The home language environment of monolingual and bilingual children and their language proficiency

• Published in: Applied psycholinguistics Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 117 - 140
• Main Authors: SCHEELE, ANNA F., LESEMAN, PAUL P. M., MAYO, AZIZA Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Bilingualism; Child development; Children; Cognitive Ability; Dutch language; Educational activities; Family Environment; Foreign Countries; Immigrants; Indo European Languages; Language; Language Acquisition; Language Proficiency; Language Skills; Linguistic Input; Monolingualism; Native language; Native language acquisition; Native languages; Netherlands; Oral Language; Scores; Second Language Learning; Second language tests; Socioeconomic Status; Statistical Analysis; Story Telling; Transfer of Training; Turkish; Turkish language; Uncommonly Taught Languages; Vocabulary Development; Vocabulary Skills; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0142-7164; 1469-1817
• DOI: 10.1017/S0142716409990191

This study investigated the relationships between home language learning activities and vocabulary in a sample of monolingual native Dutch (n = 58) and bilingual immigrant Moroccan–Dutch (n = 46) and Turkish–Dutch (n = 55) 3-year-olds, speaking Tarifit-Berber, a nonscripted language, and Turkish as their first language (L1), respectively. Despite equal domain general cognitive abilities, Dutch children scored higher than the bilingual children on a L1 vocabulary test, and Moroccan–Dutch children had higher second language (L2) vocabulary skills compared to Turkish–Dutch children. Multigroup analyses revealed strong impact on both L1 and L2 skills of language specific input in literate and oral activities. Finally, indications were found of positive cross-language transfer from L1 to L2 as well as competition between L1 and L2 input.