Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T04:38:19.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Development and transfer of vocabulary knowledge in Spanish-speaking language minority preschool children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2015

J. MARC GOODRICH*
Affiliation:
Florida State University
CHRISTOPHER J. LONIGAN
Affiliation:
Florida State University
CHERIE G. KLEUVER
Affiliation:
Florida State University
JOANN M. FARVER
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
*
Address for correspondence: J. Marc Goodrich or Christopher J. Lonigan, Florida State University – Psychology, 1107 W Call Street, Tallahassee Florida 32306, United States. e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Abstract

In this study we evaluated the predictive validity of conceptual scoring. Two independent samples of Spanish-speaking language minority preschoolers (Sample 1: N = 96, mean age = 54·51 months, 54·3% male; Sample 2: N = 116, mean age = 60·70 months, 56·0% male) completed measures of receptive, expressive, and definitional vocabulary in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages at two time points approximately 9–12 months apart. We examined whether unique L1 and L2 vocabulary at time 1 predicted later L2 and L1 vocabulary, respectively. Results indicated that unique L1 vocabulary did not predict later L2 vocabulary after controlling for initial L2 vocabulary. An identical pattern of results emerged for L1 vocabulary outcomes. We also examined whether children acquired translational equivalents for words known in one language but not the other. Results indicated that children acquired translational equivalents, providing partial support for the transfer of vocabulary knowledge across languages.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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

REFERENCES

August, D., Carlo, M., Dressler, C. & Snow, C. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 20, 50–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
August, D. & Hakuta, K. (eds) (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority children: a research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Bedore, L. M. & Peña, E. D. (2008). Assessment of bilingual children for identification of language impairment: current findings and implications for practice. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 11, 129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedore, L. M., Peña, E. D., García, M. & Cortez, C. (2005). Conceptual versus monolingual scoring: When does it make a difference? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 36, 188200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benedict, H. (1979). Early lexical development: comprehension and production. Journal of Child Language 6, 183200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlisle, J. F., Beeman, M., Davis, L. H. & Spharim, G. (1999). Relationship of metalinguistic capabilities and reading achievement for children who are becoming bilingual. Applied Psycholinguistics 20, 459–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Core, C., Hoff, E., Rumiche, R. & Señor, M. (2013). Total and conceptual vocabulary in Spanish–English bilinguals from 22 to 30 months: implications for assessment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 56, 1637–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research 49, 222–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In California State Department of Education (ed.), Schooling and language minority students: a theoretical framework (pp. 349). Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (2008). Teaching for transfer: challenging the two solitudes assumption in bilingual education. In Cummins, J. & Hornberger, N. H. (eds), Encyclopedia of language and Education: vol. 5. Bilingual education, 2nd ed. (pp. 6575). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media.Google Scholar
Dickinson, D. K., McCabe, A., Clark-Chiarelli, N. & Wolf, A. (2004). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in low-income Spanish and English bilingual preschool children. Applied Psycholinguistics 25, 323–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodrich, J. M., Lonigan, C. J. & Farver, J. M. (2013). Do early literacy skills in children's first language promote development of skills in their second language? An experimental evaluation of transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology 105, 414–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodrich, J. M., Lonigan, C. J. & Farver, J. M. (2014). Children's expressive language skills and their impact on the relation between first- and second-language phonological awareness skills. Scientific Studies of Reading 18, 114–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottardo, A. & Mueller, J. (2009). Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology 101, 330–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemphill, F. C., Vanneman, A. & Rahman, T. (2011). Achievement gaps: how Hispanic and White students in public schools perform in mathematics and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress [Statistical Analysis Report]. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Online: <http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/2011459.aspx>..>Google Scholar
Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Señor, M. & Parra, M. (2012). Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language 39, 127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kan, P. F. & Kohnert, K. (2008). Fast mapping by bilingual preschool children. Journal of Child Language 35, 495514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lonigan, C. J., Farver, J. M. & Eppe, S. (2002). Preschool comprehensive test of phonological & print processing: Spanish version (P-CTOPPP-S). Tallahassee, FL: Author.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J., Schatschneider, C. & Westberg, L. (2008). Identification of children's skills and abilities linked to later outcomes in reading, writing, and spelling. Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (pp. 55106). Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J., Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K. & Rashotte, C. A. (2002). Preschool Comprehensive Test of Phonological & Print Processing. Tallahassee, FL: Author.Google Scholar
Mancilla-Martinez, J. & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Predictors of reading comprehension for struggling readers: the case of Spanish-speaking language minority learners. Journal of Educational Psychology 102, 701–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mancilla-Martinez, J. & Vagh, S. B. (2013). Growth in toddlers’ Spanish, English, and conceptual vocabulary knowledge. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 28, 555–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menyuk, P., Liebergott, J. W. & Schultz, M. C. (1995). Early language development in full-term and premature infants. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Miller, J. F., Heilmann, J., Nockerts, A., Iglesias, A., Fabiano, L. & Francis, D. J. (2006). Oral language and reading in bilingual children. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 21, 3043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamoto, J., Lindsey, K. A. & Manis, F. R. (2008). A cross-linguistic investigation of English language learners’ reading comprehension in English and Spanish. Scientific Studies of Reading 12, 351–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oller, D. K., Pearson, B. A. & Cobo-Lewis, A. B. (2007). Profile effects in early bilingual language and literacy. Applied Psycholinguistics 28, 191230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearson, B. Z., Fernández, S. C. & Oller, D. K. (1993). Lexical development in bilingual infants and toddlers: comparison to monolingual norms. Language Learning 43, 93120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peña, E. D., Bedore, L. M. & Zlatic-Giunta, R. (2002). Category-generation performance of bilingual children: the influence of condition, category, and language. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 45, 938–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raudenbush, S. W., Bryk, A. S. & Congdon, R. (2004). HLM 6 for Windows [Computer software] . Skokie, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc.Google Scholar
Storch, S. A. & Whitehurst, G. J. (2002). Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental Psychology 38, 934–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Umbel, V. M., Pearson, B. Z., Fernández, M. C. & Oller, D. K. (1992). Measuring bilingual children's receptive vocabularies. Child Development 63, 1012–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
US Census Bureau (2012). Language spoken at home: 2012 American Community Survey 1-year estimates. Online <http://factfinder2.census.gov> (last accessed 28 January 2014).+(last+accessed+28+January+2014).>Google Scholar