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A multi-factor study of the development of English receptive skills by young Danish children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2022

Teresa Cadierno ,
Mikkel B. Hansen ,
Jørgen T. Lauridsen ,
Søren W. Eskildsen ,
Katalin Fenyvesi  and
Signe Hannibal Jensen
Teresa Cadierno*
Affiliation:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Mikkel B. Hansen
Affiliation:
University of Paris 8, Paris, France
Jørgen T. Lauridsen
Affiliation:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Søren W. Eskildsen
Affiliation:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Katalin Fenyvesi
Affiliation:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Signe Hannibal Jensen
Affiliation:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
*
Address for correspondence:Teresa Cadierno Department of Language and Communication University of Southern Denmark Campusvej 555230 Odense M Denmark E-mail: cadierno@sdu.dk
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Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the influence of child-specific and environmental factors on the development of English receptive vocabulary and grammar by two groups of Danish children: Early Starters (ES) and Late Starters (LS). Age of onset, gender, language aptitude and SES significantly predicted both outcome measures. English competence beliefs (ECB) were positively related to L2 proficiency but only for children with low foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), suggesting a dynamic relationship between ECB and FLCA. Extramural audiovisual viewing and reading played a differential role for ES vs. LS whereas extramural English speaking significantly interacted with gender. Finally, child-specific factors explained more of the variance in English proficiency than environmental factors. This finding, which contradicts results obtained in instructed settings (e.g., Sun, Steinkrauss, Tendeiro & de Bot, 2016) but parallels those in naturalistic settings (e.g., Paradis, 2011), supports the special status of English in countries with a high degree of informal contact with English.

Keywords

multi-factor studyEnglish receptive skillsyoung Danish children
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , August 2022 , pp. 566 - 578
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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