Understanding (un)grammaticality in context: Evidence from young Spanish-English bilinguals over time.

PURPOSE: Percent grammatical utterances (PGU) provides clinicians and researchers with meaningful information on young children's grammatical abilities (Eisenberg & Guo, 2016). However, work is still needed to place PGU within the context of conventional language sample measures and understand how PGU reflects grammatical development in bilingual populations. The current study focuses on Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers to examine: 1) change in Spanish and English PGU over one year of preschool English instruction, 2) associations between PGU and other language sample measures within each language and across time, and 3) the types and frequency of error patterns in each language. METHOD: Play-based language samples were elicited in English and Spanish from bilingual children (n = 19) at the beginning and end of an instructional preschool year in English. PGU was derived from each sample along with other language sample measures (e.g., mean length of utterance). We examined change in PGU from Time 1 to Time 2, and correlations between Time 1 PGU and Time 2 PGU for each language. Specific grammatical errors were described in terms of their frequency in each language and stability across time. RESULTS: Average English PGU increased from Time 1 to Time 2, and correlated with other language sample measures. Conversely, average Spanish PGU did not increase from Time 1 to Time 2, nor did PGU correlate with any other Spanish measure. Error patterns in each language reflected grammatical differences across English and Spanish. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed distinct developmental patterns in bilingual children's first and second languages. Associations between time points and measures in English contrasted with disassociations in Spanish. Error patterns revealed more detailed information as to how bilingual children begin to acquire grammatical structures in each of their languages. We provide a case example to illustrate how grammaticality and error patterns can be used to characterize children's language abilities. We conclude with clinical implications of grammaticality in Spanish-English bilingual children.

Word-final complexity in speech sound intervention: two case studies.

In speech sound intervention, consonant clusters promote generalisation (i.e. improvement in untreated sounds and words), ostensibly due to their relative complexity compared to other phonological targets. However, our understanding of clusters as intervention targets is largely restricted to those in word-initial position (e.g. [fl-], flip). The present study extends available work to consider the effects of word-final consonant cluster targets (e.g. [-ks]). Phonologically complex word-final clusters may be morphologically simple (e.g. mix) or morphologically complex (e.g. packs, inflected with third-person singular) - yet this cross-domain complexity remains an understudied phenomenon. Presently, two case studies provide an initial investigation of word-final cluster intervention targets for children with phonologically based speech sound disorders. Intervention targets for both Anna (3;7 [years;months]) and David (4;1) featured the phonologically complex word-final cluster [-ks], with Anna's target being morphologically simple and David's being morphologically complex. Intervention was provided in 45-minute, individual sessions three times per week for a maximum of 18 sessions. Both children demonstrated high target accuracy by intervention's end. Following intervention, both children demonstrated progress in intelligibility and ability to produce word-final consonant clusters; David further demonstrated generalisation across multiple measures. Results are interpreted with consideration of individual differences and existing research on complexity in phonological intervention. Overall, present findings motivate continued research, as manipulation of word-final complexity allows for emphasis on a context that is relevant for children with speech sound disorders, for peers with difficulties in morphology (including word-final grammatical morphemes) and for the substantial proportion of children demonstrating weaknesses in both domains.

Language dominance predicts cognate effects and metalinguistic awareness in preschool bilinguals.

The current work investigates whether language dominance predicts transfer of skills across cognitive-linguistic levels from the native language (Spanish) to the second language (English) in bilingual preschoolers. Sensitivity to cognates (elephant/elefante in English/Spanish) and metalinguistic awareness (MLA) have both been shown to transfer from the dominant to the nondominant language. Examining these types of transfer together using a continuous measure of language dominance may allow us to better understand the effect of the home language in children learning a majority language in preschool. Forty-six preschool-aged, Spanish-English bilinguals completed English receptive vocabulary and metalinguistic tasks indexing cognate effects and MLA. Language dominance was found to predict crosslinguistic (cognate) facilitation from Spanish to English. In addition, MLA skills also transferred from Spanish to English for children with lower English proficiency, and no transfer of MLA was evident for children with higher English proficiency. Altogether, findings suggest that transfer from a dominant first language to a nondominant second language happens at linguistic and cognitive-linguistic levels in preschoolers, although possibly influenced by second language proficiency. The current study has implications for supporting the home language for holistic cognitive-linguistic development.

Complexity and cross-linguistic transfer in intervention for Spanish-English bilingual children with speech sound disorder.

With bilingual children, intervention for speech sound disorders must consider both of the child's phonological systems, which are known to interact with each other in development. Further, cross-linguistic generalization following intervention for bilingual children with speech sound disorders (i.e., the impact of treatment in one language on the other) has been documented to varying degrees in some prior studies. However, none to date have documented the cross-linguistic impact of treatment with complex targets (e.g., consonant clusters) for bilingual children. Because complex phonological targets have been shown to induce system-wide generalization within a single language, the potential for bilingual children to generalize learning across languages could impact the efficiency of intervention in this population. This pilot intervention study examines the system-wide, cross-linguistic effects of treatment targeting consonant clusters in Spanish for two Spanish-English bilingual children with phonological disorder. Treatment was provided with 45-minute sessions in Spanish via teletherapy, three times per week for six weeks. Comprehensive phonological probes were administered in English and Spanish prior to intervention and across multiple baselines. Pre-intervention data were compared to data from probes administered during and after intervention to generate qualitative and quantitative measures of treatment outcomes and cross-linguistic generalization. Results indicate a medium effect size for system-wide generalization in Spanish (the language of treatment) and English (not targeted in treatment), for both participants (mean effect size in Spanish: 3.6; English 4.3). These findings have implications for across-language transfer and system-wide generalization in treatment for bilingual children.

Beyond Scores: Using Converging Evidence to Determine Speech and Language Services Eligibility for Dual Language Learners.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists have both a professional and ethical responsibility to provide culturally competent services to dual language learners (DLLs). In this tutorial, we recommend that clinicians use a comprehensive assessment of converging evidence to make diagnostic decisions in DLLs in accordance with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Code of Ethics. The content of this tutorial is most appropriate for Spanish-English DLLs between the ages of 4 and 8 years. Method We propose a converging evidence approach, in which one single method is not the deciding factor in making diagnostic decisions regarding the dual language and speech production skills of DLLs. Converging evidence refers to the idea that multiple pieces of assessment data must come together and trend in the same direction to make a diagnostic decision. We recommend gathering assessment data using a combination of language experience questionnaires, bilingual language sample analysis using large-scale reference databases, evaluation of learning potential, and standardized testing. These four assessment methods allow clinicians to examine the child in different contexts to determine their strengths and weakness in communication abilities. Conclusion We illustrate the converging evidence framework using two case studies to guide the clinician through the diagnostic decision-making process.

Grammatical Characteristics of Vietnamese and English in Developing Bilingual Children.

Purpose Defining parameters for typical development in bilingual children's first and second languages can serve as the basis for accurate language assessment. This is the first study to characterize Vietnamese and English grammatical development in a sample of bilingual children. Method Participants were 89 Vietnamese-English bilingual children, aged 3-8 years. Children completed story retell tasks in Vietnamese and English. Stories were transcribed and analyzed for grammaticality, error patterns, subordination index, and types of subordinating clauses. Of key interest were associations with age and identifying developmental patterns that were shared across languages or unique to a given language. Results Age correlated with more measures in English than in Vietnamese, suggesting that older children had higher grammaticality and greater syntactic complexity in English than younger children. Children also produced greater syntactic complexity with age in Vietnamese, but not higher grammaticality. There were a set of error patterns shared across languages (e.g., object omission) and patterns specific to each language (e.g., classifier errors in Vietnamese, tense errors in English). While children produced nominal, adverbial, and relative clauses in Vietnamese and English, the proportion of each clause type differed by language. Conclusions Results from this typically developing sample provide a reference point to improve clinical practice. Characterizing developmental patterns in sentence structure in Vietnamese and English lays the groundwork for investigations of language disorders in this bilingual population.

Capitalizing on cross-language similarities in intervention with bilingual children.

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of a vocabulary intervention for bilingual children that was conducted in children's first language, Spanish, and included explicit instruction on cognates. We measured effects in terms of change from pre- to post-intervention in Spanish as well as associations with the non-target language, English. METHOD: Participants were 12 Spanish-English bilingual children, aged 6-8 years, with and without Developmental Language Disorder. Children completed the intervention in pairs (one child with DLD and a typically developing peer) for 70-minute sessions, 3 days a week, for four weeks. Intervention targeted 32 words (16 cognates, 16 non-cognates) using four storybooks (8 words/book) and interactive activities that highlighted similarities across languages. Pre- and post-intervention measures in Spanish and English included tasks of word definition and cognate facilitation. RESULTS: As a group, children showed improvement in definition quality and cognate naming in Spanish. There was a positive correlation between definition quality and cognate naming for the typically developing children, but not for the children with DLD. All children showed positive cross-language correlations on post-intervention measures. CONCLUSIONS: Bilingual children, with and without DLD, have the capacity to improve in their awareness and use of cognates. Explicit teaching of cognates can be an effective tool for building vocabulary skills. Children with DLD may need additional time and support to apply their knowledge of cognates to vocabulary learning.

Towards understanding the bilingual profile in typical and atypical language development: A tutorial.

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to inform assessment, treatment and research approaches that are uniquely tailored to bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD), a communication disorder characterised by weaknesses in language production and comprehension.Method: A review is presented on what is known about joint language activation in adult and child bilinguals. This supports a discussion of the bilingual profile, which includes cross-language interactions and associations with broader cognitive functions. This is followed by consideration on how these bilingual phenomena may manifest in the context of relatively weak language skills, as is the case with DLD.Result: In addition to exploring the bilingual profile, guidelines are provided for incorporating cognates - a type of translation equivalent with distinct overlap in form and meaning that enhances cross-linguistic interactions - in language assessment, therapy and research.Conclusion: The field of speech-language pathology would benefit from more tools specifically designed for bilingual children. Already, there is interest in clinical applications of cognates, as they may support transfer and generalisation across languages. Future research is needed to better explore this potential in child bilinguals, particularly those with DLD. Such work would help establish a developmental bilingual language processing model with clinical relevance.

Treatment Targets for Co-Occurring Speech-Language Impairment: A Case Study.

PURPOSE: The intersection of speech and language impairments is severely understudied. Despite repeatedly documented overlap and co-occurrence, treatment research for children with combined phonological and morphosyntactic deficits is limited. Especially little is known about optimal treatment targets for combined phonological-morphosyntactic intervention. We offer a clinically focused discussion of the existing literature pertaining to interventions for children with combined deficits and present a case study exploring the utility of a complex treatment target in word-final position for co-occurring speech and language impairment. METHOD: Within a school setting, a kindergarten child (age 5;2) with co-occurring phonological disorder and developmental language disorder received treatment targeting a complex consonant cluster in word-final position inflected with third-person singular morphology. RESULTS: For this child, training a complex consonant cluster in word-final position resulted in generalized learning to untreated consonants and clusters across word positions. However, morphological generalization was not demonstrated consistently across measures. CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings suggest that training complex phonology in word-final position can result in generalized learning to untreated phonological targets. However, limited improvement in morphology and word-final phonology highlights the need for careful monitoring of cross-domain treatment outcomes and additional research to identify the characteristics of treatment approaches, techniques, and targets that induce cross-domain generalization learning in children with co-occurring speech-language impairment.

Identifying Developmental Language Disorder in Vietnamese Children.

Purpose Developmental language disorder (DLD), defined by low language performance despite otherwise normal development, can negatively impact children's social and academic outcomes. This study is the 1st to examine DLD in Vietnamese. To lay the foundation, we identified cases of DLD in Vietnam and explored language-specific characteristics of the disorder. Method Teacher ratings of 1,250 kindergarteners living in Hanoi, Vietnam, were used to recruit children with and without risk for DLD. One hundred four children completed direct measures of vocabulary and language sampling, and their parents completed in-depth surveys. We examined convergence and divergence across tasks to identify measures that could serve as reliable indicators of risk. Then, we compared performance on direct language measures across ability levels. Results There were positive associations between teacher and parent report and between report and direct language measures. Three groups were identified based on convergence across measures: DLD, some risk for DLD, and no risk. The DLD group performed lowest on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance, and grammaticality. Although children with DLD exhibited a greater number of errors, the types of errors found were similar across DLD and No Risk groups. Conclusions Similar to rates found globally, 7% of the kindergarten population in Vietnam exhibited risk for DLD. Results highlight the importance of parent and teacher report and the value of multiple measures to identify DLD. We discuss potential clinical markers for DLD in the Vietnamese language and outline future directions.

Spanish-English Bilingual Children's Relative Use of English Tense and Agreement Morphemes.

Best practice for bilingual speakers involves considering performance in each language the client uses. To support this practice for young clients, a comprehensive understanding of how bilingual children develop skills in each language is needed. To that end, the present work investigates relative use of English tense and agreement (T/A) morphemes - a skill frequently considered as part of a complete language assessment - in Spanish-English developing bilingual preschoolers with varying levels of language ability. Results indicate that developing bilingual children with both typical and weak language skills demonstrate greater use of copula and auxiliary BE relative to third person singular, past tense and auxiliary DO. Findings thus reveal a relative ranking of T/A morphemes in developing bilingual children that differs from that of English monolingual children, who demonstrate relatively later emergence and productivity of auxiliary BE. In turn, findings demonstrate the importance of utilizing appropriate comparisons in clinical practice.

Evaluating English Morpheme Accuracy, Diversity, and Productivity Measures in Language Samples of Developing Bilinguals.

Purpose: This work explores the clinical relevance of three measures of morpheme use for preschool-age Spanish-English bilingual children with varying language skills. The 3 measures reflect accuracy, diversity (the tense marker total), and productivity (the tense and agreement productivity score [TAP score]) of the English tense and agreement system. Method: Measures were generated from language samples collected at the beginning and end of the participants' preschool year. Participants included 74 typically developing Spanish-English bilinguals and 19 peers with low language skills. The morpheme measures were evaluated with regard to their relationships with other language sample measures, their ability to reflect group differences, and their potential for capturing morphological development at group and individual levels. Results: Across both groups, the tense marker total and TAP scores were associated with other language measures and demonstrated both group differences and growth over time. The accuracy measure met few of these benchmarks. Conclusion: The tense marker total and TAP score, which were designed to capture emerging morphological abilities, contribute valuable information to a comprehensive language assessment of young bilinguals developing English. Case examples are provided to illustrate the clinical significance of including these measures in assessment.

Influences of Phonological Context on Tense Marking in Spanish-English Dual Language Learners.

Purpose: The emergence of tense-morpheme marking during language acquisition is highly variable, which confounds the use of tense marking as a diagnostic indicator of language impairment in linguistically diverse populations. In this study, we seek to better understand tense-marking patterns in young bilingual children by comparing phonological influences on marking of 2 word-final tense morphemes. Method: In spontaneous connected speech samples from 10 Spanish-English dual language learners aged 56-66 months (M = 61.7, SD = 3.4), we examined marking rates of past tense -ed and third person singular -s morphemes in different environments, using multiple measures of phonological context. Results: Both morphemes were found to exhibit notably contrastive marking patterns in some contexts. Each was most sensitive to a different combination of phonological influences in the verb stem and the following word. Conclusions: These findings extend existing evidence from monolingual speakers for the influence of word-final phonological context on morpheme production to a bilingual population. Further, novel findings not yet attested in previous research support an expanded consideration of phonological context in clinical decision making and future research related to word-final morphology.

Cognate identification methods: Impacts on the cognate advantage in adult and child Spanish-English bilinguals.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether four different cognate identification methods resulted in notably different classifications of cognate status for Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III) test items and to investigate whether differences across criteria would impact findings of cognate effects in adult and preschool-aged Spanish-English bilingual speakers. METHODOLOGY: We compared four cognate identification methods: an objective criterion based on phonological overlap; two subjective criteria based on a translation elicitation task; and a hybrid criterion integrating objective and subjective standards. We then used each criterion to investigate cognate effects on the PPVT-III in 26 adult and 73 child Spanish-English bilinguals. DATA AND ANALYSIS: The test items identified as cognates by each criterion were compared (Experiment 1). Then, cognate advantage magnitudes, cognate accuracy rates, non-cognate accuracy rates, and number of individuals demonstrating the cognate advantage were investigated in both adult (Experiment 2) and child bilinguals (Experiment 3). CONCLUSIONS: Objective and subjective cognate identification methods were found to select notably different subsets of test items as cognates. Further, the methods led to differences in cognate effects, as well as in cognate and non-cognate accuracy rates, for both child and adult bilinguals. ORIGINALITY: Although the cognate advantage has been widely studied in adult bilinguals, research on the cognate advantage in child bilinguals is limited and methods of identifying cognates are inconsistent across studies. The present study provides information about cognate effects in a young population and is the first comparison of objective and subjective approaches to cognate identification. IMPLICATIONS: This study extends previous work on cognate word processing in both child and adult bilinguals. Further, results offer an evaluation of methodologies that are critical for investigating the cognate advantage. This both facilitates interpretation of previous findings and can be used to guide methodological decisions in future research.