Influences of language input and production on the language skills of Persian-English bilingual immersion preschool children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand bilingualism in Persian-English preschool-aged children, and how their language performance across two domains of language related to their language production and parental language input. Participants were 15, 2- through 5-year old Persian-English bilingual children attending a Persian immersion preschool in the U.S. The participants completed a battery of language tasks in English and Persian and participants’ parents provided language input and production information. Data indicate that greater input in the heritage language outside school, Persian, will likely lead to better Persian skills, while greater English input may negatively affect the children’s Persian skills. Participants received consistent native-level Persian input in school, yet the results suggest that Persian as a heritage language in the U.S. may be susceptible to the same vulnerability that affects other non-mainstream languages.

Narrative language development of Persian-English bilingual children attending an immersion preschool

“…The study aimed to examine the English narrative skills of Persian-English bilingual children and adds to the small body of research on the oral language skills of Persian-English bilingual children [26][27][28]56].…”

“…However, despite the growing number of Persian speakers in the United States, little is known regarding the language development of children learning Persian and English in the United States. Some studies have examined very specific language forms of monolingual Persian-speaking children [23][24][25][26], but we know of no other studies, aside from our own, that have investigated broader language skills of Persian-English bilingual children in the United States attending a preschool immersion school [27]. The other studies that investigate more specific language forms demonstrate that there are broad similarities in skills and development across languages.…”

“…Payesteh and Finestack [27] compared Persian and English language performance on standardized assessments of the same group of bilingual Persian-English children included in the present study. Findings indicated that this group of children had stronger performance on assessments of English vocabulary and expressive language than Persian language skills.…”

“…Participants included Persian-English bilingual (BI) children (n = 14, Mage = 4.1 years, age range: 2;5 (years;months) to 5;7), who attended a Persian immersion preschool. These participants were the same as those included in the Payesteh and Finestack [27] study. The BI children came from homes where, primarily, one parent spoke Persian and one parent spoke English (in this study, each home included a mother and father).…”

“…All parents completed a questionnaire, used in Payesteh and Finestack [27] and modeled after Kan [44], Pham [45], and McLinden [46], noting their child's language use and skills, as well as confirming neurotypical development and the absence of language disorders. Additionally, parents of the BI participants completed questions regarding their child's language environment and use (e.g., how much parents spoke each language to the child, how much the child spoke in each language).…”