Nina-Sophie Sczepurek & Josje Verhagen

The Role of Caregivers’ Language Input in Early Bilingual Learners: Relating Caregivers’ Code-switching and Proficiency to Children’s Receptive Vocabulary

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University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Previous studies point towards a need to further dismantle qualitative input variables to examine if linguistically richer environments can be associated with bilingual children’s language skills (Driessen et al., 2002; MacLeod et al., 2012). Qualitative input properties relate to the type of exposure a bilingual child receives, e.g. whether the child receives native or non-native input (Fernald, 2006). Another way of approaching the type of exposure a bilingual child receives is whether the child is exposed to caregivers’ code-switching (CS) and subsequently mixed input. The current study looks at the effects of caregivers’ (native) language proficiency and caregivers’ CS on children’s receptive vocabulary of the majority language Dutch. Seventy- two bilingual children with a mean age of 35 months, who were exposed to Dutch and (an)other language(s) at home, were tested on a Dutch receptive vocabulary task (i.e., The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test). Information on caregivers’ proficiency and children’s home input situations was assessed using an electronic questionnaire. Linear mixed regression analyses showed that the amount of native Dutch input at home by children’s caregivers was a significant predictor of children’s vocabulary knowledge. The amount of CS provided by caregivers did not come out as a significant predictor. Our findings suggest that native input may provide a higher frequency of complex structures and/ or (types of) words necessary for the child’s vocabulary development. We also cannot provide evidence for the notion that caregivers’ use of CS has a negative effect on children’s language skills.

Keywords

vocabulary knowledge; early bilinguals; input quality; native input; caregivers’ code-switching

References

1. Driessen, G., Van der Slik, F., & De Bot, K. (2002). Home language and language proficiency: A large-scale longitudinal study in Dutch primary schools. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(3), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630208666464

2. Fernald, A. (2006). When infants hear two languages: Interpreting research on early speech perception by bilingual children. In P. McCardle & E. Hoff (Eds.), Childhood bilingualism: Research on infancy through school age (pp. 19–29). Multilingual Matters.

3. MacLeod, A. A. N., Fabiano-Smith, L., Boegner-Pagé, S., & Fontolliet, S. (2012). Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 29(1), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265659012466862