Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:34:11.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MAPLE: A Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2019

Krista Byers-Heinlein Open the ORCID record for Krista Byers-Heinlein [Opens in a new window] ,
Esther Schott Open the ORCID record for Esther Schott [Opens in a new window] ,
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero Open the ORCID record for Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero [Opens in a new window] ,
Melanie Brouillard Open the ORCID record for Melanie Brouillard [Opens in a new window] ,
Daphnée Dubé ,
Amel Jardak ,
Alexandra Laoun-Rubenstein ,
Meghan Mastroberardino ,
Elizabeth Morin-Lessard Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Morin-Lessard [Opens in a new window]  and
Sadaf Pour Iliaei
...Show all authors
Krista Byers-Heinlein*
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Esther Schott
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Melanie Brouillard
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Daphnée Dubé
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Amel Jardak
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Alexandra Laoun-Rubenstein
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Meghan Mastroberardino
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Elizabeth Morin-Lessard
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Sadaf Pour Iliaei
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Nicholas Salama-Siroishka
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Maria Paula Tamayo
Affiliation:
Concordia University
*
Address for correspondence: Krista Byers-Heinlein, E-mail: k.byers@concordia.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Bilingual infants vary in when, how, and how often they hear each of their languages. Variables such as the particular languages of exposure, the community context, the onset of exposure, the amount of exposure, and socioeconomic status are crucial for describing any bilingual infant sample. Parent report is an effective approach for gathering data about infants’ language experience. However, its quality is highly dependent on how information is elicited. This paper introduces a Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates (MAPLE). MAPLE promotes best practices for using structured interviews to reliably elicit information from parents on bilingual infants’ language background, with an emphasis on the challenging task of quantifying infants’ relative exposure to each language. We discuss sensitive issues that must be navigated in this process, including diversity in family characteristics and cultural values. Finally, we identify six systematic effects that can impact parent report, and strategies for minimizing their influence.

Keywords

infantsbilingualismlanguage exposureparent report
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , November 2020 , pp. 951 - 957
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bedore, LM, Peña, ED, Summers, CL, Boerger, KM, Resendiz, MD, Greene, K, Bohman, TM and Gillam, RB (2012) The measure matters: Language dominance profiles across measures in Spanish–English bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15, 616–629. doi:10.1017/S1366728912000090CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bohman, TM, Bedore, LM, Pena, ED, Mendez-Perez, A and Gillam, RB (2010) What you hear and what you say: Language performance in Spanish-English bilinguals. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 13, 325–344. doi:10.1080/13670050903342019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, MH, Hahn, CS, Suwalsky, J and Haynes, M (2014). Socioeconomic status, parenting and child development: The Hollingshead Four-Factor Index of Social Status and the socioeconomic index of occupations. In Bornstein, MH and Bradley, RH (eds), Monographs in Parenting Series. Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 29–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosch, L and Sebastián-Gallés, N (1997) Native-language recognition abilities in 4-month-old infants from monolingual and bilingual environments. Cognition 65, 33–69. doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(97)00040-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosch, L and Sebastián-Gallés, N (2001) Evidence of early language discrimination abilities in infants from bilingual environments. Infancy 2, 29–49. doi:10.1207/S15327078IN0201_3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byers-Heinlein, K (2013) Parental language mixing: Its measurement and the relation of mixed input to young bilingual children's vocabulary size. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16, 32–48. doi: 10.1017/S1366728912000120CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K (2014) Languages as categories: Reframing the “One Language or Two” question in early bilingual development. Language Learning 64, 184–201. doi:10.1111/lang.12055CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K (2017). Comparing global and day-in-the-life estimates of language exposure. Presented at the International Association for the Study of Child Language: Lyon.Google Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K, Fennell, CT and Werker, JF (2013) The development of associative word learning in monolingual and bilingual infants. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16, 198–205. doi:10.1017/S1366728912000417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K, Morin-Lessard, E and Lew-Williams, C (2017) Bilingual infants control their languages as they listen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, 9032–9037. doi:10.1073/pnas.1703220114CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeAnda, S, Bosch, L, Poulin-Dubois, D, Zesiger, P and Friend, M (2016) The language exposure assessment tool: Quantifying language exposure in infants and children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 59, 1346–1356. doi:10.1044/2016_JSLHR-L-15-0234CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Houwer, A (1990). The acquisition of two languages from birth: A case study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, A (2007) Parental language input patterns and children's bilingual use. Applied Psycholinguistics 28, 411–424. doi: 10.1017/S0142716407070221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, A (2011) Language input environments and language development in bilingual acquisition. Applied Linguistics Review 2, 221–240. doi:10.1515/9783110239331.221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, A and Bornstein, MH (2016) Bilingual mothers’ language choice in child-directed speech: continuity and change. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–14. doi:10.1080/01434632.2015.1127929Google ScholarPubMed
Dollaghan, CA, Campbell, TF, Paradise, JL, Feldman, HM, Janosky, JE, Pitcairn, DN and Kurs-Lasky, M (1999) Maternal education and measures of early speech and language. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 42, 1432–1443. doi:10.1044/jslhr.4206.1432CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Döpke, S (1992). One parent one language: An interactional approach (Vol. 3). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A, Marchman, VA and Weisleder, A (2013) SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science 16, 234–248. doi:10.1111/desc.12019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, VCM (2014) Bilingualism matters: One size does not fit all. International Journal of Behavioral Development 38, 359–366. doi:10.1177/0165025414531676CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gollan, TH, Starr, J and Ferreira, VS (2014) More than use it or lose it: The number-of-speakers effect on heritage language proficiency. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 22, 147–155. doi:10.3758/s13423-014-0649-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodz, NS (1989) Parental language mixing in bilingual families. Infant Mental Health Journal 10, 25–44. doi:10.1002/1097-0355(198921)10:1 < 25::AID-IMHJ2280100104 > 3.0.CO;2-R3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoff, E (2003) The specificity of environmental influence: Socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development 74, 1368–1378. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00612CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoff, E (2006) How social contexts support and shape language development. Developmental Review 26, 55–88. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2005.11.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huguet, A (2007). Language use and language attitudes in Catalonia. In Lasagabaster, D and Huguet, A (eds), Multilingualism in European bilingual contexts: Language use and attitudes (Vol. 135), Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 17–39.Google Scholar
Hurtado, N, Grüter, T, Marchman, VA and Fernald, A (2014) Relative language exposure, processing efficiency and vocabulary in Spanish–English bilingual toddlers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17, 189–202. doi:10.1017/S136672891300014XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, D, Mok, K, Chen, JK and Watkins, KE (2014) Age of language learning shapes brain structure: A cortical thickness study of bilingual and monolingual individuals. Brain and Language 131, 20–24. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2013.05.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kostyrka-Allchorne, K, Cooper, NR and Simpson, A (2017) The relationship between television exposure and children's cognition and behaviour: A systematic review. Developmental Review 44, 19–58. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2016.12.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhl, PK, Tsao, FM and Liu, HM (2003) Foreign-language experience in infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100, 9096–9101. doi:10.1073/pnas.1532872100CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, L and Kager, R (2016) Is mommy talking to daddy or to me? Exploring parental estimates of child language exposure using the Multilingual Infant Language Questionnaire. International Journal of Multilingualism 14, 1–12. doi:10.1080/14790718.2016.1216120Google Scholar
Marchman, VA, Martínez, LZ, Hurtado, N, Grüter, T and Fernald, A (2016) Caregiver talk to young Spanish-English bilinguals: Comparing direct observation and parent-report measures of dual-language exposure. Developmental Science 20, e12425. doi:10.1111/desc.12425CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meisel, JM (1989). Early differentiation of languages in bilingual children. In Hyltenstam, K and Obler, LK, Bilingualism Across the Lifespan: Aspects of Acquisition, Maturity and Loss, pp. 13–40. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meisel, JM (2004). The bilingual child. In Bhatia, TK and Ritchie, WC (eds), The Handbook of Bilingualism Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 90–113.Google Scholar
Morton, JB and Harper, SN (2009) What did Simon say? Revisiting the bilingual advantage. Developmental Science 10, 719–726. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00623.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orena, AJ, Byers-Heinlein, K and Polka, L (2019). Reliability of the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) in French-English bilingual speech. Manuscript in now under revision.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, J, Emmerzael, K and Duncan, TS (2010) Assessment of English language learners: Using parent report on first language development. Journal of Communication Disorders 43, 474–497. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2012/12-0050)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Place, S and Hoff, E (2011) Properties of dual language exposure that influence 2-year-olds’ bilingual proficiency. Child Development 82, 1834–1849. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01660.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Place, S and Hoff, E (2016) Effects and noneffects of input in bilingual environments on dual language skills in 2 ½-year-olds. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19, 1023–1041. doi:10.1017/S1366728915000322CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin-Dubois, D, Blaye, A, Coutya, J and Bialystok, E (2011) The effects of bilingualism on toddlers’ executive functioning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 108, 567–579. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.10.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramon-Casas, M, Swingley, D, Sebastián-Gallés, N and Bosch, L (2009) Vowel categorization during word recognition in bilingual toddlers. Cognitive Psychology 59(1), 96–121. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2009.02.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwarz, N (2007). Retrospective and concurrent self-reports: The rationale for real-time data capture. In Stone, AA, Shiffman, S, Atienza, AA and Nebeling, L (eds), The Science of Real-time Data Capture: Self-reports in Health Research. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 11–26.Google Scholar
Shavers, VL (2007) Measurement of socioeconomic status in health disparities research. Journal of the National Medical Association 99, 1013–1023.Google ScholarPubMed
Smithson, L, Paradis, J and Nicoladis, E (2014) Bilingualism and receptive vocabulary achievement: Could sociocultural context make a difference? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17, 810–821. doi:10.1017/S1366728913000813CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundara, M, Polka, L and Molnar, M (2008) Development of coronal stop perception: Bilingual infants keep pace with their monolingual peers. Cognition 108, 232–242. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Unsworth, S (2012) Assessing the role of current and cumulative exposure in simultaneous bilingual acquisition: The case of Dutch gender. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16, 86–110. doi:10.1017/S1366728912000284CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unsworth, S (2016). Quantity and quality of language input in bilingual language development. In Nicoladis, E and Montanari, S (eds), Lifespan Perspectives on Bilingualism. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter/APA, pp. 136–196.Google Scholar
Weisleder, A and Fernald, A (2013) Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary. Psychological Science 24, 2143–2152. doi:10.1177/0956797613488145CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Werker, JF and Byers-Heinlein, K (2008) Bilingualism in infancy: First steps in perception and comprehension. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 12, 144–151. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Werker, JF and Hensch, TK (2015) Critical Periods in Speech Perception: New Directions. Annual Review of Psychology 66, 173–196. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015104CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed