Pub Date : 2024-09-14DOI: 10.1177/13670069241270845
Helena Halmari
Aims and Objectives/Research Question:This is a case study of a toddler acquiring Finnish in a trilingual (Finnish–Spanish–English) setting. Despite the apparent ease of the child’s acquisition of Finnish, the pressure of the majority language (English) suppresses the use of the acquired minority language. Is it feasible to expect an early-childhood minority language to be maintained at the level of production?Design/Methodology:Video-recordings were collected in domestic settings, mostly with the Finnish-speaking mother in interactions with the child, who was between the ages of 3;6 and 4;6. The approach follows loosely the principles of interactional sociolinguistics.Data and Analysis:The data were collected in 2008, when the child was 3 years old, and the follow-up data 8 months later, when the child was four. Samples of this corpus are analyzed in detail for the emerging target-like Finnish case endings and verbal inflections, as well as for deviations from adult Finland Finnish. The mother’s strategies of maximizing the effects of the limited input are also discussed.Findings/Conclusions:Even though the input the child receives is limited, his acquisition of Finnish morphosyntax follows monolingual patterns and shows overgeneralizations typical of monolingual Finnish children’s language. Some transfer from the contact with English and Spanish languages is present. The question of ultimate attainment in a heritage-language situation is addressed.Originality:The study is rare, as it documents the rapid transition from the child’s well acquired minority language to English, the majority language, in the matter of months.Significance:This article confirms the vulnerability of childhood bilingualism: even a few months between the two longitudinal datasets show a sharp decline in the child’s output in the heritage Finnish, but the dichotomy between “maintenance” versus “loss” is challenged because the decline in output does not necessarily extend to the loss of comprehension.
{"title":"Limited input and the acquisition of Finnish: The evolution of a child speaker in a multilingual environment","authors":"Helena Halmari","doi":"10.1177/13670069241270845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241270845","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and Objectives/Research Question:This is a case study of a toddler acquiring Finnish in a trilingual (Finnish–Spanish–English) setting. Despite the apparent ease of the child’s acquisition of Finnish, the pressure of the majority language (English) suppresses the use of the acquired minority language. Is it feasible to expect an early-childhood minority language to be maintained at the level of production?Design/Methodology:Video-recordings were collected in domestic settings, mostly with the Finnish-speaking mother in interactions with the child, who was between the ages of 3;6 and 4;6. The approach follows loosely the principles of interactional sociolinguistics.Data and Analysis:The data were collected in 2008, when the child was 3 years old, and the follow-up data 8 months later, when the child was four. Samples of this corpus are analyzed in detail for the emerging target-like Finnish case endings and verbal inflections, as well as for deviations from adult Finland Finnish. The mother’s strategies of maximizing the effects of the limited input are also discussed.Findings/Conclusions:Even though the input the child receives is limited, his acquisition of Finnish morphosyntax follows monolingual patterns and shows overgeneralizations typical of monolingual Finnish children’s language. Some transfer from the contact with English and Spanish languages is present. The question of ultimate attainment in a heritage-language situation is addressed.Originality:The study is rare, as it documents the rapid transition from the child’s well acquired minority language to English, the majority language, in the matter of months.Significance:This article confirms the vulnerability of childhood bilingualism: even a few months between the two longitudinal datasets show a sharp decline in the child’s output in the heritage Finnish, but the dichotomy between “maintenance” versus “loss” is challenged because the decline in output does not necessarily extend to the loss of comprehension.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-14DOI: 10.1177/13670069241270762
Filiz Mergen, Nihal Yetkin Karakoç
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions:This study examines how late bilinguals parse temporarily and globally ambiguous relative clauses, and whether this preference is modulated by their reading habits. Research questions are as follows: (1) Do late bilinguals’ attachment preferences differ as the task varies, for example, translating versus identifying the NP modified by the given RC? (2) Are attachment preferences influenced by locally or globally ambiguous subject relative clauses? (3) Do late bilinguals’ reading habits have any influence on their attachment preferences in the two tasks?Design/Methodology/Approach:We used a self-paced reading task and translation task with a group of late bilinguals whose native language (L1) was Turkish and who learned English (L2) as a foreign language in formal settings ( N = 43).Data and Analysis:We performed a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data.Findings/Conclusions:We found that task type influenced participants’ attachment preferences. Greater use of the second noun phrase (NP2) as opposed to the first noun phrase (NP1) was found in the translation task, regardless of ambiguity type, which shows that proficient late bilinguals were able to perform like native speakers. In the question-answer task, however, the reverse pattern observed can be interpreted either as the L1 influence, or alternatively, the underuse of syntactic information in L2, supporting the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH). We found no correlation between the attachment preferences and reading habits of the participants.Originality:This study was the first to examine parsing ambiguity in RCs through a translation task.Significance/Implications:The results may be taken into consideration in a psycholinguistic approach to translation studies. Further studies may investigate ambiguity parsing by using online tasks backed by the eye-tracking method.
{"title":"Relative clause attachment preferences of late bilinguals","authors":"Filiz Mergen, Nihal Yetkin Karakoç","doi":"10.1177/13670069241270762","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241270762","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions:This study examines how late bilinguals parse temporarily and globally ambiguous relative clauses, and whether this preference is modulated by their reading habits. Research questions are as follows: (1) Do late bilinguals’ attachment preferences differ as the task varies, for example, translating versus identifying the NP modified by the given RC? (2) Are attachment preferences influenced by locally or globally ambiguous subject relative clauses? (3) Do late bilinguals’ reading habits have any influence on their attachment preferences in the two tasks?Design/Methodology/Approach:We used a self-paced reading task and translation task with a group of late bilinguals whose native language (L1) was Turkish and who learned English (L2) as a foreign language in formal settings ( N = 43).Data and Analysis:We performed a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data.Findings/Conclusions:We found that task type influenced participants’ attachment preferences. Greater use of the second noun phrase (NP2) as opposed to the first noun phrase (NP1) was found in the translation task, regardless of ambiguity type, which shows that proficient late bilinguals were able to perform like native speakers. In the question-answer task, however, the reverse pattern observed can be interpreted either as the L1 influence, or alternatively, the underuse of syntactic information in L2, supporting the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH). We found no correlation between the attachment preferences and reading habits of the participants.Originality:This study was the first to examine parsing ambiguity in RCs through a translation task.Significance/Implications:The results may be taken into consideration in a psycholinguistic approach to translation studies. Further studies may investigate ambiguity parsing by using online tasks backed by the eye-tracking method.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142257085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-07DOI: 10.1177/13670069241277499
Francisco J. Sierra, Amy A. Weimer, Yu-Cheng Lin, Jerwen Jou, Nayda Castillo, Cedar Garcia, Michelle Suarez, Flor I. Garcia, Gabriela Aleman, Edson Ortiz, Francheli Romero
Aims and objectives:The primary goal of this study was to examine whether degree of bilingualism related to dichotic listening accuracy, a measure of bilateral processing, after controlling for age and income.Methodology:Participants included 59 children ages 6–11 years ( M = 7.86, SD = 1.81) and 61 adults (18–83 years) ( M = 34.02, SD = 15.70). Participants completed demographic surveys, vocabulary assessments in English and Spanish, and a dichotic listening test.Data and analysis:Multiple linear regressions examined whether the degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing.Findings:Degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing in the whole sample of children and adults.Originality:This study is one of the first to examine bilingualism and bilateral processing while including both children and adults. It also importantly controlled for a possible cognate facilitatory effect and participant income differences and measured bilingualism on a continuum.Significance:Results highlight the importance of including bilingual groups of different ages when researching bilingualism and laterality.
{"title":"Relations among degree of bilingualism and bilateral information processing in children and adults","authors":"Francisco J. Sierra, Amy A. Weimer, Yu-Cheng Lin, Jerwen Jou, Nayda Castillo, Cedar Garcia, Michelle Suarez, Flor I. Garcia, Gabriela Aleman, Edson Ortiz, Francheli Romero","doi":"10.1177/13670069241277499","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241277499","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and objectives:The primary goal of this study was to examine whether degree of bilingualism related to dichotic listening accuracy, a measure of bilateral processing, after controlling for age and income.Methodology:Participants included 59 children ages 6–11 years ( M = 7.86, SD = 1.81) and 61 adults (18–83 years) ( M = 34.02, SD = 15.70). Participants completed demographic surveys, vocabulary assessments in English and Spanish, and a dichotic listening test.Data and analysis:Multiple linear regressions examined whether the degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing.Findings:Degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing in the whole sample of children and adults.Originality:This study is one of the first to examine bilingualism and bilateral processing while including both children and adults. It also importantly controlled for a possible cognate facilitatory effect and participant income differences and measured bilingualism on a continuum.Significance:Results highlight the importance of including bilingual groups of different ages when researching bilingualism and laterality.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142221113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-28DOI: 10.1177/13670069241270807
Barbara C. Malt, Xingjian Yang
Research question:Second language (L2) learners may have a “semantic accent,” using L2 words differently from a native speaker. The current studies investigate how learning conditions and the need to use different semantic dimensions may constrain the acquisition of L2 meanings.Approach:In Experiment 1, we asked whether first language (L1) Mandarin speakers would successfully learn English carry and hold with intensive input in a laboratory training procedure. In Experiment 2, we asked whether the difficulties observed were due to differing semantic dimensions per se or to the need to move from a larger number of fine-grained native distinctions to a smaller number of broader English meanings.Data and analysis:Word definitions and label choice after training were scored for consistency with native performance.Conclusions:Experiment 1 supported the idea that intensive input helps, but Experiment 2 suggested that any kind of semantic difference from L1 is challenging even with intensive input.Originality:The current study clarifies the contributions of learning conditions and L1-L2 semantic differences in semantic accent.Implications:Reducing semantic accent may require instruction in specific L1-L2 differences and cultivation of metacognitive sensitivity to the potential for differences.
{"title":"Dual drivers of bilingual semantic accent: Semantic relations and input limitations","authors":"Barbara C. Malt, Xingjian Yang","doi":"10.1177/13670069241270807","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241270807","url":null,"abstract":"Research question:Second language (L2) learners may have a “semantic accent,” using L2 words differently from a native speaker. The current studies investigate how learning conditions and the need to use different semantic dimensions may constrain the acquisition of L2 meanings.Approach:In Experiment 1, we asked whether first language (L1) Mandarin speakers would successfully learn English carry and hold with intensive input in a laboratory training procedure. In Experiment 2, we asked whether the difficulties observed were due to differing semantic dimensions per se or to the need to move from a larger number of fine-grained native distinctions to a smaller number of broader English meanings.Data and analysis:Word definitions and label choice after training were scored for consistency with native performance.Conclusions:Experiment 1 supported the idea that intensive input helps, but Experiment 2 suggested that any kind of semantic difference from L1 is challenging even with intensive input.Originality:The current study clarifies the contributions of learning conditions and L1-L2 semantic differences in semantic accent.Implications:Reducing semantic accent may require instruction in specific L1-L2 differences and cultivation of metacognitive sensitivity to the potential for differences.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142221115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-19DOI: 10.1177/13670069241267250
Tamara Sorenson Duncan, Ann Sutton, Fred Genesee, Xi Chen, Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird, Stephanie Pagan, Joan Oracheski
Aims and Objectives:Increasingly, students who speak a minority language at home (minority-L1) enroll in Early French Immersion in Canada. A frequent question is the extent to which they develop academic abilities in English. Accordingly, this study asks: (a) Do a similar percentage of minority-L1 students meet provincial standards for academic achievement when tested in English when they attend French immersion compared to English language of instruction? (b) What are the outcomes for minority-L1 students with relatively low English proficiency? and (c) What factors contribute to minority L1-students’ academic achievement when evaluated through English?Methods:We compared performance on province-wide assessments of English reading, writing, and mathematics for Grade 3, minority-L1 students enrolled in French immersion ( n = 196) and in English ( n = 169).Data and Analysis:Chi-square analyses compared the percentage of participants meeting the provincial standard in each academic domain in French immersion and English programs. Predictors of performance within two English proficiency groups ( low and not low) were investigated using binary logistic regression analyses.Findings and Conclusions:In each domain, a similar percentage of minority-L1 students in French immersion and in English met the provincial standard, illustrating that immersion programs are suitable for minority-L1 students. Logistic regression revealed some overlap in individual difference factors, but the constellation of significant predictors differed for students with low English proficiency and those with relatively higher levels of proficiency. Individual learner profiles need to be considered when determining how to support these students.Originality:This study specifically considered performance of minority-L1 students across programs and examined if predictors of achievement in English are comparable for students with different levels of English proficiency.Significance:As school boards work to improve inclusivity within their programs, this study offers much needed evidence concerning the performance of minority-L1 students in dual language programs.
{"title":"Academic achievement in English: Minority home language students in early French immersion","authors":"Tamara Sorenson Duncan, Ann Sutton, Fred Genesee, Xi Chen, Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird, Stephanie Pagan, Joan Oracheski","doi":"10.1177/13670069241267250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241267250","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and Objectives:Increasingly, students who speak a minority language at home (minority-L1) enroll in Early French Immersion in Canada. A frequent question is the extent to which they develop academic abilities in English. Accordingly, this study asks: (a) Do a similar percentage of minority-L1 students meet provincial standards for academic achievement when tested in English when they attend French immersion compared to English language of instruction? (b) What are the outcomes for minority-L1 students with relatively low English proficiency? and (c) What factors contribute to minority L1-students’ academic achievement when evaluated through English?Methods:We compared performance on province-wide assessments of English reading, writing, and mathematics for Grade 3, minority-L1 students enrolled in French immersion ( n = 196) and in English ( n = 169).Data and Analysis:Chi-square analyses compared the percentage of participants meeting the provincial standard in each academic domain in French immersion and English programs. Predictors of performance within two English proficiency groups ( low and not low) were investigated using binary logistic regression analyses.Findings and Conclusions:In each domain, a similar percentage of minority-L1 students in French immersion and in English met the provincial standard, illustrating that immersion programs are suitable for minority-L1 students. Logistic regression revealed some overlap in individual difference factors, but the constellation of significant predictors differed for students with low English proficiency and those with relatively higher levels of proficiency. Individual learner profiles need to be considered when determining how to support these students.Originality:This study specifically considered performance of minority-L1 students across programs and examined if predictors of achievement in English are comparable for students with different levels of English proficiency.Significance:As school boards work to improve inclusivity within their programs, this study offers much needed evidence concerning the performance of minority-L1 students in dual language programs.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142221116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-19DOI: 10.1177/13670069241261052
Maria Martynova, Onur Özsoy, Vasiliki Rizou, Luka Szucsich, Natalia Gagarina, Artemis Alexiadou
Aims and Objectives:This study investigates the use of definite noun phrases involving demonstratives in adolescent and adult monolingually raised and heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish with the following research questions: (1) Do heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish align with monolingually raised speakers regarding the production of demonstratives? and (2) Do mode and register affect the use of demonstratives?Methodology:We conducted a corpus study on production data of heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish residing in the United States and Germany and the respective monolingually raised speakers in Greece, Russia, and Turkey. The majority languages of the heritage speakers were German or English, respectively. Data were elicited in two distinct registers (formal vs informal) and in two distinct modes (spoken vs written). Participants were asked to narrate what happened in a short video showing a fictional minor car accident.Analysis:Oral and written narrations were annotated and analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects regression modeling on the use of demonstratives by heritage and monolingually raised speakers accounting for individual variation, country of elicitation, mode, and register.Findings:The results show that heritage and monolingually raised speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish converge in their use of demonstratives. Also, mode and/or register significantly affect the production of definite noun phrases with demonstratives across all speaker groups.Originality:This is the first cross-linguistically comparable large-scale corpus study with ecologically valid production data of definite noun phrases with demonstratives in bilinguals.Significance:The study contributes to understanding the use of demonstratives in heritage and monolingual Greek, Russian, and Turkish. It provides insights into the use of demonstratives in languages with different determiner systems and the impact of mode and/or register, which seems to be pronounced roughly similarly across these languages.
{"title":"Demonstratives in heritage Greek, Russian, and Turkish in Germany and the United States","authors":"Maria Martynova, Onur Özsoy, Vasiliki Rizou, Luka Szucsich, Natalia Gagarina, Artemis Alexiadou","doi":"10.1177/13670069241261052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241261052","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and Objectives:This study investigates the use of definite noun phrases involving demonstratives in adolescent and adult monolingually raised and heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish with the following research questions: (1) Do heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish align with monolingually raised speakers regarding the production of demonstratives? and (2) Do mode and register affect the use of demonstratives?Methodology:We conducted a corpus study on production data of heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish residing in the United States and Germany and the respective monolingually raised speakers in Greece, Russia, and Turkey. The majority languages of the heritage speakers were German or English, respectively. Data were elicited in two distinct registers (formal vs informal) and in two distinct modes (spoken vs written). Participants were asked to narrate what happened in a short video showing a fictional minor car accident.Analysis:Oral and written narrations were annotated and analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects regression modeling on the use of demonstratives by heritage and monolingually raised speakers accounting for individual variation, country of elicitation, mode, and register.Findings:The results show that heritage and monolingually raised speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish converge in their use of demonstratives. Also, mode and/or register significantly affect the production of definite noun phrases with demonstratives across all speaker groups.Originality:This is the first cross-linguistically comparable large-scale corpus study with ecologically valid production data of definite noun phrases with demonstratives in bilinguals.Significance:The study contributes to understanding the use of demonstratives in heritage and monolingual Greek, Russian, and Turkish. It provides insights into the use of demonstratives in languages with different determiner systems and the impact of mode and/or register, which seems to be pronounced roughly similarly across these languages.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142221117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.1177/13670069241265587
Rena Torres Cacoullos, Dora LaCasse
Objectives:Bringing linguistic experience into code-switching (CS) constraints, a new hypothesis considers cross-language variable equivalence, which arises from within-language variability. Bilingual choices are assessed for Spanish-English CS between clauses, where subordinating conjunctions may not be consistently equivalent.Methodology:Equivalence exists at the main-and-adverbial clause junction, inasmuch as the conjunctions are consistently present and placed the same way in the two languages. Equivalence is variable with main-and-complement clauses, because English complementizer that is mostly absent. Tokens of clause combining were extracted from the prosodically transcribed speech of members of a long-standing community in northern New Mexico who use both languages in their everyday interactions. Bilingual clause combinations were compared with their unilingual counterparts produced by the same speakers, as benchmarks.Data and Analysis:Over 2,000 tokens of clause combining were coded for conjunction, subordinate clause type, prosodic connection, and CS direction for bilingual instances ( n = 189).Findings:Bilinguals treat CS with complement and adverbial clauses differently. With complement clauses, the rate of CS is lower, prosodic separation is greater and, most notably, conjunction language choice is more asymmetrical. Spanish complementizer que is overwhelmingly selected over English that. In contrast, choice between causal conjunctions porque and (be)cause is affected by CS direction.Originality:The Variable Equivalence hypothesis states that bilinguals favor CS with the equivalent option from one of the languages that is more frequent and predictable in their combined linguistic experience, considering both languages.Significance:CS constraints are probabilistic (preferred CS sites) rather than categorical (permissible CS sites). The Variable Equivalence hypothesis accommodates variation in actual language use. Methodologically, comparing spontaneous CS with the same speakers’ unilingual production allows discovery of CS asymmetries. These asymmetries reveal quantitative bilingual preferences to switch at particular sites.
{"title":"Bilingual clause combining: A Variable Equivalence hypothesis for conjunction choice","authors":"Rena Torres Cacoullos, Dora LaCasse","doi":"10.1177/13670069241265587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241265587","url":null,"abstract":"Objectives:Bringing linguistic experience into code-switching (CS) constraints, a new hypothesis considers cross-language variable equivalence, which arises from within-language variability. Bilingual choices are assessed for Spanish-English CS between clauses, where subordinating conjunctions may not be consistently equivalent.Methodology:Equivalence exists at the main-and-adverbial clause junction, inasmuch as the conjunctions are consistently present and placed the same way in the two languages. Equivalence is variable with main-and-complement clauses, because English complementizer that is mostly absent. Tokens of clause combining were extracted from the prosodically transcribed speech of members of a long-standing community in northern New Mexico who use both languages in their everyday interactions. Bilingual clause combinations were compared with their unilingual counterparts produced by the same speakers, as benchmarks.Data and Analysis:Over 2,000 tokens of clause combining were coded for conjunction, subordinate clause type, prosodic connection, and CS direction for bilingual instances ( n = 189).Findings:Bilinguals treat CS with complement and adverbial clauses differently. With complement clauses, the rate of CS is lower, prosodic separation is greater and, most notably, conjunction language choice is more asymmetrical. Spanish complementizer que is overwhelmingly selected over English that. In contrast, choice between causal conjunctions porque and (be)cause is affected by CS direction.Originality:The Variable Equivalence hypothesis states that bilinguals favor CS with the equivalent option from one of the languages that is more frequent and predictable in their combined linguistic experience, considering both languages.Significance:CS constraints are probabilistic (preferred CS sites) rather than categorical (permissible CS sites). The Variable Equivalence hypothesis accommodates variation in actual language use. Methodologically, comparing spontaneous CS with the same speakers’ unilingual production allows discovery of CS asymmetries. These asymmetries reveal quantitative bilingual preferences to switch at particular sites.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141948415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1177/13670069241240939
Layal Husain, Virginia Lam, Martin Pinder
Aims and objectives:There were already calls for more longitudinal research on younger bilinguals before the COVID-19 pandemic, which added another layer of complexity to their development. This study followed the language and social-developmental outcomes of primary-school pupils before and after the pandemic lockdowns, specifically examining changes in language exposure and proficiency and social identities and competences.Design and methodology:Eighty-eight mostly British-born English-dominant pupils (initial ages 4–9), including a subset ( N = 19) who attended heritage language (HL) complementary schools (CS), were assessed in 2019 (Time1), and reassessed in 2021 (Time2) after a 2020 time point was interrupted by school closures.Data and analysis:Individual interviews, at each time point, used measures for perceived language proficiency and exposure, ethnic/heritage and British/national identities, social competences and family affluence (FA), for exploring changes over the pandemic. At Time2, measures on pandemic-period learning engagement were included to explore their possible effects.Findings and conclusions:Controlling for age and FA, children reported lower social competences at Time2 compared with Time1. At both time points, CS-attendees reported higher HL proficiency than did non-attendees, who reported a larger Time1–Time2 decline in HL exposure. Pandemic-period HL learning hours were associated with change in cognitive competence. Hierarchical regression models showed that Time1–Time2 change in heritage identification was individually explained by change in HL proficiency, and change in British identification by change in English proficiency, which also contributed to changes across all social competences.Originality:There has been little systematic research on how the pandemic impacted HL, with most studies focusing on English skills or family language practice. This research indicates the longitudinal trajectories of bilingual children’s social development over a period of unprecedented education and homelife disruptions.Significance and implications:While the pandemic variables did not directly contribute to outcomes, findings implicate challenges in maintaining HL exposure, which supports proficiency and identity formation. Recommendations for school-based practice with educators and communities are discussed.
{"title":"Growing up bilingual through a pandemic: Children’s language exposure, proficiency, social identities, and competences pre- and post-lockdowns","authors":"Layal Husain, Virginia Lam, Martin Pinder","doi":"10.1177/13670069241240939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241240939","url":null,"abstract":"Aims and objectives:There were already calls for more longitudinal research on younger bilinguals before the COVID-19 pandemic, which added another layer of complexity to their development. This study followed the language and social-developmental outcomes of primary-school pupils before and after the pandemic lockdowns, specifically examining changes in language exposure and proficiency and social identities and competences.Design and methodology:Eighty-eight mostly British-born English-dominant pupils (initial ages 4–9), including a subset ( N = 19) who attended heritage language (HL) complementary schools (CS), were assessed in 2019 (Time1), and reassessed in 2021 (Time2) after a 2020 time point was interrupted by school closures.Data and analysis:Individual interviews, at each time point, used measures for perceived language proficiency and exposure, ethnic/heritage and British/national identities, social competences and family affluence (FA), for exploring changes over the pandemic. At Time2, measures on pandemic-period learning engagement were included to explore their possible effects.Findings and conclusions:Controlling for age and FA, children reported lower social competences at Time2 compared with Time1. At both time points, CS-attendees reported higher HL proficiency than did non-attendees, who reported a larger Time1–Time2 decline in HL exposure. Pandemic-period HL learning hours were associated with change in cognitive competence. Hierarchical regression models showed that Time1–Time2 change in heritage identification was individually explained by change in HL proficiency, and change in British identification by change in English proficiency, which also contributed to changes across all social competences.Originality:There has been little systematic research on how the pandemic impacted HL, with most studies focusing on English skills or family language practice. This research indicates the longitudinal trajectories of bilingual children’s social development over a period of unprecedented education and homelife disruptions.Significance and implications:While the pandemic variables did not directly contribute to outcomes, findings implicate challenges in maintaining HL exposure, which supports proficiency and identity formation. Recommendations for school-based practice with educators and communities are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141948261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-30DOI: 10.1177/13670069241267136
Boris Kogan, Lucía Agulla, Martín Dottori, Lucía Amoruso, Leticia Vivas, Adolfo M. García
Research question:Native-likeness (similarity between non-native and native users of the same language) depends on second language proficiency (L2p). However, evidence comes mainly from phonological or syntactic tasks, prompting an underexplored question: can higher L2p also entail a more native-like organization of semantic memory?Methodology:We asked high and low proficiency bilinguals to describe concepts in their second (English) and first (Spanish) language. We then compared their responses with semantic structure norms from native speakers of each language, and derived measures of semantic native-likeness through a validated semantic proximity measure.Data and analysis:We examined whether semantic native-likeness scores discriminated between high and low L2p levels at the group level (via inferential statistics) and at the individual level (via machine learning analyses).Findings:We found that semantic associations in English were more native-like in high than in low L2p bilinguals. Machine learning analyses showed that this pattern was highly consistent across individual subjects. Responses in Spanish did not differ between groups.Originality:This is the first study assessing semantic native-likeness through concept-feature associations in high and low L2p bilinguals, both at the group- and the individual-level.Significance:Our findings suggest that increased L2p entails a more native-like organization of semantic memory, informing models of bilingual cognition and its links with experience-related variables.
{"title":"Do we mean the same? Semantic native-likeness in highly proficient second language users","authors":"Boris Kogan, Lucía Agulla, Martín Dottori, Lucía Amoruso, Leticia Vivas, Adolfo M. García","doi":"10.1177/13670069241267136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241267136","url":null,"abstract":"Research question:Native-likeness (similarity between non-native and native users of the same language) depends on second language proficiency (L2p). However, evidence comes mainly from phonological or syntactic tasks, prompting an underexplored question: can higher L2p also entail a more native-like organization of semantic memory?Methodology:We asked high and low proficiency bilinguals to describe concepts in their second (English) and first (Spanish) language. We then compared their responses with semantic structure norms from native speakers of each language, and derived measures of semantic native-likeness through a validated semantic proximity measure.Data and analysis:We examined whether semantic native-likeness scores discriminated between high and low L2p levels at the group level (via inferential statistics) and at the individual level (via machine learning analyses).Findings:We found that semantic associations in English were more native-like in high than in low L2p bilinguals. Machine learning analyses showed that this pattern was highly consistent across individual subjects. Responses in Spanish did not differ between groups.Originality:This is the first study assessing semantic native-likeness through concept-feature associations in high and low L2p bilinguals, both at the group- and the individual-level.Significance:Our findings suggest that increased L2p entails a more native-like organization of semantic memory, informing models of bilingual cognition and its links with experience-related variables.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141865502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-26DOI: 10.1177/13670069241266340
Sümeyra Tosun, Luna Filipović
This study aimed to investigate how bilingual speakers process information in a bilingual mode setting which was created using a translation production task. The target linguistic property was evidentiality. It is grammatical and obligatory in Turkish and lexical and optional in English. The stimuli consisted of simple declarative sentences which were varied based on the evidential meaning (firsthand vs. non-firsthand). Then participants judged how confident the witness was. Both tasks were performed by 58 late L2 English, late L2 Turkish and early Turkish-English bilingual speakers. The results demonstrated that participants translated firsthand information more correctly than the non-firsthand in all conditions. Translation direction also influenced the accuracy. Furthermore, participants’ confidence judgments varied based on their bilingualism history. We use CASP ( Complex Adaptive System Principles) Model for Bilingualism to formulate our predictions.
{"title":"Better late than early: The effect of formal second language training on processing of evidentiality in Turkish-English bilinguals","authors":"Sümeyra Tosun, Luna Filipović","doi":"10.1177/13670069241266340","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241266340","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to investigate how bilingual speakers process information in a bilingual mode setting which was created using a translation production task. The target linguistic property was evidentiality. It is grammatical and obligatory in Turkish and lexical and optional in English. The stimuli consisted of simple declarative sentences which were varied based on the evidential meaning (firsthand vs. non-firsthand). Then participants judged how confident the witness was. Both tasks were performed by 58 late L2 English, late L2 Turkish and early Turkish-English bilingual speakers. The results demonstrated that participants translated firsthand information more correctly than the non-firsthand in all conditions. Translation direction also influenced the accuracy. Furthermore, participants’ confidence judgments varied based on their bilingualism history. We use CASP ( Complex Adaptive System Principles) Model for Bilingualism to formulate our predictions.","PeriodicalId":47574,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Bilingualism","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141779911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：