Language Experience and Bilingual Children’s Heritage Language Learning

Sun, He; Waschl, Nicolette; Veera, Roodra

doi:10.1017/s0272263121000942

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In the realm of sentence interpretation, 32 children aged 6 to 12 with HL-Greek in the USA who had used the HL more before age five as well as concurrently did better than peers who had done so less ( Chondrogianni and Schwartz, 2020 ). Sun et al (2022) reported similar findings for 202 4- to 5-year-olds with HL-Mandarin in Singapore. In a very large population study in Spain, Caminal et al (2021) showed that increased parental HL-Catalan proficiency led to parents speaking the HL more often with their firstborn children.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Polish-German preschoolers develop and use heritage Polish differently depending on whether they heard German from birth or not

Houwer¹

2023

Front. Psychol.

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This study assessed the language proficiency and use of a hitherto under-investigated group, viz., 3.5-year-olds growing up with Polish as a heritage language and German as societal language. All children (N = 28) heard Polish from birth in the home but half the children also heard German from birth (Bilingual First Language Acquisition, BFLA) while the other half added German through preschool (Early Second Language Acquisition, ESLA). All children attended German preschools. Data collection relied on an online survey filled out by 28 mothers and 20 fathers. There were large discrepancies between parental answers to general versus detailed questions regarding language use (choice) amongst parents and children. This has important repercussions for much of questionnaire based bilingualism research. Children were developing productive language as expected but BFLA preschoolers spoke German better or spoke both languages equally well whereas ESLA preschoolers spoke Polish better. Apart from BFLA children’s much longer and daily exposure to German from birth, these BFLA-ESLA differences in relative Polish proficiency may relate to different current patterns of language choice, with (1) Polish less present in parent–child interactions involving BFLA than ESLA preschoolers, and with (2) BFLA but not ESLA preschoolers mostly hearing Polish from just a single parent. The BFLA-ESLA difference thus made a difference to children’s heritage Polish development and use already at age 3.5.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Polish-German preschoolers develop and use heritage Polish differently depending on whether they heard German from birth or not

Houwer¹

2023

Front. Psychol.

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“…According to the output hypothesis, other than language exposure, being able to produce the target language actively and getting confirmation or negative feedback from more proficient speakers are vital to learning a second language. A recent study showed that that both home language input and output of the child significantly predicted the home language proficiency in bilingual kindergarteners ( Sun et al, 2022b ). Thus, the relationships between DLLs’ language input and output and oral language proficiency are examined in this present study.…”

Section: Parental Perceptions Of Bilingualism and Home Language Devel...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental perceptions of bilingualism and home language vocabulary: Young bilingual children from low-income immigrant Mexican American and Chinese American families

et al. 2023

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Dual language learners (DLLs), especially those from immigrant families in the United States, risk losing their home language as they gradually shift to speaking English as they grow up. Given the potential benefits of bilingualism on children’s cognitive, linguistic, and social–emotional development, it is crucial to maintain children’s home language to foster bilingual development. The current literature suggests that parental beliefs toward bilingualism and the language and literacy environment are linked to children’s language development. With the growing number of DLLs living in the United States, little is known about what parental beliefs about bilingualism of their children are integrated into these bilingual households and parents’ role in home language maintenance. The present study addresses the gap in the literature by investigating low-income immigrant families, specifically Chinese American and Mexican American families, and exploring the parental perceptions of children’s bilingual language learning. Further, the present study examines the relations among parental perceptions of bilingualism, home language and literacy practices, and home language oral proficiency. Data were collected from a total of 41 Mexican American and 91 Chinese American low-income immigrant families with DLLs ages 50–88 months who had been recruited from Head Start programs and state-funded preschools in Northern California when the children were 3–4 years old. Information about shared reading frequency, home language exposure and usage, and parental perceptions of bilingualism was collected through parental interviews, and DLLs’ home language oral proficiency was individually assessed. No significant difference in home language oral proficiency was observed between the two groups. Principal Components Analysis on the parental perceptions of bilingualism measure revealed two components, “Importance of Being Bilingual” and “English over Bilingualism.” Stepwise regression analysis results show that “Importance of Being Bilingual” was associated with children’s home language oral proficiency after controlling for culture, child age, the frequency of home language shared book reading, and child home language exposure and use. The results show that parents’ positive beliefs toward bilingualism are related to the children’s use of that language and their children’s language outcomes. Implications and suggestions for home language and literacy support for DLLs are discussed.

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“…This may reduce communication opportunities for the child, which, while disadvantageous for all children, may be particularly damaging to autistic children, for whom social-emotional relationships may be especially challenging (APA, 2013). The number of places and interlocuters with whom children use a language is a signi cant predictor of their skills in that language (Sun et al, 2022). Access to a heritage language has essential implications for the formation of cultural identity in children (Imbens-Bailey, 1996;…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent-led Communication Therapy for Young Bilingual Autistic Children: A Scoping Review

Oudet,

Howard,

Gilhuber

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Purpose: A scoping review of the literature was undertaken using JBI guidelines to map the evidence of parent-led therapy (PLT) for young autistic children (£6 years) raised in bilingual environments. Methods: Databases were searched on 11 January 2023 (Medline – EBSCO, PsychINFO, ERIC, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertations). Eligible papers included peer-reviewed and grey literature that was empirical in nature documenting PLT targeted to parents of young autistic children in bilingual environments. Reviewers used Covidence to screen titles and abstracts of located sources, and to screen full-text papers. Results Sixteen papers met inclusion criteria. A strong acceleration of reports of PLT for young autistic children measured in bilingual environments was observed, with 93.8% of papers (n = 15) published since 2015. A large majority of these studies, 87.5% (n = 14) were conducted in North America. Diverse PLT programs and methodologies were identified. Reporting of participants’ language environments was inconsistent. Five programs are identified to be publicly available as a clinical service. Conclusion PLT is a rapidly emerging approach to addressing complex issues at the intersection of autism, bilingualism, and service accessibility. Measuring the feasibility and effectiveness of PLT in bilingual environments is relatively novel in research. The synthesised results of this review alert researchers, clinicians, and the autism community, alike, to different types of service and different delivery options for families of young autistic children in bilingual environments, and the evidence gaps in the literature.

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Language Experience and Bilingual Children’s Heritage Language Learning

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Polish-German preschoolers develop and use heritage Polish differently depending on whether they heard German from birth or not

Polish-German preschoolers develop and use heritage Polish differently depending on whether they heard German from birth or not

Parental perceptions of bilingualism and home language vocabulary: Young bilingual children from low-income immigrant Mexican American and Chinese American families

Parent-led Communication Therapy for Young Bilingual Autistic Children: A Scoping Review

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