Older bilinguals reverse language dominance less than younger bilinguals: Evidence for the inhibitory deficit hypothesis.

The present study examined the roles that language of assessment, language dominance, and teacher language use during instruction play in Dual Language Learner (DLL) science scores. A total of 255 Head Start DLL children were assessed on equated science assessments in English and Spanish. First overall differences between the two languages were examined, then associations between performance on science assessments were compared and related to children’s language dominance, teacher quantity of English and Spanish, and teachers’ academic science language. When examined as a homogeneous group, DLLs did not perform differently on English or Spanish science assessments. However, when examined heterogeneously, Spanish-dominant DLLs performed better on Spanish science assessments. The percentage of English and Spanish used by teachers did not affect children’s science scores. Teachers’ use of Spanish academic science language impacted children’s performance on science assessments, but English did not. The results have implications for the assessment of DLLs and teacher language use during instruction.

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Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000921000337 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-33

Author(s):

Chantal VAN DIJK ◽

Elise VAN WONDEREN ◽

Elly KOUTAMANIS ◽

Gerrit Jan KOOTSTRA ◽

Ton DIJKSTRA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Effect Size ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Uniform Method ◽

Bilingual Children ◽

Average Effect ◽

Language Dominance ◽

Average Effect Size ◽

Comprehensive Theory ◽

Bilingual Development

Abstract Although cross-linguistic influence at the level of morphosyntax is one of the most intensively studied topics in child bilingualism, the circumstances under which it occurs remain unclear. In this meta-analysis, we measured the effect size of cross-linguistic influence and systematically assessed its predictors in 750 simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children in 17 unique language combinations across 26 experimental studies. We found a significant small to moderate average effect size of cross-linguistic influence, indicating that cross-linguistic influence is part and parcel of bilingual development. Language dominance, operationalized as societal language, was a significant predictor of cross-linguistic influence, whereas surface overlap, language domain and age were not. Perhaps an even more important finding was that definitions and operationalisations of cross-linguistic influence and its predictors varied considerably between studies. This could explain the absence of a comprehensive theory in the field. To solve this issue, we argue for a more uniform method of studying cross-linguistic influence.

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