BALA RESEARCH PROJECTS

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant: Dr. Johanne Paradis [PI], Dr. Andrea Macleod (University of Alberta) [ Co-I], Dr. Tamara Sorenson Duncan (Carleton University) [Co-I], Dr. Laurent Cammarata (University of Alberta) [collaborator], Dr. Ann Sutton (University of Ottawa) [collaborator]

Two official languages, official multiculturalism and high levels of immigration mean that there are many opportunities for children to be bilingual in Canada. Children who speak a minority first language (L1) and learn English as a majority second language (L2) are non-elective bilinguals in the sense that learning the majority-L2 is not achieved through parent choice of a specialized education program, but instead is driven by the primary language of schooling and the need for community inclusion. French immersion programs for anglophone students outside Québec offer the opportunity for children who speak a majority-L1, English, to acquire proficiency in a minority-L2, French, through elective education programs. However, there is one group of Canadian children who do not have equal opportunities for bilingual development: children with developmental disorders that impact speech, language and communication, and who are often students with special education needs (hereafter: SENs). Regarding non-elective bilingualism, switching to monolingualism in the majority-L2 is often promoted for SENs, resulting in loss of proficiency in their minority-L1. Regarding elective bilingualism, low enrolment rates for SENs in immersion programs point to decreased opportunities for French L2 learning. For both elective and non-elective bilinguals, beliefs on the part of parents, clinicians and educators that SENs are less capable of dual language learning, and insufficient knowledge about the dual language development of SENs in elementary school to test these beliefs, are key contributing factors to the loss of opportunities. The objectives of the proposed research are to fill gaps in knowledge by taking a tripartite approach to understanding the sources of successes and challenges in the bilingual development of SENs.

Research will take place in Ottawa and Edmonton, cities of a similar size that offer extensive French immersion programs. Because of Ottawa’s proximity to Québec and status as the national capital, French proficiency is expected to be a higher priority than in Edmonton. Research in the non-elective bilingual and elective bilingual streams of this program will consist of three components: (1) CONTEXT: administrative data from school boards will be gathered and analysed to understand the demographics, special education delivery and academic outcomes relevant to SENs who are non-elective and elective bilinguals. (2) PERSPECTIVES: semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with parents and education team members will yield information about beliefs in the capacity of SENs for dual language learning, facilitators and barriers in support services, and recommendations for change. (3) DIRECT ASSESSMENT of individual SENs will be done in their majority and minority languages (phonology vocabulary, grammar and story-telling skills). Children’s ages, cognitive abilities, and language input and experience outside school will be used to determine what factors contribute to stronger or weaker outcomes in individual children’s development of their L1 and L2. Comparisons across streams and components will be made where possible.

This program of research will be ground-breaking in Canada because of the two streams (non-elective and elective) within one research program as well as the tripartite design. The intention is to produce comprehensive and multifaceted data on bilingualism and SENs that will inform not only language acquisition theory regarding the capacity of SENs to become bilingual, but also, parental decision making and educational practice and policy. The overall goal is to use the knowledge generated to increase opportunities for bilingualism for SENs in Canada.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant: Language, Literacy and Learning Cluster. Paradis [co-lead] & Chen, U of T/OISE (co-lead]). Co-investigators: Dr. Adriana Soto-Corominas, Dr. Alexandra Gottardo, Redab Al Janaideh, Dr. Irene Vitroroulis, Dr. Katholiki Georgiades, Dr. Jennifer Jenkins

More than 60,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Canada since late 2015. As such, there is an urgent need for research to provide evidence for effective policies and practices tailored to the needs of refugee children. Accordingly, this research project examines factors that determine the successes and challenges in language and literacy development, both in English, the second language (L2) and Arabic, the first language (L1), as Syrian refugee children settle in Canada. In order to fully participate in Canadian schools and society, refugee children need to achieve fluent English language and literacy skills. At the same time, maintenance of their Arabic L1 is key to their identity, family and community relationships. Determinants of success and challenges in bilingual and bi-literacy development include individual cognitive abilities as well as home language and literacy environments. Given their difficult pre-migration experiences, it is imperative to also include socio-emotional wellbeing as a determinant of refugee children's language and literacy development. This is a longitudinal study - involving children aged 6-13 and their families - that is being carried out in three Canadian cities. Measures include parent and child questionnaires, standardized and experimental tests of language and reading abilities and the cognitive skills that underlie them. Together, our results will have significant implications for the ways in which educational and service agencies interact with refugee children. Accordingly, our knowledge dissemination plan prioritizes outreach beyond the academic community.

Killam Cornerstones Grant (Paradis). Co-investigators: Dr. Krithika Govindarajan, Dr. Tamara Sorenson Duncan

There are many benefits of bilingual development for children from newcomer families who speak English as a second language (L2). Nevertheless, parents of L2 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often counselled to use just one language - English - due to beliefs that these children would struggle to become bilingual since ASD includes significant deficits in communicative abilities. Existing research on bilingualism in children with ASD is limited in terms of methodology and scope and there is a need for more robust evidence to inform us how best to support bilingual development in L2 children with ASD. Using parent interview questionnaires and direct language assessment measures, this research will yield information about similarities and differences in home language use of newcomer families of children with and without ASD, and what the relationship is between home language use and children's development of English and the heritage language (L1). Findings will address whether supporting bilingual development is more challenging for families of children with ASD, whether L2 children with ASD are more at risk for losing their heritage L1 than L2 children with typical development, and what the unique characteristics are of L2 acquisition in children with ASD as compared with their typically developing peers.