1. English Verb Accuracy of Bilingual Cantonese–English Preschoolers
- Author
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Adriana Belletti, Ahuva Goldberg, Luigi Girolametto, Stefano Rezzonico, and Trelani Milburn
- Subjects
Male ,Linguistics and Language ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Multilingualism ,Verb ,Predictor variables ,Vocabulary ,050105 experimental psychology ,Language and Linguistics ,Speech and Hearing ,Typically developing ,English second language ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Neuroscience of multilingualism ,media_common ,060201 languages & linguistics ,Language Tests ,Grammar ,05 social sciences ,Sino-Tibetan languages ,06 humanities and the arts ,Linguistics ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Child, Preschool ,0602 languages and literature ,Female ,Psychology ,Preschool education ,Child Language - Abstract
Purpose Knowledge of verb development in typically developing bilingual preschoolers may inform clinicians about verb accuracy rates during the 1st 2 years of English instruction. This study aimed to investigate tensed verb accuracy in 2 assessment contexts in 4- and 5-year-old Cantonese–English bilingual preschoolers. Method The sample included 47 Cantonese–English bilinguals enrolled in English preschools. Half of the children were in their 1st 4 months of English language exposure, and half had completed 1 year and 4 months of exposure to English. Data were obtained from the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001) and from a narrative generated in English. Results By the 2nd year of formal exposure to English, children in the present study approximated 33% accuracy of tensed verbs in a formal testing context versus 61% in a narrative context. The use of the English verb BE approximated mastery. Predictors of English third-person singular verb accuracy were task, grade, English expressive vocabulary, and lemma frequency. Conclusions Verb tense accuracy was low across both groups, but a precocious mastery of BE was observed. The results of the present study suggest that speech-language pathologists may consider, in addition to an elicitation task, evaluating the use of verbs during narratives in bilingual Cantonese–English bilingual children.
- Published
- 2017
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