Sentence Repetition Performance Differences in Bilingual and Monolingual Children
Publication: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 65, Number 8
Pages 2948-2961
Abstract
Purpose:
This study examined language group differences in English syntactic knowledge based on performance on a sentence repetition task.
Method:
Fourth and sixth grade students who were monolinguals (n = 30), early bilinguals (i.e., simultaneous; n = 27), or late bilinguals (i.e., sequential; n = 29) completed an English sentence repetition task. Their responses were analyzed as a function of sentence length (short vs. long), sentence type (active vs. passive), phrase type (noun, verb, and prepositional), and word type (content vs. function).
Results:
Overall, early bilinguals' performance did not differ significantly from that of the monolinguals. However, these bilinguals recalled significantly more content words than function words on the long sentences. At each level of analysis, the late bilinguals' performance was less accurate than the other groups. The magnitude of these group differences was larger for passive sentences and prepositional phrases.
Conclusion:
Findings highlight areas of syntactic development that differ among groups and should be targeted for additional instruction with English language learners in elementary school.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 65 • Number 8 • August 2022
Pages: 2948-2961
PubMed: 35858267
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
History
- Received: Nov 9, 2021
- Revised: Jan 12, 2022
- Accepted: Apr 25, 2022
- Published online: Jul 14, 2022
- Published in issue: Aug 17, 2022
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