Factors That Influence Fast Mapping in Children Exposed to Spanish and English

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if children exposed to two languages would benefit from the phonotactic probability cues of a single language in the same way as monolingual peers and to determine if cross-linguistic influence would be present in a fast mapping task. Method Two groups of typically-developing children (monolingual English and bilingual Spanish-English) took part in a computer-based fast mapping task which manipulated phonotactic probability. Children were preschool-aged (N = 50) or school-aged (N = 34). Fast mapping was assessed through name identification and naming tasks. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs with post-hoc testing and simple regression. Results Bilingual and monolingual preschoolers showed sensitivity to English phonotactic cues in both tasks, but bilingual preschoolers were less accurate than monolingual peers in the naming task. School-aged bilingual children had nearly identical performance to monolingual peers. Conclusions Knowing that children exposed to two languages can benefit from the statistical cues of a single language can help inform ideas about instruction and assessment for bilingual learners.

Word Learning Deficits in Children With Dyslexia

“…Nonwords had no phonological neighbors, thus were low in neighborhood density. Phonotactic probabilities were equal across conditions (M = 1.0046) and were low on the basis of the ranges found in other studies using summed biphone probabilities for two-syllable nonwords (range of means for low phonotactic probability: 1.0039-1.009; Alt, 2011;Alt, Meyers, & Figueroa, 2013;Alt & Plante, 2006). Please see Appendix A for a list of the nonwords and their characteristics.…”

Novel Word Learning in Children Who Are Bilingual: Comparison to Monolingual Peers

“…Several researchers have examined word learning in bilingual school-age children. In Alt et al (2013), there was no evidence of a disadvantage for correctly identifying names or linking names to semantic referents for preschool or school-age bilingual children, indicating equivalent performance on receptive phonological tasks. However, despite being as sensitive to phonological patterns as their monolingual peers, bilingual preschoolers were less accurate than monolingual peers when asked to produce the learned words.…”

“…The idea that there should be no difference between monolingual and bilingual learners finds some support in some of the results from Alt et al (2013). These researchers evaluated cross-linguistic influences in the fast-mapping phase of word learning, when learners are first exposed to a novel word.…”

“…Thus, when learning a novel word with English-like phonology, it may be the case that bilingual children are at a disadvantage because their relative lack of practice with English may lead to more effortful learning. Alternatively, school-age bilingual children may have sufficient practice with English to perform equivalently to peers on word learning tasks (Alt, Meyers, & Figueroa, 2013). There may be a ceiling as to how much practice is needed to be a proficient word learner in terms of phonology, and despite having measurably less exposure than monolingual peers, school-age bilingual children may have sufficient exposure to English phonology to learn as well as their monolingual peers.…”

Children With Dyslexia Benefit From Orthographic Facilitation During Spoken Word Learning

“…Each pseudoword had zero phonological neighbors and, therefore, was low in neighborhood density (Storkel & Morrisette, 2002;Vitevitch & Luce, 1998). The average pseudoword biphone frequency was 0.00265, which is considered low phonotactic probability compared to ranges found in other studies (Alt, 2011;Alt, Meyers, & Figueroa, 2013;Alt & Plante, 2006). Each pseudoword had a similar duration and spondaic stress pattern as audio-recorded by a male, native speaker of English.…”