Language transfer (Language learning)

Recent studies have suggested that bilingualism may provide an advantage to
older adults on inhibitory control and have a positive effect on some cognitive
declines seen in normal aging. This study examined the effects of bilingualism on
inhibitory control using a Simon task and a Stroop task on a heterogeneous sample of
bilinguals whose level of proficiency on each of their two languages varied widely.
Comparison of performances between younger and older monolingual and bilingual
participants revealed a bilingual advantage on the Simon task. Results support the
view that bilingualism increases skills that are associated with selective attention.
Additionally, older bilingual adults performed as well as younger bilingual adults
suggesting they are not experiencing the age-related declines in the efficiency of
inhibitory processes observed in the older monolingual adults. However, a bilingual
advantage was not observed on the Stroop task indicating that the advantage may
depend on the nature of the distracting stimulus. Bilinguals may be better equipped
than monolinguals at inhibiting misleading spatial information but not at inhibiting misleading linguistic information. The performance of balanced and non-balanced
bilinguals was similar under both Simon and Stroop tasks suggesting that language
level proficiency does not play a role in providing an advantage.

In order to explain the development of English and Spanish skills in children from Spanish-speaking homes in the United States, it is necessary to identify their sources of language exposure. Most research to date has focused on home language use. The aim of this study is to identify sources of English and Spanish exposure outside the home that bilingual children experience between the ages of 2 and 5 years. The present study focuses on 3 potential sources: grandparents, extracurricular activities, and early childcare and education settings. We ask how much English and Spanish exposure children receive, how that changes from 2.5 to 5 years, and whether family variables influence those changes. Participants were 149 children from Spanish-speaking homes in southeastern Florida, with at least one parent an immigrant from a Spanish-speaking country. Measured out-of-home sources of input included hours per of week of English and Spanish from a Grandparent, during Extracurricular Activities, and during Preschool at 30, 36, 42, 48, and 60 months. Parents’ Native Language Background groups were either both native Spanish-speaking or one native, Spanish-speaking and one native, English-speaking. Maternal Education was treated as a dichotomous variable: mothers whose highest level of education in English is less than a four-year college degree and mothers whose highest level of education in English is equivalent to or greater than a four-year college degree. Child Birth Order was also treated as a dichotomous variable: only children and first-born children or later born children. Results revealed that for these children from Spanish-speaking homes, Grandparents are primarily a source of heritage-language (Spanish) input and Extracurricular Activities and Preschool are primarily a source of societal-language (English) input. Findings suggest English exposure from out-of-home sources increases over time possibly at the expense of Spanish exposure. Parents’ Native Language Backgrounds and Maternal Education influenced children’s exposure to both languages from these outside sources of input; Child Birth Order did not. Implications for future research and practical application are discussed.

This small-scale study investigated the extent to which negotiations of meaning during methodologically focused communicative partner-activities were concerned with a grammatical target structure, the dative case following spatial prepositions in German. In addition, the impact of the negotiation of the target structure on subsequent learner performance was investigated. The subjects, beginning-level students of German, participated in two two-way information-gap activities, preceded and followed by the same grammaticality judgment test. The interaction was audiotaped and transcribed. The improvement in accuracy between the pretest and the posttest was calculated and correlated with the number of negotiation moves. The results indicate that the subjects negotiated meaning, including form, frequently. However, no significant change in the subjects' subsequent performance was observed.

Many adults who have dual language experience describe themselves as "passive bilinguals," able to understand two languages, but speak only one. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between language production and comprehension in bilingual children in order to determine whether bilingual comprehension is more readily achieved than production. ... Productive and receptive skills in both languages were assessed using standardized tests. Children's relative amount of exposure to each language, as well as their language choice during production was measured via interview with the primary caregiver.... Language exposure as measured via dominance in one language over another appears to affect productive language differently than receptive language, further evidencing that language exposure is a significant predictor of acquisition that predicts production and comprehension differently. Additionally, when input is held constant, child language choice is uniquely related to productive and receptive language skill. The results of this study not only describe patterns of productive and receptive language skills and their correlates in young bilinguals, but they also address competing theories regarding the roles of input and output in the development of language comprehension and production.