Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children: 2 (Child Language and Child Development) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853595705 ISBN 13: 9781853595707

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2002

Inhaltsangabe

This book provides new insights regarding the critical issues of theory and practice, including the interdependence of linguistic knowledge in bilinguals, the role of socioeconomic status, the effect of different language usage patterns in the home, and the role of schooling by single-language immersion.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

D. Kimbrough Oller, is Professor and Plough Chair of Excellence at the University of Memphis School of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. He is author of over 150 articles in language and speech, and an international authority in language learning. His research on English and Spanish-learning children as well as bilingual children is widely published, and his earlier book The Emergence of the Speech Capacity brings together results of his research of thirty years.

Rebecca E. Eilers is Professor of Psychology and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Maine. For nearly thirty years she has been a leading figure in infant speech perception and young child language as the primary author of a substantial literature on development of linguistic capabilities in children with Spanish and/or English in the home.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children

By D. Kimbrough Oller, Rebecca E. Eilers

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2002 D. Kimbrough Oller, Rebecca Eilers and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-85359-570-7

Contents

Acknowledgements, vii, 
Part 1: Background, 
1 Assessing the Effects of Bilingualism: A Background D. Kimbrough Oller and Barbara Zurer Pearson, 3, 
2 An Integrated Approach to Evaluating Effects of Bilingualism in Miami School Children: The Study Design D. Kimbrough Oller and Rebecca E. Eilers, 22, 
Part 2: Overall Results on Language Use and Standardized Test Performance, 
3 Bilingualism and Cultural Assimilation in Miami Hispanic Children Rececca E. Eilers, D. Kimbrough Oller and Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, 43, 
4 Effects of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education on Oral and Written English Skills: A Multifactor Study of Standardized Test Outcomes Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, Barbara Zurer Pearson, Rebecca E. Eilers and Vivian C. Umbel, 64, 
5 Effects of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education on Oral and Written Spanish Skills: A Multifactor Study of Standardized Test Outcomes Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, Barbara Zurer Pearson, Rebecca E. Eilers and Vivian C. Umbel, 98, 
6 Interdependence of Spanish and English Knowledge in Language and Literacy Among Bilingual Children Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, Rebecca E. Eilers, Barbara Zurer Pearson and Vivian C. Umbel, 118, 
Part 3: Probe Studies on Complex Language Capabilities, 
7 Narrative Competence among Monolingual and Bilingual School Children in Miami Barbara Zurer Pearson, 135, 
8 Command of the Mass/Count Distinction in Bilingual and Monolingual Children: An English Morphosyntactic Distinction Virginia C. Mueller Gathercole, 175, 
9 Grammatical Gender in Bilingual and Monolingual Children: A Spanish Morphosyntactic Distinction Virginia C. Mueller Gathercole, 207, 
10 Monolingual and Bilingual Acquisition: Learning Different Treatments of that-trace Phenomena in English and Spanish Virgina C. Mueller Gathercole, 220, 
11 The Ability of Bilingual and Monolingual Children to Perform Phonological Translation D. Kimbrough Oller and Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, 255, 
Part 4: A Retrospective View of the Research, 
12 Balancing Interpretations Regarding Effects of Bilingualism: Empirical Outcomes and Theoretical Possibilities D. Kimbrough Oller and Rebecca E. Eilers, 281, 
References, 293, 
Index, 308, 

CHAPTER 1

Assessing the Effects of Bilingualism: A Background

D. KIMBROUGH OLLER and BARBARA ZURER PEARSON

Monolingualism, Multilingualism, Culture and Politics

Multilingualism is all around us. Even in the United States, where a single language is clearly predominant, there are hundreds of languages spoken, both indigenous ones that predate the arrival of Europeans, and a vast array of languages from around the world. Yet the United States may be atypical in its possession of a single language to which immigrant populations as well as surviving indigenous ones have tended to assimilate with remarkable rapidity (Grosjean, 1982). The nations of the world often do not have a single predominant language, and even when they do, there are often other strong pretenders to the title. In India, the world's second most populous nation, the five most widely spoken languages (Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, and Tamil) all have more than 30 million speakers, but none of these languages is spoken by as much as a quarter of the population. In fact there are more than 200 languages in India, and it is typical for individuals, especially in urban areas, to speak several of them (Khubchandani, 1978; Southworth, 1980).

It is hard to estimate how many people worldwide are multilingual, although it is known that in practically every country in the world, people utilize more than one language in daily discourse. It is also hard to know whether the speaking of multiple languages was typical of prehistoric humans, but it is so common in modern times that it would be problematical to justify the assumption that the culturally pristine condition of our species is a monolingual one. The human organism is enormously adaptable, and multilingualism is one of the conspicuous signs of that gift.

The tendency of American institutions (whether officially or unofficially) to press everyone in the nation to speak English and to offer education in other languages only with reluctance (Hakuta, 1986) is viewed as a significant anomaly by many educated people from around the world, people who often view the fluent command of foreign languages as a requirement of a proper education. People around the world appear to experience a mixture of skepticism and envy in recognizing that Americans are often proudly monolingual. After all, English (especially American English) has swept the globe as the world's predominant lingua franca in both commercial and academic realms over the past few decades.

In the context of the obvious potency of American English as a medium of exchange that increasingly displays both social adaptability and prestige worldwide, it is surprising to witness the widespread, home-grown expressions of fear that the USA may be vulnerable to 'balkanization' due to the effects of many languages in our midst. The 'English-Only' movement (for commentary see Padilla et al., 1991) is merely the most recent of these expressions. Nor did official pressure to assert the dominance of English begin in reaction to the Bilingual Education Act of the Johnson Administration, a body of legislation designed, ironically, not to encourage bilingualism, but to hasten the accomplishment of the transition to English in children of non-English linguistic heritage. But since the late 1960s when the Johnson Administration's efforts began to take hold by establishing federally-sponsored bilingual programs of instruction for children with limited proficiency in English, there has emerged particular political pressure to reassert a reigning role for English.

The goal of the research in bilingualism to be reported in this volume is undeniably inspired in part by the political debate over the role of English and other languages in education in the USA. In the sometimes vicious disputation, there reside critical, though sometimes inexplicit questions of theoretical as well as practical interest.

(1) Does bilingualism, in and of itself, cause educational or cognitive harm to children?

(2) The first question can be turned on its head: does bilingualism, in and of itself, enrich children educationally or cognitively?

It may be that the answers to such questions depend in part upon the way we frame the questions, and upon what we view as desirable goals of education. The research upon which this volume is based began with the recognition that there are multiple ways to assess the effects of bilingualism. Oral skill in both languages is relevant to a comprehensive and evenhanded assessment. So are literacy and other academic capabilities in both languages. Yet very little research in the United States has addressed abilities in both languages of any bilingual group either in the oral realm or in literacy. The effects of knowing and being educated in more than one language may be different depending upon the age at which the learning of a second language is initiated, the type of educational approach that is used, and the social background of the learner (for discussion, see Meyer & Fienberg, 1992). Research has rarely been conducted to address such issues systematically and comprehensively. Furthermore, the multivariate nature of the issues produces a circumstance where any study yields complex interpretations and potentially important ambiguities. So it is not clear that there are simple answers to general questions about effects of bilingualism. Yet much public opinion in the USA has been influenced by expectations that there are straightforward, negative effects.

Background on the Evidence Regarding Effects of Bilingualism

Among those who fear that English might be lost in America amidst a sea of immigrant languages, there resides an abiding opinion that children should be educated in English alone, no matter what their language background before they began school in America. Advocacy in behalf of education by English immersion is often justified by easily documented demographic patterns of school performance on English-language and general measures presumed to reflect intelligence. Language minority students in the United States often show weaknesses on intelligence tests and on achievement tests in oral English, reading in English, and in other academic realms. This lack of success is of particular concern with respect to the large Spanish-language minority. The academic gap contributes to alarming dropout statistics among Hispanic students (Fernandez et al., 1989; Hirano-Nakanishi, 1986; Velez, 1989). The gap is clearly evident in evaluation of tests administered in English (Frase et al., 1999), but even when tested in Spanish, children from Spanish-speaking homes appear to achieve below monolingual norms, about one year below in elementary school, two years in 8th grade, and three years in 12th grade (De La Rosa& Maw, 1990; Goldenberg & Gallimore, 1991; Orfield, 1986).

The claim that bilingual children of many language backgrounds show academic or intellectual deficiencies was widespread through most of the 20th century (cf. Barke, 1933; Dunn, 1987; Jones & Stewart, 1951; Kittel, 1959; Macnamara, 1967; Saer, 1923; Smith, 1923; Yoshioka, 1929). The studies purporting to demonstrate such deficiencies typically showed a correlation between bilingual status and low scores on academic or intelligence tests.

The causes of these apparent deficiencies demand evaluation. Could the problem reside in bilingualism per se? Might the bilingual child be hampered by the extra cognitive/linguistic burden imposed by multiple language learning? It has been argued that 'time on task' (Porter, 1990; Rossell & Baker, 1996) in learning is a primary factor in success, and that dilution of time on task for each language in bilingual education causes bilingual students to be overburdened and consequently to be at risk for school failure. In accord with the reasoning, it might be thought that children in bilingual education who are allowed to speak and learn in their first language may fail to acquire English quickly or fully, and as a result, may emerge ill-prepared for further education or for employment in English, the primary language of the society.

In the USA, the key facts that have been invoked to support this reasoning have long been based upon the well-documented tendency of Hispanic-American children to perform poorly on various tests of achievement when compared with monolingual children (Dunn, 1987; Fernández & Nielsen, 1986; Smith, 1995; White & Vanneaman, 1995). This result, however, may not mean what it has often been interpreted to mean. While it is true that the average Hispanic child scores below the mean for the nation on academic tests, it is also true that the average Hispanic child in the United States is of lower socio-economic status than the average child as measured across the entire population. A substantial proportion of Hispanic children, especially in the past, were born into poverty. In studies comparing academic performance of Hispanic children of low socioeconomic status with non-Hispanic children of similar socioeconomic status, Hispanic children do not trail academically (Lambert, 1981; Peal & Lambert, 1962). These results suggest that poor academic performance could be the result of factors other than bilingualism (cf. August & Hakuta, 1997). A variety of factors could be involved since poverty is common in language-minority students, and poverty is associated with low educational levels in parents, poor nutrition, domestic violence, a sense of diminished status and self-worth, and lower levels of linguistic stimulation than are available to children of higher socioeconomic status. Children can fail in school for many reasons, and those who enter school at an academic disadvantage, either through lack of knowledge at entry, lack of socio-cultural support from the family for learning, or through effects of prejudice (social or ethnic) may be at risk for failure to thrive in school (Hart & Risley, 1981; 1992; Osborn, 1968).

In fact many bilingual children do well in school. A thorough analysis of the evidence on educational and linguistic outcomes for children educated in two languages yields a complex picture that suggests bilingual education is sometimes advantageous. Based in part on the results of the Canadian studies of bilingualism through French immersion in elementary school for children from English-speaking homes (Hart & Lapkin, 1989; Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Lapkin et al., 1980; Swain & Lapkin, 1991), it appears that, for some children, successful adaptation to the needs of bilingualism may produce academic and social advantages in comparison with monolingual peers.

It is important to note that for the past 30 years there have been a spate of investigations suggesting that bilingual children (and adults) actually possess significant and consistent advantages over monolinguals on a variety of metalinguistic and/or cognitive tasks. It has been posited that in order for the child to reach a threshold point of command for both languages, a variety of general cognitive and metalinguistic capabilities must be mastered, capabilities that monolinguals may be able to forego, or may not need to develop so soon or to the same extent (Cummins, 1979). Although both results and opinions about the validity of the empirical claims vary (for commentary see Hakuta & Diaz, 1985), specific capabilities that have been reported to be superior in bilinguals or superior in balanced bilinguals as opposed to partial bilinguals include metalinguistic capabilities related to the 'word concept' (Ben-Zeev, 1977, 1984; Bialystok, 1988; Cummins, 1978) and sometimes grammaticality judgments (Galambos & Goldin-Meadow, 1990; Galambos & Hakuta, 1988), as well as explanations and scientific formulations (Kessler & Quinn, 1980; Rosenblum & Pinker, 1983) and a variety of non-verbal capabilities (Ben-Zeev, 1984; Bialystok, 1992; Bialystok & Majumder, 1998; Hakuta, 1987; Peal & Lambert, 1962). Bialystok (1999) has particularly emphasized that bilingual advantages are often associated with tasks requiring metalinguistic 'control' or selective attention as opposed to 'analysis' (see also Butler, 2000). These findings encourage further evaluation of relatively good performance and relatively poor performance of bilingual children in academic domains.

Variables that Should be Controlled in Bilingual Education Research

The children in the Canadian studies were often of relatively high socioeconomic status. One possibility that we have entertained is that the apparent ability of children in the Canadian studies to profit from the bilingual experience may be the result of other advantages associated with their social backgrounds. Perhaps the children in the Canadian investigations received more academic attention at home than would have been available to children of lower socio-economic status. Perhaps they had more books to read at home. Perhaps they were physically healthier. Perhaps they had an especially positive opinion about their own cultural backgrounds. Perhaps this constellation of advantages (along with others known to be associated with high socio-economic status) made it possible for the Canadian participants in the studies to profit from the opportunities presented by bilingualism. Conversely, it could be that children who begin education at a disadvantage (because of less academic attention, fewer books to read at home, poorer physical health and so on) might find bilingualism more difficult to attain fully.

This reasoning suggests that circumstances surrounding language learning and the resources available to children for acquiring knowledge of the world could play critical roles in educational outcome. This thinking has helped to structure the design of certain aspects of the work represented here.

Bilingualism might be expected to produce positive effects for children whose social advantages are high while producing negative effects for children whose social advantages are low. In the prior literature assessing effects of bilingualism, direct evidence to address these possibilities is hard to come by.

The failure of incorporation of the socio-economic status (SES) factor in much of the previous work on the effects of bilingualism is not the only serious flaw in that body of research. Perhaps most important among the commonly missing components in research in the United States has been thorough evaluation of the abilities of children in both languages. In general, research on bilingual education has simply not included the dependent variable of home language skill. Without it we cannot develop a comprehensive perspective on the knowledge of bilingual children, either academic or non-academic. Furthermore, up to the present, we have had little basis for gauging the effect of the extent to which children of limited English proficiency (LEP) have knowledge of English when they come to school. Retrospective research, the standard approach in past work on bilingual education, has generally not provided access to information about the level of exposure children experience to each language outside of school. Extent of English knowledge at entry to school could play a critical role in achievement of oral capability and literacy (see Cummins, 1979) and needs to be evaluated as an independent variable. Finally, it is possible that the method by which children are educated at school in the home language and in English could play a major role (either through a main effect or through an interaction with other factors) in how bilingualism affects children's learning. There has been extensive research on this topic, but future efforts are needed to integrate work on educational method more thoroughly with evaluation of socio-economic status and language spoken at home, and the work needs to include dependent variables for knowledge of both the home language and English.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children by D. Kimbrough Oller, Rebecca E. Eilers. Copyright © 2002 D. Kimbrough Oller, Rebecca Eilers and the authors of individual chapters. Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2002
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1853595705
• ISBN 13: 9781853595707
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320
• Herausgeber: Oller Kimbrough, Eilers Rebecca
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar