Rapid transition to telepractice across the lifespan in speech-language pathology: Insight from a survey of clinicians in Canada.

PURPOSE: This study aims to describe the experiences and needs of Canadian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who conducted communication assessments via telepractice across the lifespan during the first year (2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: The present study consisted of an online survey that aimed to capture both quantitative aspects of telepractice-based communication assessment and the qualitative experience of shifting to telepractice. One hundred sixty-eight practicing SLPs across Canada participated in the survey, between September 2020 and January 2021. Quantitative results were analysed using descriptive statistics while open-ended responses were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULT: SLPs identified challenges and opportunities relating to client and family engagement, access to and knowledge of technology, and the reliability of assessment tools. SLPs also identified a future need for online assessment materials and training, such as materials adapted for different communication needs (e.g. augmentative and alternative communication). CONCLUSION: The present study contributes to a growing understanding worldwide of potential benefits and challenges related to telepractice, fuelled by the necessary shift in practices in our field during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results provide direction for continuing to build a valid and inclusive approach to telepractice in the future.

Antidepressants use during pregnancy and child psychomotor, cognitive and language development at 2 years of age-Results from the 3D Cohort Study.

Introduction: Approximately 5.5% of pregnant women take antidepressants. Studies on prenatal exposure to antidepressants reported no association with child cognition, and inconsistent results with motor function and language development. A limitation has been the failure to adjust for prenatal maternal distress. Objectives: Assess the associations between prenatal exposure to antidepressants and child development at age two, while adjusting for maternal depressive symptoms and stress during pregnancy. Explore indirect effects through birth complications and consider sex-specific associations. Methods: This is an ancillary study of the 3D (Design Develop, Discover) Study initiated during pregnancy. Data on antidepressants were collected through medication logs spanning the entire pregnancy. Depressive symptoms and stress were assessed during pregnancy by self-reported questionnaires, motor and cognitive development with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III), and language development with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories at age 2. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the associations between exposure and developmental outcomes. Mediation models were used to assess indirect effects. Interaction terms were introduced to assess sex-specific associations. Results: 1,489 mother-child dyads were included, of whom 61 (4.1%) reported prenatal antidepressant use. Prenatal exposure was negatively associated with motor development (B = -0.91, 95% CI -1.73, -0.09 for fine motor, B = -0.89, 95% CI -1.81, 0.02 for gross motor), but not with cognitive (B = -0.53, 95% CI -1.82, 0.72) and language (B = 4.13, 95% CI -3.72, 11.89) development. Adjusting for maternal prenatal distress only slightly modified these associations. No indirect effect or differential effect according to child sex were found. Conclusion: This study supports evidence of a negative association between prenatal exposure to antidepressants and motor development at age two, after adjusting for maternal distress, but the effect size remains very small, with about only one BSID-III point lower in average.

Developmental patterns of non-word repetition by monolingual and bilingual school-aged children.

PURPOSE: The present study examines cross-sectional trends in performance on a quasi-universal non-word repetition (NWR) task. It also considers whether NWR performance is dependent on levels of exposure to a language and compares the performance of bilingual children across their two languages. METHOD: A cross-sectional design was employed. The English and French quasi-universal NWR tasks, featuring stimuli from two to five syllables in length, was administered to Canadian school-aged monolinguals and two groups of bilinguals: those who encountered their second language in early childhood and those who encountered their second language at school entry. RESULT: When evaluated in English, the early-exposure bilinguals produced significantly fewer errors than the school-entry exposure bilinguals and the English monolingual groups. When evaluated in French, the early-exposure bilinguals and the French monolinguals produced significantly fewer errors than the school-entry exposure bilinguals. Compared across languages, the French monolinguals produced fewer errors on the French version of the NWR task than the English monolinguals did on the English version of the same task. In both languages and across all analyses, the youngest age group (7-8 years) produced more errors than the two older groups (9-10 years and 11-12 years). CONCLUSION: The quasi-universal NWR task showed sensitivity to improvements from 7 to 11 years of age in English and up to 9 years of age in French. Better performance in French may be due to the relatively greater frequency of multisyllabic words in that language. The development and use of this particular NWR task with monolinguals and bilinguals-in both of their languages-contribute to a deeper understanding of quasi-universal NWR performance in typically developing children.

Profiles of word-finding difficulties in school-aged children.

Current understanding of word-finding (WF) difficulties in children and their underlying language processing deficit is poor. Authors have proposed that different underlying deficits may result in different profiles. The current study aimed to better understand WF difficulties by identifying difficult tasks for children with WF difficulties and by focusing on semantic vs. phonological profiles. Twenty-four French-speaking children with WF difficulties and 22 children without WF difficulties, all aged 7- to 12-years-old, participated. They were compared on a range of measures to cover the overall mechanism of WF and the quality of semantic and phonological representations. The largest differences were found on a parent questionnaire and a word definition task. Cluster analyses revealed "high performance" and "low performance" clusters, with intermediary groups. These clusters did not match the expected semantic vs. phonological profiles derived from models of lexical access, suggesting that WF difficulties may be linked to both semantic and phonological deficits.

A conceptual model of second language pronunciation in communicative contexts: Implications for children's bilingual education.

Second language (L2) pronunciation patterns that differ from those of first language (L1) speakers can affect communication effectiveness. Research on children's L2 pronunciation in bilingual education that involves non-English languages is much needed for the field of language acquisition. Due to limited research in these specific populations and languages, researchers often need to refer to literature on L2 pronunciation in general. However, the multidisciplinary literature can be difficult to access. This paper draws on research from different disciplines to provide a brief but holistic overview of L2 pronunciation. A conceptual model of L2 pronunciation is developed to organize multidisciplinary literature, including interlocutors' interactions at three layers: the sociopsychological, acquisitional, and productive-perceptual layers. Narrative literature review method is used to identify themes and gaps in the field. It is suggested that challenges related to L2 pronunciation exist in communication. However, the interlocutors share communication responsibilities and can improve their communicative and cultural competencies. Research gaps are identified and indicate that more studies on child populations and non-English L2s are warranted to advance the field. Furthermore, we advocate for evidence-based education and training programs to improve linguistic and cultural competencies for both L1 speakers and L2 speakers to facilitate intercultural communication.

Exploring word production in three-year-old monolingual French-speaking children.

There is a general need for more knowledge on the development of French phonology, and little information is currently available for typically developing French-speaking three-year-old children. This study took place in Belgium and explores the accuracy of speech production of 34 typically developing French-speaking children using a picture naming task. Measures of speech accuracy revealed lower performance than previously seen in the literature. We investigated speech accuracy across different phonological contexts in light of characteristics of target words that are known to have an influence on speech production, namely the condition of production (spontaneous vs. imitated), the length of the word (in number of syllables), syllable complexity (singleton vs. cluster) and positional complexity (onset vs. coda). Results indicate that the accuracy of words produced spontaneously did not differ from imitated words. The presence of consonant clusters in the target word was associated with lower performance on measures of Percentage of Consonants Correct and Whole Word Proximity for both 1- and 4-syllable words. Singleton codas were produced less accurately than onsets in 1-syllable words. Word-internal singleton codas were produced less accurately than final codas. In our sample, 1-syllable words showed surprisingly low levels of performance which we can explain by an over-representation of phonologically complex properties in the target words used in the present study. These results highlight the importance of assessing various aspects of phonological complexity in French speech tasks in order to detect developmental errors in typically developing children and, ultimately, help identify children with speech sound disorders.

Internal and external factors contributing to variability in consonant accuracy of Arabic-French simultaneous bilingual children.

This study aims to describe the relationships between child-internal and child-external factors and the consonant accuracy of bilingual children. More specifically, the study looks at internal factors: expressive and receptive vocabulary, and external factors: language exposure and language status, of a group of 4-year-old bilingual Arabic-French children. We measured the consonant accuracy of the children by the percentage of correct consonants in a Picture-Naming Task and a Non-Word Repetition Task in each language. The results suggest a significant relationship between vocabulary and consonant accuracy. A cross-language correlation was observed between the expressive vocabulary level of the majority language (French) and the consonant accuracy of the minority language (Arabic). Also, a significant correlation was found between Arabic language exposure and Arabic consonant accuracy. Finally, consonant accuracy was significantly higher in French tasks than in Arabic, despite the individual differences of the children.

Word-finding behaviours in narration for typically developing French speakers of school age.

BACKGROUND: Research in word-finding difficulties is sparse, especially in languages other than English. As a result, the factors associated with the frequency of word-finding behaviours are poorly understood, particularly in discourse. AIMS: This exploratory study is the first to collect data relative to the expected frequency of word-finding behaviours in narration for French speakers aged 7-12 years old with typical development; and (2) to identify the factors associated with the frequency of word-finding behaviours in narration. We hypothesized that sociodemographic characteristics, language abilities and characteristics of the spoken productions could be linked to word-finding behaviours. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The participants consisted of 61 French-speaking children aged 7-12 years old (M = 9;09 years, SD = 1;06 years) with typical development. Children were asked to complete a receptive vocabulary task, a non-word-repetition task and two narrative tasks. The children's narrative samples were coded using a discourse analysis of word-finding behaviours, as described by Diane J. German. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Participants produced 39% of T-units with least one word-finding behaviour, which included relatively frequent use of repetitions and word reformulations. Regression analyses revealed that the participants' gender was the only significant variable associated with the frequency of word-finding behaviours in narration. Boys produced a higher percentage of T-units with at least one word-finding behaviour. Post-hoc analyses suggested that gender differences reflected differences in repetitions and word reformulations. Boys and girls did not differ on any other language measures collected. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Speech-language pathologists may want to take into account a child's gender when assessing word-finding difficulties in narration. Additional studies are needed to understand whether this finding extends to other word-finding tasks and to children with word-finding difficulties. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Studies in English have identified that analyses of word-finding behaviours in discourse can be used to correctly identify children with word-finding difficulties. Studies are needed in other languages to determine if this observation holds true across languages. Moreover, the factors associated with the frequency of word-finding behaviours in discourse are poorly understood. What this paper adds to existing knowledge The frequency of word-finding difficulties in narration was higher in our study of French-speaking children than in previous studies of English. Gender was the only factor associated with the frequency of word-finding difficulties. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The language and task used to assess word-finding skills as well as the child's gender may be important to take into account when assessing word-finding difficulties based on word-finding behaviours.

Dynamic assessment of multilingual children's word learning.

BACKGROUND: Teachers and clinicians may struggle to provide early identification to support multilingual children's language development. Dynamic assessments are a promising approach to identify and support children's language development. AIMS: We developed and studied a novel word learning task that is dynamic and language neutral. It makes use of multilingual children's abilities to apply language transfer, fast mapping and socially embedded language to the learning of new words. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 26 children attending kindergarten in French participated in this study. Within this group, 13 different home languages were spoken. Children took part in a dynamic assessment task of their word learning that consisted of a test-teach-retest task. Children's scores on this task were compared with their language abilities reported by their parents, amount of language exposure and scores on standardized tests of vocabulary. All tasks were delivered in French. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Children had higher accuracy for known words as compared with new words in the task, which may suggest transfer of knowledge from their first language. They also showed increased accuracy in identifying and naming the new words across the three trials, suggesting fast mapping of these new vocabulary items. Finally, the scores on the dynamic task correlated to children's vocabulary scores on the standardized tests, but not parent report of language development, or the amount of exposure to the language of school. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: This novel dynamic assessment task taps into the process of vocabulary learning, but is less influenced by prior language knowledge. Together, these findings provide insight into early word learning by young multilingual children and proposes a conceptual model for identifying strategies to support second language acquisition. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Many barriers exist with regards to assessing the language abilities of multilingual children when a clinician aims to assess their language abilities in both languages. An alternative approach is to measure children's language processing abilities. What this paper adds to existing knowledge A novel dynamic and multilingual task was developed and implemented in this study. This task builds on children's word learning abilities that include cross-language transfer, fast-mapping, and socially imbedded learning. This multilingual task was found to tap into vocabulary learning but was not influenced by prior language knowledge. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Applying a task that focuses on language processing abilities is a promising strategy to capture language abilities in multilingual children. In addition, the dynamic nature of this tasks allows a clinician to identify scaffolding strategies that best support children's word learning.

Moving Beyond Single Word Acquisition of Speech Sounds to Connected Speech Development With Dynamic Assessment.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to document speech sound development across early childhood from a dynamic assessment (DA) perspective that captures a breadth of linguistic environments using the Glaspey Dynamic Assessment of Phonology (Glaspey, 2019), as well as to provide normative data for speech-language pathologists to compare speech skills when making clinical decisions and provide historical context. Targets of English were evaluated via DA for the (a) age of acquisition in single words; (b) continued development through connected speech; (c) early, mid, and late sequence; and (d) differences between single word and connected speech productions. METHOD: Data were extracted from the reported results of the norming study for the Glaspey Dynamic Assessment of Phonology, which included a representative sample of 880 children ages 3 years to 10;11 (years;months). Comparisons were made with 49 items including multisyllabic words, clusters, and phonemes of English across word positions. RESULTS: Assessment with DA showed that acquisition in single words is nearly complete by age 6 years with a 90% mastery level, and the sequence suggests an Early-13, Mid-16, and Late-14 for items by word position. In connected speech, a wider range of progression is evident from the emergence of sound production at 50%, 75%, and 90% mastery levels with observed changes between ages 3 and 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: Given a DA approach across connected linguistic environments, children continue to progress in their development of speech sounds from early childhood well into their school-age years and for some sounds beyond the age of 10 years. DA challenges the language system to better reflect children's developmental progression.

A comparison of two phonological screening tools for French-speaking children.

Purpose: To examine two screening tools for phonological production, the Evaluation Sommaire de la Phonologie chez l'enfant d'âge préscolaire (ESPP) and the Test de Phonologie du Français Canadien-Dépistage (TPFC-D), developed according to differing theoretical perspectives. The TPFC-D, designed according to nonlinear phonology, includes more words and contains a greater variety of segments across word structure as compared to the ESPP, which was guided by a linear phonological framework. The greater response rate to test items, time of administration, and phonological complexity were expected on the TPFC-D.Method: Each screening tool was administered to 14 4-year-old French-speaking children living in Central Canada. Paired samples t-tests compared children's responses on the two tasks with regards to (a) response rate and time of administration, (b) an overall percentage of consonants correct (PCC) and percentage of vowel correct (PVC), and (c) complexity of productions (i.e. PCC and PVC in relation to word structure, Word Shape Match, Whole Word Match, Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (pMLU) and Proportion of Whole-Word Proximity).Result: Item response rates were higher for the TPFC-D whereas time of administration, PCC and PVC were similar for both the ESPP and TPFC-D. Complexity measures showed a higher proportion of deletions in clusters and higher pMLUs on the TPFC-D compared to the ESPP.Conclusion: Both screening measures are appropriate for speech-language pathologists who want to assess quickly pre-school-aged children. Since the TPFC-D is phonologically more complex, it is recommended for clinicians needing to screen children who likely present with multiple speech sound errors across their phonological system.

Bilingualism in School-Aged Children with ASD: A Pilot Study.

Preschool-aged bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can keep pace with their monolingual peers with ASD. However, can older children with ASD continue to do so as language demands become greater? Also, can they reach language levels similar to those of neurotypically developing (ND) bilingual children? The current study compares the language abilities of 3 school-aged bilingual children with ASD to those of 2 monolingual peers, and 19 ND bilingual and 12 ND monolingual peers. Using cluster analyses, we found that bilingual children with ASD had similar language to those of monolingual children with ASD and neurotypically developing bilingual and monolingual children. Results suggest that bilingual children with ASD can keep pace with their peers with similar intellectual abilities.

Effects of speech cues in French-speaking children with dysarthria.

BACKGROUND: Articulatory excursion and vocal intensity are reduced in many children with dysarthria due to cerebral palsy (CP), contributing to the children's intelligibility deficits and negatively affecting their social participation. However, the effects of speech-treatment strategies for improving intelligibility in this population are understudied, especially for children who speak languages other than English. In a cueing study on English-speaking children with dysarthria, acoustic variables and intelligibility improved when the children were provided with cues aimed to increase articulatory excursion and vocal intensity. While French is among the top 20 most spoken languages in the world, dysarthria and its management in French-speaking children are virtually unexplored areas of research. Information gleaned from such research is critical for providing an evidence base on which to provide treatment. AIMS: To examine acoustic and perceptual changes in the speech of French-speaking children with dysarthria, who are provided with speech cues targeting greater articulatory excursion (French translation of 'speak with your big mouth') and vocal intensity (French translation of 'speak with your strong voice'). This study investigated whether, in response to the cues, the children would make acoustic changes and listeners would perceive the children's speech as more intelligible. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Eleven children with dysarthria due to CP (six girls, five boys; ages 4;11-17;0 years; eight with spastic CP, three with dyskinetic CP) repeated pre-recorded speech stimuli across three speaking conditions (habitual, 'big mouth' and 'strong voice'). Stimuli were sentences and contrastive words in phrases. Acoustic analyses were conducted. A total of 66 Belgian-French listeners transcribed the children's utterances orthographically and rated their ease of understanding on a visual analogue scale at sentence and word levels. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Acoustic analyses revealed significantly longer duration in response to the big mouth cue at sentence level and in response to both the big mouth and strong voice cues at word level. Significantly higher vocal sound-pressure levels were found following both cues at sentence and word levels. Both cues elicited significantly higher first-formant vowel frequencies and listeners' greater ease-of-understanding ratings at word level. Increases in the percentage of words transcribed correctly and in sentence ease-of-understanding ratings, however, did not reach statistical significance. Considerable variability between children was observed. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Speech cues targeting greater articulatory excursion and vocal intensity yield significant acoustic changes in French-speaking children with dysarthria. However, the changes may only aid listeners' ease of understanding at word level. The significant findings and great inter-speaker variability are generally consistent with studies on English-speaking children with dysarthria, although changes appear more constrained in these French-speaking children. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject According to the only study comparing effects of speech-cueing strategies on English-speaking children with dysarthria, intelligibility increases when the children are provided with cues aimed to increase articulatory excursion and vocal intensity. Little is known about speech characteristics in French-speaking children with dysarthria and no published research has explored effects of cueing strategies in this population. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper is the first study to examine the effects of speech cues on the acoustics and intelligibility of French-speaking children with CP. It provides evidence that the children can make use of cues to modify their speech, although the changes may only aid listeners' ease of understanding at word level. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? For clinicians, the findings suggest that speech cues emphasizing increasing articulatory excursion and vocal intensity show promise for improving the ease of understanding of words produced by francophone children with dysarthria, although improvements may be modest. The variability in the responses also suggests that this population may benefit from a combination of such cues to produce words that are easier to understand.

Modelling vocabulary development among multilingual children prior to and following the transition to school entry.

Differences between monolingual and multilingual vocabulary development have been observed but few studies provide a longitudinal perspective on vocabulary development before and following school entry. This study compares vocabulary growth profiles of 106 multilingual children to 211 monolingual peers before and after school entry to examine whether: (1) school entry coincides with different rates of vocabulary growth compared to prior to school entry, (2) compared to monolingual peers, multilingual children show different vocabulary sizes or rates of vocabulary growth, (3) the age of onset of second-language acquisition for multilingual children is associated with vocabulary size or rate of vocabulary growth, and (4) the sociolinguistic context of the languages spoken by multilingual children is associated with vocabulary size or rate of vocabulary growth. Results showed increases in vocabulary size across time for all children, with a steeper increase prior to school entry. A significant difference between monolingual and multilingual children who speak a minority language was observed with regards to vocabulary size at school entry and vocabulary growth prior to school entry, but growth rate differences were no longer present following school entry. Taken together, results suggest that which languages children speak may matter more than being multilingual per se.

Access to Opportunities for Bilingualism for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Key Informant Interviews.

The purpose of this article is to describe the results of a thematic analysis of 79 semi-structured interviews collected at six research sites in four countries in relation to the inclusion and exclusion of students with developmental disabilities (DD) in and from special education and bilingual opportunities. The participants were individuals with expertise either in special needs and/or language education to support bilingualism (e.g., second language (L2) instruction), who served as key informants about service delivery and/or policy in these areas. Six themes emerged as salient during the analysis: we include all kids, special needs drives it, time/scheduling conflicts, IEP/IPP/statement drives it, it's up to the parents, and service availability. The results suggested that access to language programs and services is limited for children with DD, even though participants at all sites reported adherence to a philosophy of inclusion. A priority on special education services over language services was identified, as well as barriers to providing children with DD access to programs and services to support bilingual development. Some of these barriers included time and scheduling conflicts and limited service availability. Additionally, the role of parents in decision making was affirmed, although, in contrast to special education services, decision-making about participation or exemption from language programs was typically left up to the parents. Overall, the results suggest a need for greater attention to providing supports for both first (L1) and L2 language development for bilingual children with DD and greater access to available language programs.

Professional practices and opinions about services available to bilingual children with developmental disabilities: An international study.

This study aimed to gather information from school- and clinic-based professionals about their practices and opinions pertaining to the provision of bilingual supports to students with developmental disabilities. Using an online survey, data were collected in six socio-culturally and linguistically diverse locations across four countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In total, 361 surveys were included in the analysis from respondents who were primarily teachers and speech-language pathologists working in schools, daycares/preschools, or community-based clinics. The overall picture that emerged from the data reflected a disconnection between practice and opinion. In general, respondents believed that children with both mild and severe disabilities are capable of learning a second language, although their opinions were more neutral for the latter group. However, children with both mild and severe disabilities who spoke only a minority language at home had less access to services for second language learners than did their typically developing peers, although respondents agreed that such services should be more available. Regardless of clinical group, children who lived in homes where a minority language was spoken were often exposed to, assessed in, and treated in the majority language only; again, respondents generally disagreed with these practices. Finally, second language classes were less available to children in the two disability groups compared to typically developing bilingual children, with general agreement that the opportunity to acquire a second language should be more available, especially to those with mild disabilities. Although the results indicate that there is a considerable gap between current practices and professional opinions, professionals appear to be more supportive of bilingual educational opportunities for these populations than was suggested by previous research.

Phonetic and phonological perspectives on the acquisition of voice onset time by French-speaking children.

The goal of the present article is to describe the acquisition of the phonetic details and phonological categories of stop consonants in French. To this end, the stop consonants produced by children aged 2-4 years were transcribed and acoustically analysed. Stop consonants provide an interesting window in phonetic and phonological development since they are among the first phonemes to be acquired in French (MacLeod, Sutton, Thordardottir & Trudeau, 2011), yet the mastery of the phonetic detail of these phonemes can be more drawn out (Allen, 1985). The results of the study indicate that these children are producing significant voicing contrasts between homorganic stops using voice onset time, but at the phonetic level their productions are not yet within adult ranges.

[The phonological profile of children with speech sound disorders]. / Le profil phonologique d'enfants ayant un trouble du développement des sons de la parole.

Concern over reduced intelligibility in a child is a common reason for consulting a speech-language pathologist. Nevertheless, there is little published research on speech sound disorders among French-speaking children. As a result, speech-language pathologists must rely on their clinical expertise or on research involving children who speak other languages, often the English language. The aim of this article is to contribute to the literature on French-speaking children with reduced intelligibility. In this study we describe the phonological profiles of seven children with a speech sound disorder. We use the Phon phonological assessment tool, which provides a rapid and precise analysis of phonological productions. Three distinct phonological profiles are identified on the basis of the severity of the disorder.

The acquisition of allophones among bilingual Spanish-English and French-English 3-year-old children.

Children are exposed to highly variable input from multiple sources within their speech community. This study examines the acquisition of allophones in Spanish and French by monolingual and bilingual children. We hypothesised that two factors would influence allophone acquisition: (1) the amount of exposure to phonological input, and (2) the degree of variability of the allophonic pattern. Thirty-four typically developing 3-year-old participated in the study. The analyses revealed that regardless of the language, the monolingual children produced similar error rates in the production of the target allophones. In contrast, the bilingual children produced different patterns of acquisition of the allophones: the Spanish-English bilinguals produced higher error rates than the monolinguals, whereas the French-English bilinguals produced lower error rates than the monolinguals. Possibilities for these differences are discussed within the context of structural complexity as well as in light of the effects of between-language interaction on bilingual phonological development.