This presentation reviews normal language development of bilinguals. It identifies common second language-influenced errors between English and Spanish as well as other languages.
Difference vs. Disorder: Language Development in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations
1.
2. Disclosure Statement:
Financial —
Ellen Kester is the founder and owner of
Bilinguistics. Ellen Kester and Scott Prath
receive salaries from Bilinguistics.
Bilinguistics receives royalties from product
sales.
Nonfinancial — None
3. • Bilingualism and Language
• Typical Language Development in Bilinguals
▫ Form
Syntax
Morphology
▫ Content
• Application to All Languages
• Case Studies
Outline
5. How do we qualify and work
with a bilingual population when:
▫ The tests we use are not normed on this
population.
▫ My gut feeling doesn’t match the test results.
▫ I don’t know what goals are appropriate.
11. Spanish
English ED BE
BS
SD
ED = English Dominant
BE = Bilingual English
BS = Bilingual Spanish
SD = Spanish Dominant
Low
Spanish
Proficiency
12. Spanish
English ED BE
BS
SD
ED = English Dominant
BE = Bilingual English
BS = Bilingual Spanish
SD = Spanish Dominant
High
English
Proficiency
Low
English
Proficiency
20. • Children tend to shift - L1 to L2
▫ 8-10 year-olds were faster in English
but more accurate in Spanish.
▫ 11-13-year-olds showed no clear
advantage in either language.
▫ By 14-16 years of age children were
more accurate and faster in English.
• Consider:
▫ Transitional programs
▫ Dual language programs
26. • 0-1 month – crying and vegetative sounds
• 2-3 months – eye gaze
• 6-9 months – joint attention
• 9-12 months – using gestures
• 12-15 months – following simple commands
• 18 months – symbolic play, pretend play
• 24 months – sequencing of activities
• 36 months – episodic play
27. • Based on the Competition Model as applied to
bilingual development (MacWhinney & Bates, 1989)
▫ Forward Transfer (L1 to L2) expected for ELLs
• The effects of Spanish on English can result in
errors in:
▫ Verb errors (especially unmarked present for past
tense)
▫ Content word errors (more than general words)
▫ Prepositions
▫ Pronouns
▫ Word order
28. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
NumberofErrors
Mean Errors Per Grade Spanish
SpnMorph
SpnSemantic
SpnSyntactic
SpnTotal
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
NumberofErrors
Mean Errors Per Grade English
EngMorph
EngSemantic
EngSyntactic
EngTotal
Cross-linguistic Errors in Children
with Typical Development
29. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
NumberofErrors
Mean Errors Per Grade Spanish
SpnMorph
SpnSemantic
SpnSyntactic
SpnTotal
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
NumberofErrors
Mean Errors Per Grade English
EngMorph
EngSemantic
EngSyntactic
EngTotal
Cross-linguistic Errors in Children
with Typical Development
35. Verb Differences - Form
English (2 verb person forms) Spanish (5-6 verb person forms)
• I eat
• You eat
• He eats
• We eat
• Y’all eat
• They eat
• Yo como
• Tú comes
• Él/Ella/Ud. come
• Nosotros comemos
• Vosotros coméis
• Ellos comen
Most frequent Spanish-influenced English (SIE)
verb error:
Unmarked present tense for past tense
36. Pronouns - Form
• Spanish is called a Pro-Drop language because
subjects/pronouns are usually dropped once the
subject has been established.
• In English, pronouns are required.
Spanish English
Maria fue a la tienda. (Ella)
Compró pan.
Maria went to the store. She
bought bread.
38. Word Order - Form
English Spanish
• Strict Word Order
• SVO
▫ John threw the ball.
• Flexible
• SVO, OSV, VOS
▫ Juan tiró la pelota.
▫ La pelota Juan tiró.
▫ Tiró la pelota Juan.
43. English
• Satellite-framed
▫ verb + preposition
▫ e.g., To look for,
▫ To get on
• Typically 1:1 correspondence
of meaning
▫ In
▫ On
▫ Around
Spanish
• Verb-framed
▫ Directional information in
the verb
▫ e.g. Buscar (to look for)
▫ Subir (to get/go up on)
• Not 1:1 correspondence of
meaning
▫ En = on, in
▫ Por = for, by
Preposition Differences - Content
Frequent Spanish-influenced English (SIE) error:
Preposition error or omission
44. Prepositions - Content
Spanish Prepositions English Equivalent Spanish‐influenced Eng
en “in” and “on” Put the food in the plate.*,
Put the soup on the bowl.*
Pensar en OR Pensar de To think about or think of I think on him every day.*
Enojarse con/de Get mad at Get mad with/of*
Decidir de To decide on Decide of what you
want?*
Casarse con To marry or be married to Is he married with her?*
Enamorarse de To be in love with Is he in love of her?*
Consistir en To consist of What does your plan
consist in?*
Buscar To look for I look my toy.*
Subir To go up, to get on I go the stairs.*
Click here to download this chart as a pdf.
45. Pronoun Differences
• English
▫ Pronouns are required
▫ Once subject is
established a pronoun
is used
▫ Related to the simple
verb system
• Spanish
▫ Pro-drop language
▫ Once subject is
established, pronoun
is dropped
▫ Related to the complex
verb system
Frequent Spanish-influenced English (SIE) error:
Pronoun without a reference
46. Content Errors
• Spanish-influenced English may include use of
words close in meaning to the target
▫ “moose” for “deer”
▫ “turtle” for “frog”
▫ “rat” for “chipmunk”
▫ “cone house of the bees” for “beehive”
• Typically do not use general, non-specific
vocabulary (“this,” “thing”)
Frequent SIE error:
Incorrect but related vocabulary
47. • Bilingual children develop early vocabulary at
the same rate as monolingual children (Pearson, 1993).
• Early language milestones are similar (single
words, lexical spurt, 2-word phrases) (Pearson and
Fernandez, 2001).
• Conceptual scores are similar (Pearson, 1998).
• Language exposure drives vocabulary
production (Pearson, Fernandez, Lewedeg, and Oller, 1997)
48. • For bilingual toddlers 30% of vocabulary are
translation equivalents1
• Young school-age bilinguals produce same # of
category items in Spanish and English BUT 70%
are unique to one language2
• Task performance varies by language3
• 1 Pearson, Fernandez & Oller, 1995
• 2 Peña, Bedore & Zlatic, 2002
• 3 Peña, Bedore, & Rappazzo, 2003
49. Cumulative not Comparative
Language and Content of Intervention
Select based on what is appropriate in each language and
what is appropriate for child’s and family’s situation.
For example:
Spanish
•Gender
•Verbs
•Article+nouns
•Food
•Clothing
•Household items
Both
•People
•Functions
•Categorization
•Part-Whole
English
•Pronouns
•Prepositions
•Nouns
•Colors
•Numbers
•Shapes
Peña & Kester, 2004
50. Code-switching
• A natural dynamic phenomenon that serves
specific purposes in specific contexts.
• Used for a variety of functions
▫ Emphasis
▫ To gain a listener’s attention
▫ To change speaking roles
• Draws on the resources of both codes at once
• Rule-based
• Indicative of socio-linguistic competency
51. 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
PK K 1 2 3
AverageOccurrencesper
sample
Spanish Code-Switching/Borrowing
CS Word
CS Phrase
CS Sentence
CS Total
CS Borrow
52. Measures of Productivity &
Complexity
Often used as measures of
proficiency
Look very similar in English and
Spanish
53. Mean Length of Utterances Spanish
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
MLU MLU Words
MLU Morphemes
Mean Lenth of Utterances English
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
PK K 1st 2nd 3rd
MLU
MLU Words
MLU Morphemes
55. Spanish-Influenced English
Linguistic Element Spanish Syntax English Syntax Examples of SIE
Sentences Flexible Word Order Ridged Word Order “Juan me hit.”
Modifiers Noun + Adjective Adjective + Noun The river big.
Questions No auxiliary Auxiliary “Where you went?”
Pronouns Pronoun dropping Maintenance of
pronouns
“Is hot today.”
Negation Double Single “I no want nothing”
Plurals Nouns & Adjectives
marked
Only nouns marked “The bigs trees”
Prepositions
(syntax)
Verb‐framed Satellite‐framed To climb (on*) the
bus.
Multi‐purpose
verbs (semantics)
Often no Direct
Translation
Often no Direct
Translation
I put an
appointment.
Verb system Complex (3rd
person unmarked,
5‐6 person
forms/verb)
Simple (3rd person
marked, 2 person
forms/verb)
He look for the frog
58. Portuguese vs. English
• Grammar - Verb/Tense: Portuguese leads to
such errors as…
▫ Tense choice is a significant problem for…
• Grammar - Other: Portuguese word order is…
• Vocabulary: Because of shared Latin roots…
59. Russian vs. English
• Grammar - Verb/Tense: Russian and English
convey meaning through…
• learners often omit the auxiliary in questions or
negatives: How you do that?
▫ Tense choice is a significant problem for Russians
learning English…
• Grammar - Other: Russian has no articles…
60. Language Outcomes
• Qualifies• DNQ
• DNQ• DNQ
Typical in
both
languages
Typical in
English,
not
Spanish
Below
normal
Limits in
both
languages
Typical in
Spanish,
not
English