in 2 Head Start programs in a large city in the Midwest. All children had passed a developmental assessment and routine speech, language, and hearing screenings. All participants were taught 4 invented monosyllabic words in an FM word task, an invented monosyllabic suffix rule (-po) meaning "a part of" in a DA rule task, and 4 invented bisyllabic words in a DA word task. Potential relationships among task performances were investigated. Receptive task performances, expressive task performances, and task totals were added to create receptive total, expressive total, and accumulated performance total (APT) scores. Relationships among receptive total, expressive total, and APT scores were also investigated. RESULTS: Significant correlations were found between FM word, DA rule, and the receptive total. The expressive total correlated with all task total scores, APT, age, and modifiability scores. Modifiability scores correlated with the two DA tasks, expressive total, and the APT. Findings indicate that FM word and the expressive total were positively correlated with most of the other tasks, composite totals, and age. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Performance on language-based processing tasks may provide valuable information for separating typically developing Vietnamese preschool children from their peers with language disorders. Practitioners should consider linguistic characteristics of target stimuli. Comparisons should include task, receptive, expressive, and APT.
Child Language↗
Synthesized speech intelligibility in sentences: a comparison of monolingual English-speaking and bilingual children.
PURPOSE: Research comparing the intelligibility of human and synthesized speech among both young children and adults has indicated that synthesized speech results in a degrading of intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to compare speech intelligibility of high-probability sentences produced using DECtalk Perfect Paul and live speech among monolingual English-speaking and bilingual children. METHOD: Twenty typically developing children between the ages of 4;5 (years;months) and 6;2 participated. Ten children (6 boys and 4 girls) were monolingual English speakers. The remaining ten children (4 boys and 6 girls) were bilingual. Their reproduction of modeled sentences produced in English via live speech and synthesized speech were analyzed to determine the intelligibility of each speech type. RESULTS: The results indicated that for both groups of children, performance was significantly better in the live speech condition. Results further revealed that the intelligibility decrement for synthesized speech was substantially greater for bilingual speakers. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: For bilingual children, even higher quality synthesized speech may present a greater challenge than it does for monolingual English-speaking children. Possible strategies to enhance intelligibility are discussed.
Child↗
Intervention with linguistically diverse preschool children: a focus on developing home language(s).
PURPOSE: This article addresses a series of questions that are critical to planning and implementing effective intervention programs for young linguistically diverse learners with primary language impairment (LI). Linguistically diverse learners in the United States include children whose families speak languages such as Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Hmong, Vietnamese, or any language other than, or in addition to, English. METHOD: A narrative review of the relevant literature addresses clinical questions including (a) Why support the home language when it is not the language used in school or the majority community? (b) Does continued support for the home language undermine attainment in a second language? (c) Should we support the home language when it includes the code switching or mixing of two traditionally separate languages? and (d) What are some strategies that can be used to support the home language when it is a language that the speech-language pathologist (SLP) does not speak? CONCLUSION: SLPs should provide services to linguistically diverse preschool-age children with LI in a manner that effectively supports the development of the home language. Parent and paraprofessional training along with peer-mediated models of intervention are presented as two possible methods for facilitating the home language in children with LI.
Child, Preschool↗