Mothers' Linguistic Input During Shared Book Reading and Dual Language Learners' Home Language Skills

• In Event: Early Childhood Language Practices

Abstract

The study examined dual language learners (DLLs)’ home language development across time and its relationship with mothers’ linguistic input during shared book reading. We assessed 33 3-to-5-year-old Chinese-Norwegian DLLs’ Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary, and narrative skills three times across one year (twice were done, and one more in 2021 fall), and collected observation data of mother-child shared book reading. The preliminary findings showed that DLLs’ Chinese oral language skills grow significantly over time. The density of Chinese idioms used by the mother can explain the growth of receptive vocabulary. Whereas input quantity and diversity were associated with DLLs’ oral language skills but cannot account for the growth.

Authors

• Junyi Yang, University of Oslo

• Joshua Fahey Lawrence, University of Oslo

• Vibeke Grøver, University of Oslo