What factors influence phonological production in French-speaking bilingual children, aged three to six years?

Abstract

This study examines the influence of bilingual status, language-internal (complexity of L1 phonology), language-external (dominance), and lexical (L2 vocabulary score) factors on phonological production in French-speaking monolingual (n = 37) and bilingual children (n = 64) aged three to six years. Children participated in an object and picture naming task which tested different phonological features. The bilinguals’ first languages were coded in terms of the complexity of these phonological features. In addition, the parents completed a questionnaire on their child's language dominance and the children were administered a vocabulary test in their L2. Results indicated that vocabulary was the principal predictor of phonological accuracy across both age groups. Apparent monolingual–bilingual differences and dominance effects could largely be explained by vocabulary scores: children who scored better on a vocabulary test obtained superior phonological accuracy. Language-internal effects were minimal and marginally influenced vowel accuracy only.

Relations between phonological production, grammar and the lexicon in bilingual French-English children

“…Meziane and MacLeod (2017) reported significant correlations between expressive (but not receptive) vocabulary and percent consonants correct (PCC) scores in French second-language learners, aged approximately six years. Similarly, Kehoe and Giradier (2020) found significant correlations between French expressive vocabulary and French phonological measures (e.g. PCC, percent codas and clusters correct) in French simultaneous bilinguals, aged three to six years.…”

The Prosody of Two-Syllable Words in French-Speaking Monolingual and Bilingual Children: A Focus on Initial Accent and Final Accent

“…The data come from two studies: Kehoe and Havy’s (2019) , in which 40 children, aged 2;6, were tested at the speech laboratory at the University of Geneva; and Kehoe & Girardier’s (2020) , in which 101 children, aged 2;11–6;10, were tested at kindergartens or public schools in Geneva. In order to have bilingual groups which were homogenous in terms of L1s (home language other than French) and age, we selected a subsample from these studies.…”

“…All children were aged 2;6 (+/- two weeks). From the Kehoe and Girardier (2020) study (referred to as group 3 to 6), we selected 45 children and formed 2 (sub) age-groups: 3 to 4 and 5 to 6 years. In the 3 to 4 group, 8 children were monolinguals, 7 were bilinguals speaking a Germanic, and 7 were bilinguals speaking a Romance language.…”

Word form processing at school age: Evidence for similarities between bilingual and monolingual children

“…The lexical abilities of bilingual children support and interact with phonological and grammatical abilities (Kehoe & Girardier, 2020; Pham, 2016; Simon-Cereijido & Gutiérrez-Clellen, 2009), and are therefore crucial for language acquisition, literacy development, and academic success (Janus, Labonté, Kirkpatrick, Davies & Duku, 2019; Krenca, Segers, Chen, Shakory, Steele & Verhoeven, 2020; O'Connor, O'Connor, Tarasuik, Gray, Kvalsvig & Goldfeld, 2018; Prevoo, Malda, Mesman & van IJzendoorn, 2016). Lexical abilities are not a uniform construct but comprise several different components and stages of word processing.…”