Bilingualism in children.

Research indicates that there are numerous factors related to dual language
proficiency. Furthermore, research suggests that the language skills of bilingual children
are very heterogeneous. In this study, we will focus on four outcomes for those receiving
dual language input. Those four patterns of outcome are as follows: bilingual children can
have high levels of skills in English and Spanish, high skills in English and low skills in
the Spanish or vice versa, or low levels of skills in English and Spanish. The present
study focused on the prevalence of these four patterns and their concurrent correlates
amongst 30 month old (N = 87, 48 females) and 48 month old (N = 74, 40 females)
simultaneous English-Spanish bilinguals with special emphasis on the distinguishing
factors for those with high dual language skills. Overall, for those with high dual scores,
the findings reveal that gender, birth-order, and maternal level of education are predictive of high dual language scores so that members of this group are largely first-born females
of mothers with an average 15.8 years of education. English dominant scores were
predicted by percent English input in the home and birth-order so that children in this
group were mostly later-born children with 65% English input in the home. Spanish
dominant scores were predicted by percent English input in the home and Spanish bookreading
behaviors as children in this group received 23% of their in-home input in
English and were read to for more than one hour per week in Spanish. Low dual scores
were marginally predicted by gender and Spanish book-reading behaviors, children in
this group were mostly male and received less than an in hour of Spanish reading per
week.

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.

Previous studies have found that bilingual children’s vocabulary development
benefits more from child-directed speech from native speakers than child-directed speech
from nonnative speakers. The current study compared the native English child-directed
speech of 20 English monolingual mothers, the nonnative English child-directed speech
of 20 Spanish-English bilingual mothers, and the native Spanish child-directed speech of
the same bilingual mothers in terms of three aspects of input previously associated with
children’s language development: data-providing properties, topic contingency, and
speech function. There were significant differences between native English and nonnative
English child-directed speech, and between nonnative English and native Spanish. The
results suggest two sources of influence shaping child-directed speech: quality
differences related to native speaker status and cultural factors primed by the language
being spoken.