Properties of Dual Language Exposure That Influence 2-Year-Olds’ Bilingual Proficiency

Abstract

The mothers of 29 Spanish-English bilingual 25-month-olds kept diary records of their children's dual language exposure and provided information on their children's English and Spanish language development using the MacArthur-Bates inventories. Relative amount of exposure predicted language outcomes in English and Spanish. In addition, the number of different speakers from whom the children heard English and the percent of their English input that was provided by native speakers were unique sources of variance in children's English skills. These properties of children's dual language exposure and their bilingual proficiency varied as a function of whether the children's mother, father, or both parents were native Spanish speakers. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

How bilingual development is the same as and different from monolingual development

“…The present studies found that English input from native English speakers is more useful to children's language growth than English input from late learners of English Place & Hoff, 2011. Work in progress is examining properties of native and non-native child-directed English to ask why this should be the case.…”

“…In other work we have found that the percentage of bilingual children's English exposure that is provided by native speakers predicts the children's English skill, over and above the effects of how much English the children hear (Place & Hoff, 2011; English use in the home is strongly related to children's English skills among bilingual children who have one native English-speaking parent and English use at home is only weakly related to children's English skills among children with two native Spanish-speaking parents .…”

“…The first sample included 47 children from Spanish-English bilingual homes and 56 children from English monolingual homes. The children's language environments and language skills were assessed at 22, 25, and 30 months of age (Hoff, Core, Place, Rumiche, Señor, & Parra, 2012;Place & Hoff, 2011). A subsample of these children were available for a follow-up at age 4 years (Hoff, Rumiche, Burridge, Ribot, & Welsh, 2014).…”

“…When English and Spanish raw scores are plotted, as in Study 1, or estimated, as in Study 2, for children with balanced home input, English skill levels are higher than Spanish. We know that children's language exposure outside the home is more English dominant than their home exposure (Place & Hoff, 2011) and parents may underestimate their use of English in the home. It may also be that other factors contribute to the observed English dominance in children with balanced home language input.…”

Guidelines for Designing Social Robots as Second Language Tutors

“…For example, in L2 education it is important to consider from whom children are learning the L2. Place and Hoff [56] found that hearing English from different speakers and the amount of English input provided by native speakers is critical for learning English as L2. Another notable difference between L1 and L2 learning is that children may rely on their L1 when learning an L2 (e.g., [75]).…”