Bilingual language input environments, intake, maturity and practice

Houwer, Annick De

doi:10.1017/s1366728916000298

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The use of parental questionnaires to collect information on quantity and quality of child-directed input has obvious limitations and has lately come under critical scrutiny (Carroll, 2017). Although we acknowledge the constraints of this data collection method, we are also confident that it is a pragmatic solution whose validity and robustness have been repeatedly confirmed (De Houwer, 2017; Paradis, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Individual differences in the production of referential expressions: The effect of language proficiency, language exposure and executive function in bilingual and monolingual children

Serratrice

Cat

2019

Bilingualism

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One hundred and seventy-two English-speaking 5- to 7-year-olds participated in a referential communication task where we manipulated the linguistic mention and the visual presence of a competitor alongside a target referent. Eighty-seven of the children were additionally exposed to a language other than English (bilinguals). We measured children's language proficiency, verbal working memory (WM), cognitive control skills, family SES, and relative amount of cumulative exposure and use of the home language for the bilinguals. Children's use of full Noun Phrases (NPs) to identify a target referent was predicted by the visual presence of a competitor more than by its linguistic mention. Verbal WM and proficiency predicted NP use, while cognitive control skills predicted both the ability to use expressions signalling discourse integration and sensitivity to the presence of a discourse competitor, but not of a visual competitor. Bilingual children were as informative as monolingual children once proficiency was controlled for.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Individual differences in the production of referential expressions: The effect of language proficiency, language exposure and executive function in bilingual and monolingual children

Serratrice

Cat

2019

Bilingualism

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“…We examined whether caregivers are reliable in reporting the languages that they use with their child. For example, prior studies suggest that caregivers are not very good at strictly adhering to the one-parent, one-language strategy (De Houwer, 2016;Goodz, 1989), but it is not well-documented how much caregivers deviate from their stated language use patterns.…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual-learning 10-month-olds

Orena¹,

Byers‐Heinlein²,

Polka³

2019

Preprint

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Examining how bilingual infants experience their dual language input is important for understanding bilingual language acquisition. To assess these language experiences, researchers typically conduct language interviews with caregivers. However, little is known about the reliability of these parent reports in describing how bilingual children actually experience dual language input. Here, we explored the quantitative nature of dual language input to bilingual infants. Further, we described some of the heterogeneity of bilingual exposure in a sample of French-English bilingual families. Participants were twenty-one families with a 10-month-old infant residing in Montréal, Canada. First, we conducted language interviews with the caregivers. Then, each family completed three full-day recordings at home using the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) recording system. Results showed that children’s proportion exposure to each language was consistent across the two measurement approaches, indicating that parent reports are reliable for assessing a bilingual child’s language experiences. Further exploratory analyses revealed three unique findings: (1) there can be considerable variability in the absolute amount of input among infants hearing the same proportion of input, (2) infants can hear different proportions of language input when considering infant-directed versus overheard speech, (3) proportion of language input can vary by day, depending on who is caring for the infant. We conclude that collecting naturalistic recordings is complementary to parent-report measures for assessing infant’s language experiences and for establishing bilingual profiles.

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“…We examined whether caregivers are reliable in reporting the languages that they use with their child. For example, prior studies suggest that caregivers are not very good at strictly adhering to the one‐parent, one‐language strategy (De Houwer, ; Goodz, ), but it is not well‐documented how much caregivers deviate from their stated language use patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual‐learning 10‐month‐olds

Orena¹,

Byers‐Heinlein

Polka³

2019

Developmental Science

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Examining how bilingual infants experience their dual language input is important for understanding bilingual language acquisition. To assess these language experiences, researchers typically conduct language interviews with caregivers. However, little is known about the reliability of these parent reports in describing how bilingual children actually experience dual language input. Here, we explored the quantitative nature of dual language input to bilingual infants. Furthermore, we described some of the heterogeneity of bilingual exposure in a sample of French–English bilingual families. Participants were 21 families with a 10‐month‐old infant residing in Montréal, Canada. First, we conducted language interviews with the caregivers. Then, each family completed three full‐day recordings at home using the Language Environment Analysis recording system. Results showed that children’s proportion exposure to each language was consistent across the two measurement approaches, indicating that parent reports are reliable for assessing a bilingual child’s language experiences. Further exploratory analyses revealed three unique findings: (a) there can be considerable variability in the absolute amount of input among infants hearing the same proportion of input, (b) infants can hear different proportions of language input when considering infant‐directed versus overheard speech, (c) proportion of language input can vary by day, depending on who is caring for the infant. We conclude that collecting naturalistic recordings is complementary to parent‐report measures for assessing infant’s language experiences and for establishing bilingual profiles.

show abstract

Bilingual language input environments, intake, maturity and practice

Cited by 24 publications

References 5 publications

Individual differences in the production of referential expressions: The effect of language proficiency, language exposure and executive function in bilingual and monolingual children

Individual differences in the production of referential expressions: The effect of language proficiency, language exposure and executive function in bilingual and monolingual children

What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual-learning 10-month-olds

What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual‐learning 10‐month‐olds

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