First Language Test Bias? Comparing French-Speaking and Polish-Speaking Participants’ Performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

This study charts the lexical development of three sequential bilingual kindergarteners whose first language, Romanian, was acquired naturalistically at home, and whose second language, English, was acquired in kindergarten. The children’s lexical development in English and Romanian was assessed at five different points over a two-year period via the PPVT-4 (peabody picture vocabulary test 4) and a specially adapted PPVT-4 for Romanian. The children’s lexical repertoires were further analyzed to uncover home versus school and cognate versus non-cognate acquisitional differences. In addition, because there is no database of lexical items acquired by monolingual Romanian children, the PPVT-4 adapted for Romanian was administered to 22 monolingual six-year-old Romanian children in Sibiu, Romania. The findings indicate the following: (i) the three bilinguals’ receptive vocabulary in English was below average when they joined kindergarten, and at or above average two years later; (ii) their lexical growth in Romanian was steady; (iii) the bilinguals’ scores for words belonging to a home register reflected ceiling effects in English and Romanian (i.e., were very well known); (iv) academic words were known to an equal extent in English and Romanian, but scores were lower than for the home register; and (v) there was no definitive evidence of cognate facilitation. A comparison of the monolingual and bilingual Romanian repertoires reflects the following: (i) equally high scores for home items; (ii) differences in scores in the academic register in favour of the Romanian monolinguals; and (iii) important lifestyle and cultural differences between the groups. The Romanian children, for example, were more familiar than their Canadian counterparts with items related to home maintenance, such as șmirghăluiește (‘sanding’) and mistrie (‘trowel’), or items probably learned in school, such as foca (‘walrus’) and broască țestoasă (‘tortoise’).

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The Lexical Development of Canadian-Born Romanian L1 Bilingual Kindergarteners

10.32920/14638950 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Claudia Petrescu ◽

Rena Helms-Park

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

First Language ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Vocabulary Test ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ◽

Lexical Development ◽

Definitive Evidence ◽

Academic Register

This study charts the lexical development of three sequential bilingual kindergarteners whose first language, Romanian, was acquired naturalistically at home, and whose second language, English, was acquired in kindergarten. The children’s lexical development in English and Romanian was assessed at five different points over a two-year period via the PPVT-4 (peabody picture vocabulary test 4) and a specially adapted PPVT-4 for Romanian. The children’s lexical repertoires were further analyzed to uncover home versus school and cognate versus non-cognate acquisitional differences. In addition, because there is no database of lexical items acquired by monolingual Romanian children, the PPVT-4 adapted for Romanian was administered to 22 monolingual six-year-old Romanian children in Sibiu, Romania. The findings indicate the following: (i) the three bilinguals’ receptive vocabulary in English was below average when they joined kindergarten, and at or above average two years later; (ii) their lexical growth in Romanian was steady; (iii) the bilinguals’ scores for words belonging to a home register reflected ceiling effects in English and Romanian (i.e., were very well known); (iv) academic words were known to an equal extent in English and Romanian, but scores were lower than for the home register; and (v) there was no definitive evidence of cognate facilitation. A comparison of the monolingual and bilingual Romanian repertoires reflects the following: (i) equally high scores for home items; (ii) differences in scores in the academic register in favour of the Romanian monolinguals; and (iii) important lifestyle and cultural differences between the groups. The Romanian children, for example, were more familiar than their Canadian counterparts with items related to home maintenance, such as șmirghăluiește (‘sanding’) and mistrie (‘trowel’), or items probably learned in school, such as foca (‘walrus’) and broască țestoasă (‘tortoise’).

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The Lexical Development of Canadian-Born Romanian L1 Bilingual Kindergarteners

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages3030033 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 33

Author(s):

Maria Claudia Petrescu ◽

Rena Helms-Park

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

First Language ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Vocabulary Test ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ◽

Lexical Development ◽

Definitive Evidence ◽

Academic Register

This study charts the lexical development of three sequential bilingual kindergarteners whose first language, Romanian, was acquired naturalistically at home, and whose second language, English, was acquired in kindergarten. The children’s lexical development in English and Romanian was assessed at five different points over a two-year period via the PPVT-4 (peabody picture vocabulary test 4) and a specially adapted PPVT-4 for Romanian. The children’s lexical repertoires were further analyzed to uncover home versus school and cognate versus non-cognate acquisitional differences. In addition, because there is no database of lexical items acquired by monolingual Romanian children, the PPVT-4 adapted for Romanian was administered to 22 monolingual six-year-old Romanian children in Sibiu, Romania. The findings indicate the following: (i) the three bilinguals’ receptive vocabulary in English was below average when they joined kindergarten, and at or above average two years later; (ii) their lexical growth in Romanian was steady; (iii) the bilinguals’ scores for words belonging to a home register reflected ceiling effects in English and Romanian (i.e., were very well known); (iv) academic words were known to an equal extent in English and Romanian, but scores were lower than for the home register; and (v) there was no definitive evidence of cognate facilitation. A comparison of the monolingual and bilingual Romanian repertoires reflects the following: (i) equally high scores for home items; (ii) differences in scores in the academic register in favour of the Romanian monolinguals; and (iii) important lifestyle and cultural differences between the groups. The Romanian children, for example, were more familiar than their Canadian counterparts with items related to home maintenance, such as șmirghăluiește (‘sanding’) and mistrie (‘trowel’), or items probably learned in school, such as foca (‘walrus’) and broască țestoasă (‘tortoise’).

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Facilitation of Verb Recognition by MR Subjects through Syntactic Cuing

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1201.39 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 39-43

Author(s):

Kandace A. Penner ◽

Betsy Partin Vinson

Keyword(s):

Mentally Retarded ◽

Vocabulary Test ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Word Comprehension ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ◽

Syntactic Form ◽

Standard Version

It has been our experience in using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test that an inordinate number of verbs are missed by mentally retarded individuals. This study attempts to determine whether verb errors were due to a lack of word comprehension or a failure to understand what was being requested by the morphological-syntactic form of the stimulus. Twenty-eight subjects residing in a state facility for the mentally retarded were given a standard version and a modified version of the PPVT. On the modified version of the test, the stimulus "verbing" was altered to incorporate a syntactic helper, forming the stimulus "somebody verbing." As a result, there was a mean reduction of verb error by almost 50%.

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Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III)

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e313642005-017 ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Vocabulary Test ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

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Arousal and Cognition: Picture Vocabulary Performance and Individual Differences in Physiological Arousal

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.1177/003151258005000243 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 579-582

Author(s):

Frank H. Farley ◽

Valerie J. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Physiological Arousal ◽

Learning Disabled ◽

Significant Trend ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Vocabulary Test ◽

Disabled Children ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

The contribution of individual differences in physiological arousal to intellective assessment in learning disabled children was studied. Arousal was measured by salivary response and intellective function (receptive vocabulary) by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. It was predicted that best performance would be found at intermediate levels of arousal. Peabody scores of learning disabled subjects of high, middle, and low arousal showed a non-significant trend in the predicted direction. Reasons for the lack of significance of this hypothesized trend were proposed and needed research outlined.

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Relationship of Scores on PPVT—R and WISC—R with Special Education Children and Youth

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1986.62.2.417 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 417-418 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ann C. Candler ◽

Cleborne D. Maddux ◽

Dee La Mont Johnson

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Mentally Retarded ◽

Learning Disabled ◽

Full Scale ◽

Children And Youth ◽

Vocabulary Test ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ◽

Intelligence Scale ◽

Relationship Of

Comparisons of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised were made with 104 children diagnosed as learning disabled and mentally retarded. Significant but modest correlations were found between all but one of the WISC—R scaled scores (i.e., Coding) and PPVT—R standard scores, and between WISC—R IQs and PPVT—R standard scores. Significant differences were found among mean Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs and mean PPVT—R standard scores. The PPVT—R standard scores underestimated WISC—R Verbal IQs by 7 points, WISC—R Performance IQs by 17 points, and WISC—R Full Scale IQs by 11 points.

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