MAPLE: A Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates

Abstract

Bilingual infants vary in when, how, and how often they hear each of their languages. Variables such as the particular languages of exposure, the community context, the onset of exposure, the amount of exposure, and socioeconomic status are crucial for describing any bilingual infant sample. Parent report is an effective approach for gathering data about infants’ language experience. However, its quality is highly dependent on how information is elicited. This paper introduces a Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates (MAPLE). MAPLE promotes best practices for using structured interviews to reliably elicit information from parents on bilingual infants’ language background, with an emphasis on the challenging task of quantifying infants’ relative exposure to each language. We discuss sensitive issues that must be navigated in this process, including diversity in family characteristics and cultural values. Finally, we identify six systematic effects that can impact parent report, and strategies for minimizing their influence.

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

“…The pre‐study lifetime estimate was obtained during the interview portion of the initial laboratory visit. We asked caregivers a series of questions that are typical of other language interview formats from other laboratories (Bosch & Sebastián‐Gallés, ; DeAnda et al, ), following established practices for conducting the language interview (Byers‐Heinlein et al, ). To help caregivers recall what languages their child typically hears at home, we first asked them a range of questions, including what languages each member of the household spoke to each other, what languages their child was exposed to in different contexts (television, play time, meal time, book reading, songs), and what languages other members of their family or community spoke to them (grandparents, family friends, neighbours, day care teacher).…”

“…One predictor variable that has received much attention is a bilingual child’s relative amount of experience with each of their languages. For practical reasons, this variable is typically assessed through parent reports – either via daily diaries filled out by caregivers (Place & Hoff, ), or detailed interviews with them (Byers‐Heinlein et al, ; DeAnda, Bosch, Poulin‐Dubois, Zesiger, & Friend, ). Caregivers are asked to document or estimate the languages that infants hear directly from speakers in their environment.…”

A multi-lab study of bilingual infants: Exploring the preference for infant-directed speech

“…Labs that did not have an established procedure were paired with more experienced labs working with similar communities to refine a language assessment procedure. Twelve of the labs administered a structured interview-style questionnaire based on the one developed by Sebastián-Gallés (1997, 2001; for examples of the measure see the online supplementary materials of Byers-Heinlein et al, 2019;DeAnda et al, 2016), and the remaining 5 labs administered other questionnaires. We describe each of these approaches in detail below.…”

The Perceptions of Bilingualism Scales

“…A reliable measure of perceptions of bilingualism would complement ongoing efforts to develop instruments measuring bilingual experience (46)(47)(48)(49). Given that bilingualism reflects the interaction between individuals and their environment, documenting perceptions contributes to this effort by bringing in a sociolinguistic perspective.…”