Off to a good start: Early Spanish‐language processing efficiency supports Spanish‐ and English‐language outcomes at 4½ years in sequential bilinguals

Abstract

Many Latino children in the U.S. speak primarily Spanish at home with few opportunities for exposure to English before entering school. For monolingual children, the strongest early predictor of later school success is oral language skill developed before kindergarten. Less is known about how early oral language skills support later learning in sequential bilingual children. A question with wide-reaching significance is whether skill in a child's first language (L1) supports later learning in a second language (L2). In this longitudinal study of sequential Spanish-English bilinguals, we assessed oral language skills in Spanish at 2 years through parent reports of vocabulary size and children's real-time language processing efficiency (Accuracy, RT) in the 'looking-while-listening' (LWL) task. At 4½ years, we assessed language outcomes in both Spanish and English using standardized tests. Reported relative exposure to each language was significantly correlated with language outcomes in Spanish and English. Within-language relations were observed between Spanish vocabulary size and processing efficiency at 2 years and later Spanish-language outcomes. Critically, across-language relations were also observed: Children with stronger Spanishlanguage processing efficiency at 2 years had stronger English-language skills at 4½ years, controlling for socioeconomic status and exposure to English. Children's early language processing efficiency in Spanish is associated with stronger real-time information processing skills that support maintenance of Spanish and learning in English when these children enter school. These results support the recommendation that primarily Spanish-speaking families should engage in activities that promote children's Spanish-language skills while also seeking opportunities for children to be exposed to English. K E Y W O R D S language processing efficiency, pre-kindergarten outcomes, sequential bilinguals, Spanish-English bilinguals, vocabulary size How to cite this article: Marchman VA, Bermúdez VN, Bang JY, Fernald A. Off to a good start: Early Spanish-language processing efficiency supports Spanish-and English-language outcomes at 4½ years in sequential bilinguals. Dev Sci.

Bilingual Mandarin-English preschoolers’ spoken narrative skills and contributing factors: A remote online story-retell study

“…Earlier age of acquisition and longer use typically lead to better language outcomes (Birdsong, 2009;Bosch et al, 2019;though see Xu Rattanasone et al (2016) for different length of acquisition effects due to language typology in preschoolers). Bilingual children's language experience can also vary in terms of amount of language input and use, with both having effects on language development and spoken narrative skills (Hammer et al, 2012;Marchman et al, 2020). Govindarajan and Paradis (2019) found in school-aged children that length of English exposure in school predicted better English narrative skills, but amount of English input (from non-native speakers) and use at home did not predict macrostructure or microstructure abilities in English.…”

Touching while listening: Does infants’ haptic word processing speed predict vocabulary development?

“…In recent years, direct lab-based assessments, such as the Looking-While-Listening paradigm (LWL; Fernald et al, 2008) and the Computerized Comprehension Task (CCT; Friend & Keplinger, 2003, have been developed to measure decontextualized vocabulary (e.g., Friend et al, 2019;Legacy et al, 2018;Marchman, Bermúdez, Bang & Fernald, 2020;Poulin-Dubois, Bialystok, Blaye, Polonia & Yott, 2012). While the LWL paradigm assesses decontextualized vocabulary by measuring children's visual word processing, the CCT assesses decontextualized vocabulary by measuring haptic word processing (i.e., latency to touch a correct word referent).…”

“…It is well established that early decontextualized vocabulary is associated with both concurrent and later language outcomes among bilingual and monolingual children (Friend et al, 2019;Legacy et al, 2018;Marchman et al, 2020;. For example, around two years of age, bilinguals' performance on the CCT is associated with concurrent contextualized vocabulary size, as measured by the MCDI (Friend & Keplinger, 2008;Friend et al, 2018;Legacy et al, 2018;Poulin-Dubois et al, 2012).…”

Supporting Science Learning For English Language Learners

“…Learning science in Spanish validated students' cultural and linguistic assets and allowed them to strengthen both their everyday and academic languages (Gottlieb & Ernst-Slavit, 2014). These Spanish language and literacy skills, as research has shown (Collier & Thomas, 2017;Marchman et al, 2020;Phillips Galloway et al, 2020), will also transfer to English, which enables bridging between the two languages. Humor in this classroom also contributed to students feeling more comfortable and open to learning.…”