Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T16:20:58.956Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards a bioecological model of bilingual development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2016

ADRIANA WEISLEDER
ADRIANA WEISLEDER*
Affiliation:
New York University School of Medicine
*
Address for correspondence: Adriana Weisleder, Ph.D., New York University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 550 First Avenue, OBV A529, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A.[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

At its best, the field of bilingualism is a dynamic discipline informed by diverse perspectives. Carroll's critical review – situated within a linguistics framework – contends that current research on bilingual exposure and language development suffers from a lack of theoretical clarity, and makes little contribution to our understanding of bilingual acquisition. Carroll's push (Carroll) towards greater precision in our thinking about the relation between input and outcomes is an important and welcome challenge. However, it is also critical to keep in mind the social context that motivates much of the current research on bilingual development, and to leave room for studies whose main goal is to provide answers to societally important questions about bilingual children's health and development.

Keywords

childhood bilingualismlanguage exposureinput
Type
Peer Commentaries
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 35 - 36
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101 (4), 568–586.Google Scholar
Carroll, S. E. Exposure and input in bilingual development. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. doi:10.1017/S1366728915000863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoff, E. (2013). Interpreting the early language trajectories of children from low-ses and language minority homes: Implications for closing achievement gaps. Developmental Psychology, 49, 1–4.Google Scholar
Hurtado, N., Grüter, T., Marchman, V., & Fernald, A. (2013). Relative language exposure, processing efficiency and vocabulary in Spanish–English bilingual toddlers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17 (01), 189–202.Google Scholar
Marchman, V., Martínez, L., Hurtado, N., Grüter, T., & Fernald, A. (in press). Caregiver talk to young Spanish-English bilinguals: Comparing direct observation and parent-report measures of dual-language exposure. Developmental Science.Google Scholar
McCabe, A., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Bornstein, M. H., Cates, C. B., Golinkoff, R. M, Guerra, A. W., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Hoff, E., Kuchirko, Y., Melzi, G., Mendelsohn, A., Páez, M., & Song, L. (2013). SRCD Social Policy Report. Multilingual Children: Beyond Myths and Toward Best Practices (Vol. 27).Google Scholar
Oller, D. K., & Eilers, R. (2002). Language and literacy in bilingual children (Vol. 2). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Paradis, J., Tremblay, A., & Crago, M. (2014). French-English bilingual children's sensitivity to child-level and language-level input factors in morphosyntactic acquisition. In Paradis, J. & Grüter, T. (Eds.), Input and Experience in Bilingual Development (pp. 161–180). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Pearson, B. Z. (2007). Social factors in childhood bilingualism in the United States. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28 (03), 399–410.Google Scholar
Place, S., & Hoff, E. (2011). Properties of dual language exposure that influence 2-year-olds’ bilingual proficiency. Child Development, 82 (6), 1834–1849.Google Scholar
Thordardottir, E. (2015). The relationship between bilingual exposure and morphosyntactic development. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17 (2), 97–114.Google Scholar
Weisleder, A., & Fernald, A. (2013). Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary. Psychological Science, 24 (11), 2143–52.Google Scholar
Weisleder, A., & Fernald, A. (2014). Social environments shape children's language experiences, strengthening language processing and building vocabulary. In Arnon, I., Casillas, M., Kurumada, C., & Estigarribia, B. (Eds.), Language in Interaction. Studies in honor of Eve V. Clark (pp. 29–49). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar