Emergent bilingual children during the silent period: A scoping review of their communication strategies and classroom environments.

This scoping review aimed to investigate the communication strategies utilized by children who acquire a minority language (L1) and subsequently learn a community language (L2) during what is commonly referred to as the "silent period." Electronic database searches were conducted using keywords such as "silent period" and "bilingual children," resulting in the inclusion of 40 studies in the review. The findings revealed that emergent bilingual children utilize various communication strategies, including nonverbal communication, private speech, and their L1, to communicate within classroom environments. The findings shed light on the adaptability of emergent bilingual children during early stage of L2 acquisition. Furthermore, our review provides information about the classroom contexts such as teacher support and peer interactions where children develop their L2 skills. From a clinical perspective, recognizing these strategies and classroom contexts could significantly enhance the screening process for emergent bilingual children.

Speech Practice Effects on Bilingual Children's Fast Mapping Performance.

Learning a new word involves many subsystems and their interactions. The purpose of this study was to examine whether speech practice facilitates the subsequent fast mapping performance of bilingual preschool children. Participants were 18 typically developing preschoolers who learned Cantonese (L1) as a home language and English (L2) as a second language. Each participant was asked to repeat each of the four novel words after an auditory model (speech practice) before he or she was exposed to the novel word-objects in the subsequent fast mapping task. Significant speech practice and language effects on fast mapping production scores were found. These findings suggest a complex relationship between speech learning, fast mapping, and L1-L2 language skills. Our results suggest that clinical methods that facilitate bilingual children's production skills (e.g., repeat after a model) hold promise as a means of improving the initial stage of word learning in both languages.

Novel word retention in sequential bilingual children.

Children's ability to learn and retain new words is fundamental to their vocabulary development. This study examined word retention in children learning a home language (L1) from birth and a second language (L2) in preschool settings. Participants were presented with sixteen novel words in L1 and in L2 and were tested for retention after either a 2-month or a 4-month delay. Results showed that children retained more words in L1 than in L2 for both of the retention interval conditions. In addition, children's word retention was associated with their existing language knowledge and their fast-mapping performance within and across language. The patterns of association, however, were different between L1 and L2. These findings suggest that children's word retention might be related to the interactions of various components that are operating within a dynamic system.

Cross-linguistic transfer between aspect in Cantonese and past tense in English in Cantonese-English bilingual preschool children.

Purpose: This study addresses the question of whether sequential bilingual children's past tense marking development in their second language (L2) is affected by their knowledge of temporal marking in their first language (L1). We investigated whether Cantonese-English sequential bilingual children's knowledge of aspect markers in Cantonese (L1), along with external and internal factors, predicts their past tense marking in English (L2).Method: We examined 39 pre-school children's production of perfective aspect markers in Cantonese and regular and irregular past tense morphemes in English using a story-retell task administered in both languages.Result: The results showed that children produced significantly more irregular past tense verbs than regular past tense verbs in English. Their English irregular past tense use, but not regular past tense use, was predicted by their knowledge of aspect markers in Cantonese.Conclusion: Findings suggest that semantic transfer between Cantonese and English might contribute to the early stages of acquiring English past tense marking. Clinically, the results could potentially lead to more informed assessment procedures and better diagnostic decision making for bilingual children.

Chinese American Immigrant Parents' Socialization of Emotions in Bilingual Bicultural Preschool Children.

The purpose of this study was to examine Cantonese-speaking Chinese American immigrant parents' socialization of emotions in bilingual bicultural preschool children, using a combination of a parent questionnaire and parent language samples from emotion-elicited storytelling tasks. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking parents and their children participated in this study. Children were sequential bilinguals who were exposed to Cantonese (L1) at home since birth, and then learned English (L2) at school. The Chinese parent questionnaire examined parents' emotion talk in the home, as well as the child's dual language background and language distribution. Parents' language samples in Cantonese were collected from three parent-child storytelling tasks that each elicited a different type of negative emotion (sad, angry, scared). Results from the parent questionnaire and the parent language samples were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. In the parent questionnaire, correlation analysis revealed that parents' use of guilt emotions was not associated with any of the other emotion words, suggesting that parents may not talk about guilt as frequently as the other emotions. Results from the parents' language samples showed no significant differences between parents' number of emotion words and emotion explanations across the storytelling tasks, suggesting that parents used negative emotion words similarly across all three books. Further qualitative analysis between the parent questionnaire and the language samples revealed patterns in the way parents use Chinese emotion words with their children. Findings illustrate how the combined use of a parent questionnaire and parent language samples offer complementary information to provide a more comprehensive understanding about Chinese American immigrant parents' socialization of emotions.

Identifying Bilingual Children at Risk for Language Impairment: The Implication of Children's Response Speed in Narrative Contexts.

The purpose of the study was to examine whether monolingual adults can identify the bilingual children with LI on the basis of children's response speed to the examiner. Participants were 37 monolingual English-speaking young adults. Stimuli were 48 audio clips from six sequential bilingual children (48 months) who were predominately exposed to Cantonese (L1) at home from birth and started to learn English (L2) in preschool settings. The audio clips for each child were selected from an interactive story-retell task in both Cantonese and English. Three of the children were typically developing, and three were identified as having a language impairment. The monolingual adult participants were asked to judge children's response times for each clip. Interrater reliability was high (Kalpha = 0.82 for L1; Kalpha = 0.75 for L2). Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to examine the diagnostic accuracy of the task. Results showed that monolingual participants were able to identify bilingual children with LI based on children's response speed. Sensitivity and specificity were higher in Cantonese conditions compared to English conditions. The results added to the literature that children's response speed can potentially be used, along with other measures, to identify bilingual children who are at risk for language impairment.

The effects of theatre-based vocal empowerment on young Egyptian women's vocal and language characteristics.

This study investigates the impact of a theatre-based vocal empowerment program on the vocal and language characteristics and the self-perceptions of young bilingual Egyptian women. The program used applied theatre, a dramatic practice that promotes civic action by utilizing improvisational techniques to engage participants in exploring solutions to self-identified community concerns. These techniques supported participants' pursuit of vocal empowerment: the ability to comfortably express their intended content with a clear audible voice, accompanied by the belief that what they had to say was worthwhile. The program was implemented in Alexandria and Aswan, two Egyptian cities in different regions of the country, with distinct socio-economic profiles. Thirty-six young women from Aswan and nineteen from Alexandria participated. The program was facilitated in Arabic, for 90 minutes per day over twelve consecutive days in 2018. Participants in both groups spoke Arabic as a home language and studied English in school settings but differed in their educational experiences and English proficiency. The vocal and language characteristics of each participant were tested in Arabic and English pre- and post- program using a spontaneous speech task and a reading aloud task. Their self-perceptions were evaluated through a vocal self-perception survey. Results indicated that participants responded differently in each city. In Alexandria, participants showed significant improvement in language skills (e.g., mean length of utterance). In contrast, participants in Aswan showed a significant change in fundamental frequency. Overall, the self-surveys indicated that all participants experienced an increased sense of confidence, a stronger belief in self-authorship, and an increased desire to voice their opinions clearly in public; however, there were subtle differences between the groups. In analyzing these results, we conclude that to design effective vocal empowerment outreach programs internationally, it is necessary to consider participants' cultural backgrounds, language diversity, and socio-economic status.

Vocabulary Growth: Dual Language Learners at Risk for Language Impairment.

Purpose This research project examined the vocabulary growth patterns of typically developing (TD) Cantonese-English dual language learners (DLLs) and their peers who are at risk for language impairment. Method Two studies were done. Study 1 examined the concurrent validity of a pilot vocabulary screening measure, the Kai Ming Vocabulary Test, that was designed for Cantonese-English preschool DLLs. Participants were 53 preschool children who learned Cantonese as their first language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Their scores on the Kai Ming Vocabulary Test were examined in relation to their language sample measures, including number of different words and mean length of utterance, in L1 and in L2. Study 2 examined the vocabulary growth patterns of 24 TD Cantonese-English DLL preschoolers and 24 DLLs who are at risk for language impairment (At-Risk group). Each child was tested 3 times during an academic year. Results Results of Study 1 showed that children's vocabulary scores (n = 53) were significantly correlated with their language sample measures in each language. In Study 2, hierarchical linear models were used to compare the TD and At-Risk groups. Results showed that children in the At-Risk group had lower L1 receptive vocabulary scores and children in the TD group had relatively higher L2 expressive vocabulary gains. Conclusions Children who are at risk are likely to continue to have lower vocabulary knowledge compared to their TD peers. The growth trajectories of DLLs provide valuable information for early identification and intervention.

The Distributed L1 and L2 Language-Learning Environments of Dual Language Learners Across Home and School Settings.

Purpose This study explored the language-learning environments of typically developing dual language learners (DLLs) who learned Cantonese (first language [L1]) at home and English (second language [L2]) in preschool settings through direct and indirect measures. Method Nine typically developing Cantonese-English DLLs participated in this study. Participants' daylong activities were audio-recorded using the digital language processor of the Language ENvironment Analysis system. A manual coding scheme was developed to examine the audio recordings with the focus of the amount of L1 and L2 used by participants, adults, and their peers across home and school settings. In addition, participants' language use was indirectly examined using parent questionnaires, teacher reports, and classroom observations. Results The results of the audio recordings showed that Cantonese was the primary language used at home, and both Cantonese and English were used in school settings, consistent with the parent and teacher reports. Correlation analyses revealed that the amount of L1 used by the participants was associated with the L1 used by their peers: and the amount of L2 used by participants was positively related to the L2 used by adults at home. Conclusions The findings illustrate how parent/teacher reports and daylong audio recordings could complement each other in the investigation of DLLs' language-learning environments.

Preschoolers learning Hmong and English: lexical-semantic skills in L1 and L2.

Picture naming and picture identification tasks were used to investigate lexical-semantic skills in young children learning Hmong as a first language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). A total of 19 children, ages 3;4 (years;months)-5;2, participated in this study. Performance on lexical tasks was analyzed as a function of development (older and younger participants), language (Hmong and English), modality (receptive and expressive skills), and the nature of total or "composite" vocabulary scores (translation equivalents or singles, reflecting comparable forms in both languages as compared to concepts lexicalized into only 1 language). Older participants outperformed younger participants in English, but not Hmong, indicating a relative stabilization of L1 skills, alongside more robust growth in L2. The difference between expressive and receptive performance was also much greater in Hmong than English. Composite scores were always greater than single language scores and the proportion of translation equivalents increased with age.

Intervention with linguistically diverse preschool children: a focus on developing home language(s).

PURPOSE: This article addresses a series of questions that are critical to planning and implementing effective intervention programs for young linguistically diverse learners with primary language impairment (LI). Linguistically diverse learners in the United States include children whose families speak languages such as Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Hmong, Vietnamese, or any language other than, or in addition to, English. METHOD: A narrative review of the relevant literature addresses clinical questions including (a) Why support the home language when it is not the language used in school or the majority community? (b) Does continued support for the home language undermine attainment in a second language? (c) Should we support the home language when it includes the code switching or mixing of two traditionally separate languages? and (d) What are some strategies that can be used to support the home language when it is a language that the speech-language pathologist (SLP) does not speak? CONCLUSION: SLPs should provide services to linguistically diverse preschool-age children with LI in a manner that effectively supports the development of the home language. Parent and paraprofessional training along with peer-mediated models of intervention are presented as two possible methods for facilitating the home language in children with LI.

Breadth and depth of diversity in Minnesota: challenges to clinical competency.

This study explored the impact of recent demographic changes on clinical service delivery in the state of Minnesota. A Web-based survey was used to ask speech-language pathologists in Minnesota about their training, clinical caseloads, and professional experiences with respect to diversity. Primary survey goals were to (a) determine if, and how, recent changes in the overall state demographics were reflected on caseloads of speech-language pathologists, and (b) identify challenges clinicians faced in meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population. The authors considered the breadth or range of economically, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse populations represented on caseloads, relative to depth of diversity. Survey results are discussed with respect to challenges inherent in providing services to a diverse caseload, together with the competencies needed in order to meet these professional challenges.

Novel word retention in bilingual and monolingual speakers.

The goal of this research was to examine word retention in bilinguals and monolinguals. Long-term word retention is an essential part of vocabulary learning. Previous studies have documented that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in terms of retrieving newly-exposed words. Yet, little is known about whether or to what extent bilinguals are different from monolinguals in word retention. Participants were 30 English-speaking monolingual adults and 30 bilingual adults who speak Spanish as a home language and learned English as a second language during childhood. In a previous study (Kan et al., 2014), the participants were exposed to the target novel words in English, Spanish, and Cantonese. In this current study, word retention was measured a week after the fast mapping task. No exposures were given during the one-week interval. Results showed that bilinguals and monolinguals retain a similar number of words. However, participants produced more words in English than in either Spanish or Cantonese. Correlation analyses revealed that language knowledge plays a role in the relationships between fast mapping and word retention. Specifically, within- and across-language relationships between bilinguals' fast mapping and word retention were found in Spanish and English, by contrast, within-language relationships between monolinguals' fast mapping and word retention were found in English and across-language relationships between their fast mapping and word retention performance in English and Cantonese. Similarly, bilinguals differed from monolinguals in the relationships among the word retention scores in three languages. Significant correlations were found among bilinguals' retention scores. However, no such correlations were found among monolinguals' retention scores. The overall findings suggest that bilinguals' language experience and language knowledge most likely contribute to how they learn and retain new words.

Effects of speech practice on fast mapping in monolingual and bilingual speakers.

PURPOSE: This study examines the effects of the levels of speech practice on fast mapping in monolingual and bilingual speakers. METHOD: Participants were 30 English-speaking monolingual and 30 Spanish-English bilingual young adults. Each participant was randomly assigned to 1 of 3 practice conditions prior to the fast-mapping task: (a) intensive speech practice, (b) moderate speech practice, or (c) no practice. In a fast-mapping experiment, each participant was briefly exposed to novel objects and their corresponding novel words. Participants' knowledge of the target novel words was assessed immediately after the exposures. RESULTS: There were significant effects of speech practice on fast mapping for both monolingual and bilingual adults. It is important to note that participants' language experience also played a role in their fast-mapping performance. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that speech practice, interacting with language experience, facilitates the processes for fast mapping.

Word learning in children with primary language impairment: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The present study is a meta-analysis that examines the difference in novel word learning performance between children with primary language impairment (LI) and typically developing children. Participant and task characteristics were examined as variables that potentially moderated children's word learning. METHOD: Eight hundred and forty-six published studies were retrieved from conventional databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Web of Science). Of these studies, 28 met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis, yielding 244 effect sizes across experimental conditions. RESULTS: LI groups showed significantly lower word learning performance than typical age-matched groups and equivalent performance to typical language-matched groups. Moderator analyses showed that the magnitude of the group difference relative to age peers was significantly associated with participants' chronological age, receptive language and cognitive abilities, task and novel word type, and the extent of novel word exposure. CONCLUSION: The difference in novel word learning performance between children with LI and age-matched children is strongly affected by task and participant characteristics in the primary studies.

Lexical and grammatical associations in sequential bilingual preschoolers.

PURPOSE: The authors investigated potential relationships between traditional linguistic domains (words, grammar) in the first (L1) and second (L2) languages of young sequential bilingual preschool children. METHOD: Participants were 19 children, ages 2;11 (years;months) to 5;2 (M = 4;3) who began learning Hmong as the L1 from birth and English as the L2 during early childhood. Measures were the number of different words (NDW) and mean length of utterance (MLU) produced during a story retell task and scores on picture identification, an independent measure of receptive vocabulary. Correlations were conducted to determine relationships among measures. RESULTS: In English, there were robust positive relationships between MLU and lexical measures (NDW, Picture Identification). In Hmong, more modest cross-domain associations were evident between lexical measures and MLU. There were positive cross-language links for NDW but more limited cross-domain correspondences between the L1 and the L2. CONCLUSIONS: In English, relationships between words and grammar were similar to those found in previous studies with monolingual and simultaneous bilingual toddlers. Weaker cross-domain associations in the L1 may reflect participants' greater development in Hmong or typological differences between the L1 and the L2.

Fast mapping by bilingual preschool children.

Previous studies show that young monolingual children's ability to 'fast map' new word forms is closely associated with both their age and existing vocabulary knowledge. In this study we investigate potential relationships between age, fast mapping skills and existing vocabulary knowledge in both languages of developing bilingual preschool children. Participants were twenty-six typically developing children, ages 3 ; 0 to 5 ; 3. All children learned Hmong as their primary home language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Fast mapping and vocabulary knowledge tasks were administered in L1 and L2. For vocabulary knowledge, scores were comparable in L1 and L2; for fast mapping, scores were somewhat greater in L1 than L2. In contrast to previous findings with monolingual children, fast mapping performance was not related to age or existing vocabulary knowledge in either Hmong or English. There were, however, significant positive and negative cross-language correlations between L1 fast mapping and L2 vocabulary.

Intervention for executive functions after traumatic brain injury: a systematic review, meta-analysis and clinical recommendations.

A systematic review of studies that focused on the executive functions of problem solving, planning, organising and multitasking by adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) was performed through 2004. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to evaluate the 15 studies that met inclusion criteria. Demographic variables, design and intervention features, and impairment and activity/participation outcomes (ICF) (World Health Organization, 2001) were documented. Five randomised control treatment (RCT) studies used step-by-step, metacognitive strategy instruction (MSI) and outcomes were evaluated in a meta-analysis. Effect sizes (ESs) from immediate impairment outcomes after MSI and "control" intervention were similar to each other, and both were significantly larger than chance. ESs from immediate activity/participation outcomes after MSI were significantly larger than the ESs from control intervention, and both were significantly larger than chance. These results, along with positive outcomes from the other group, single-subject design and single case studies, provided sufficient evidence to make the clinical recommendation that MSI should be used with young to middle-aged adults with TBI, when improvement in everyday, functional problems is the goal (Level A) (American Academy of Neurology, 2004). Although maintenance effects were generally positive, there was insufficient data quantitatively to evaluate this. Furthermore, there was insufficient evidence to make clinical recommendations for children or older adults. Intervention that trained verbal reasoning and multi-tasking was promising, although the evidence is insufficient to make clinical recommendations at this time. Additional research needs were highlighted.