Acquisition of Mandarin tones by Canadian first graders: Effect of prior exposure to tonal and non-tonal languages.

This study examines the tone productions of school-aged children with and without a tonal language background who are learning Mandarin as a second language (L2) or heritage language in Mandarin-English bilingual schools in Western Canada. Tones are frequently identified as one of the most challenging aspects of phonology for Mandarin L2 learners to acquire. In this study, tone productions of bilingual children from three home language backgrounds, English, Cantonese, and Mandarin Chinese, were compared for transcribed accuracy using mixed effects logistic regression. In addition, the fundamental frequency contours of correct tone productions were fitted with generalized additive mixed models to analyse the acoustic differences between groups. Error patterns were also analysed for possible Cantonese substitutions. Our results suggest that children with a Cantonese background are more accurate in tone productions than children with an English language background, but they also made more errors than their peers with a Mandarin language background. These findings suggest that a tonal language background could result in positive transfer among school-age children who are in the early stages of learning Mandarin as an L2.

A conceptual model of second language pronunciation in communicative contexts: Implications for children's bilingual education.

Second language (L2) pronunciation patterns that differ from those of first language (L1) speakers can affect communication effectiveness. Research on children's L2 pronunciation in bilingual education that involves non-English languages is much needed for the field of language acquisition. Due to limited research in these specific populations and languages, researchers often need to refer to literature on L2 pronunciation in general. However, the multidisciplinary literature can be difficult to access. This paper draws on research from different disciplines to provide a brief but holistic overview of L2 pronunciation. A conceptual model of L2 pronunciation is developed to organize multidisciplinary literature, including interlocutors' interactions at three layers: the sociopsychological, acquisitional, and productive-perceptual layers. Narrative literature review method is used to identify themes and gaps in the field. It is suggested that challenges related to L2 pronunciation exist in communication. However, the interlocutors share communication responsibilities and can improve their communicative and cultural competencies. Research gaps are identified and indicate that more studies on child populations and non-English L2s are warranted to advance the field. Furthermore, we advocate for evidence-based education and training programs to improve linguistic and cultural competencies for both L1 speakers and L2 speakers to facilitate intercultural communication.

Acoustic Characteristics of Rhotic Vowel Productions of Young Children.

AIMS: This study examined the acoustic characteristics of perceptually acceptable rhotic vowels produced by young children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs). Productions were analyzed in relation to the overall rhotic proficiency level of each child, as determined by rhotic vowel and consonant accuracy. The effect of the surrounding phonetic contexts on acoustic realization of rhotic vowels was also examined. METHODS: Participants included 18 children aged 2-6 years with and without SSD, grouped by overall rhotic sound proficiency (high rhotic proficiency: ≥70% correct rhotic consonants and vowels; intermediate rhotic proficiency: ≤30% correct rhotic consonants, but ≥70% correct rhotic vowels; low rhotic proficiency: ≤30% correct rhotic consonants and vowels). Target sounds included stressed and unstressed rhotic monophthongs ([ɝ] and [ɚ], respectively) and 4 rhotic diphthongs that differ by pre-rhotic vowel type (/ɪ͡ɚ/, /ɛ͡ɚ/, /ɔ͡ɚ/, /ɑ͡ɚ/). F3 and F3-F2 measures were compared across groups and contexts. RESULTS: No significant differences in F3 and F3-F2 by rhotic sound proficiency group were found in rhotic vowels produced by children with above 70% rhotic vowel accuracy, regardless of their proficiency with rhotic consonants. Acoustic patterns differed by phonetic contexts, but the effect varied by rhotic sound proficiency group. CONCLUSION: Results showed that once children learn to produce rhotic vowels, they show a comparable degree of rhoticity as those produced by children with high rhotic vowel and consonant accuracy. Results also suggest that rhotic sounds develop earlier in certain phonetic contexts than in others (e.g., [ɝ] before [ɚ]; /ɪ͡ɚ/ and /ɑ͡ɚ/ before /ɔ͡ɚ/).

Rhotic vowel accuracy and error patterns in young children with and without Speech Sound Disorders.

Rhotic vowels are known to be difficult sounds for children to learn, but their acquisition has not been investigated in detail. This study examined rhotic vowel development, including accuracy and error patterns, in young children across age, diagnostic groups, and phonetic contexts. Participants included 34 children from 2 to 6 years of age with and without speech sound disorders (SSD). Data included 36 elicited single words containing stressed and unstressed rhotic monophthongs ([ɜ˞] and [ə˞]) and four rhotic diphthongs (/ɪ͡ə˞/, /ε͡ə˞/, /ɔ͡ə˞/, and /ɑ͡ə˞/). Additional words containing non-rhotic vowels and the consonant /ɹ/ were also included for comparison. A significant difference in rhotic vowel production accuracy was found between diagnostic groups (with vs. without SSD), but not across age groups or phonetic contexts. Yet, the accuracy scores for children without SSD were bimodally distributed, showing overlapping patterns with children with SSD. Error patterns were examined for all children with low rhotic vowel accuracy scores, regardless of age and diagnostic status. Results of this study highlight the variability in rhotic vowel development in young children and the importance of studying rhotic sounds using overall rhotic sound accuracy of each individual child regardless of their age or diagnostic status. Clinically, systematic within-speaker error patterns suggest the need for the detailed error pattern assessment of rhotic sounds.

Transcription-based and acoustic analyses of rhotic vowels produced by children with and without speech sound disorders: further analyses from the Memphis Vowel Project.

The acquisition of rhotic monophthongs (/ɝ/ and /ɚ/) and diphthongs (/ɪ͡ɚ, ɛ͡ɚ, ɔ͡ɚ and ɑ͡ɚ/) was examined in 3- and 4-year-old children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs), using both transcription-based and acoustic analyses. African-American (AA) and European-American (EA) participants (n = 40) with and without SSD were selected from archival data collected as part of the Memphis Vowel Project. Dialect variation influenced rhotic vowels differently for EA and AA children, thus their data were reported separately. Transcription-based analyses showed wide variation in the accuracy of different rhotic vowels. The most frequent error pattern for children with SSD was Derhoticization to a Back Rounded Vowel (e.g. /ɝ/ → [ʊ]; /ɪ͡ɚ/ → [ɪ͡о]). Rhotic diphthong reduction errors were less frequent; however, Coalesence (/ɑ͡ɚ/ → [ɔ]) was often observed for /ɑ͡ɚ/. F2, F3 and F3-F2 spectral movement patterns revealed differences between productions transcribed as correct and incorrect.

Phonological processing skills of children adopted internationally.

PURPOSE: In recent years, large numbers of children have been adopted from abroad into the United States. This has prompted an interest in understanding and improving the developmental outcomes for these children. Although a growing number of studies have investigated the early language development of children who have been adopted internationally, few have focused specifically on the phonological processing development of this group of children, even though it is widely acknowledged that phonological processing skills are important in language and literacy acquisition. The purpose of this study was to examine the phonological processing skills of a group of children who had been adopted from China into the United States. METHOD: The participants were 45 children who had been adopted from China ( M age at adoption = 13.09 months). The children were assessed between the ages of 6;10 (years;months) and 9;4. Their phonological processing skills, spoken language skills, and reading comprehension skills were assessed using norm-referenced measures. RESULTS: Overall, the majority of children scored at or above the average ranges across measures of phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming. The children's reading comprehension scores were moderately to highly correlated with their phonological processing scores, but age at the time of adoption was not highly correlated with phonological processing or reading comprehension. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study provide a basis for an optimistic view regarding the later language and literacy development of school-age children who were internationally adopted by the age of 2 years.

Speech and language development in six infants adopted from China.

Children adopted from China currently represent the largest group of newly internationally adopted children in the US. An exploratory investigation of the communicative development of six young females adopted at ages 9 to 17 months from China by US families was conducted. Children were followed longitudinally from approximately three months post-adoption to age three years. English language skills were assessed at approximately three-month intervals, detailed communicative analyses were conducted at six months post-adoption, and outcomes were measured at three years of age. Results indicated wide variability in rates of English language development. Phonological, social-communicative, and lexical bases of communication were intact for each child at six months post-adoption. At age three years, four of the children demonstrated speech and language skills within one standard deviation of standardized test norms, one child demonstrated skills above the normal range, and one child's skills were below the normal range. This study provides evidence of the resiliency of children's language learning abilities.

Language development in preschool-age children adopted from China.

This study examined the language development of 55 preschool-age children adopted from China who had resided in their permanent homes for approximately 2 years or longer. Slightly over 5% of the children scored below average on 2 or more measures from a battery of standardized speech-language tests normed on monolingual English speakers. However, the vast majority scored within or well above the average range on 2 or more measures. Contrary to other reports on the language development of internationally adopted children, the results suggest that "second first language" acquisition proceeds rapidly in the majority of preschool-age children adopted as infants and toddlers. For the children in the sample who scored below average, results indicated that they were among the children who had been exposed to English for the least amount of time. The results of this study demonstrate both the robustness of the language system in the majority of adopted children from China as well as slower growth in a small subset of lower performers in the 1st years after adoption.

Early language growth in children adopted from China: preliminary normative data.

Normative data on English language development in children adopted from China are needed to determine whether a child's language skills are within normal limits or significantly delayed relative to his or her peers who are other children adopted from China. A longitudinal survey of children adopted from China, modified from a similar survey used by Glennen and Masters (American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2002;11:417-433) with children adopted from Eastern Europe, was used to collect information on English language development from over 150 children at 3-month intervals. Preliminary results are presented here, based on 808 surveys from 141 children grouped by age at time of adoption. In general, children adopted at older ages used more words and produced longer sentences at each 3-month interval postadoption, but had further to go to "catch up" to norms for nonadopted monolingual English-speaking peers of the same age. Individual profiles illustrate the variation seen within groups, with some children performing at or above age level and others showing varying levels of "delay" relative to nonadopted monolingual English-speaking peers and/or adopted peers.

Phonological skills of children adopted from China: implications for assessment.

Little is known about the acquisition of English phonology by children adopted from China. Data are summarized from three recent studies with a focus on the phonological skills of children adopted from China as infants or toddlers. Two longitudinal studies (combined n = 8) described early phonological behaviors (e.g., babbling, phonetic inventories), and found substantial individual variation. In spite of this variation by 3 years of age, nearly all of the children were performing at a level comparable to nonadopted monolingual English-speaking peers. No clear relationship between the early behaviors and outcome at age 3 was found. The third study provided descriptions of the phonological skills of preschoolers ( n = 25) who had been adopted 2 or more years earlier, and found that only a few had persistent phonological delays. Errors were predominantly common developmental errors frequently observed in nonadopted monolingual English-speaking children. These findings suggest that tests and measures developed for monolingual English-speaking children may be used cautiously with children adopted as infants or toddlers who have been in their permanent homes for 2 or more years. Prior to that time, assessment should focus on independent analyses of phonological behaviors with consideration of the child's chronological age, length of exposure to English, and development in other language domains.

Continued catch-up and language delay in children adopted from China.

Most internationally adopted children learn their new language rapidly after adoption. What is not known is whether these gains continue at the same developmental pace throughout the preschool years. To answer this question, the continued language development of the 10 lowest performers from a cohort of 55 preschool-aged children adopted from China was examined. All 55 children had originally been assessed approximately 2 years earlier as preschoolers. The purpose was to examine whether continued English language exposure resulted in greater gain scores on a battery of standardized speech-language tests normed on monolingual English speakers. The 10 lowest performers were retested on the same battery approximately 2 years later. Scores on the second testing were examined in two ways. First, the amount of gain made from first to second testing for each child was examined, and second, the low performers were compared with adopted children from the original cohort who were matched for age and duration of time in the United States. It was found that more than half of the low-scoring children made clinically significant gains on the second assessment, but that low performers as a group scored below the level of matched peers in the cohort, even after approximately 2 years of additional English language exposure.

Incidence of non-rhotic vowel errors in children: data from the Memphis Vowel Project.

Attention to vowels in phonological development and disorders has increased in recent years, but the incidence of vowel errors in children with phonological disorders has not yet been determined. In the present study, percentage of non-rhotic vowels correct (PVC-NR) was measured in single word productions of 314 monolingual American English-speaking children, 165 with normal phonology (NP) and 149 with delayed/disordered phonology (DP). Three cutoffs (PVC-NR < 85, < 90 and < 95) were used to determine incidence of vowel errors. The percentage of younger NP children (18 to 35 months of age) exhibiting vowel errors was high (24 to 65%, depending on the cutoff used), but decreased with age. Incidence of vowel errors in older NP children (> or = 36 months) was minimal (0 to 4%). In the DP group (age range 30 to 81 months), 11 to 32% exhibited vowel errors. DP children with moderate to severe consonant errors were at greatest risk for concurrent vowel errors.