Poster #111 - Limited exposure to foreign languages can promote monolingual children’s acceptance of different labels across languages

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Language, Communication

Integrative Statement

Bilingual children are more willing than monolingual children to accept that an object can have distinct labels across multiple languages (e.g., Au & Glusman, 1990; Houston-Price, Caloghiris, & Raviglione, 2010). Such results suggest a bilingual advantage in acquiring the metalinguistic knowledge that different languages are distinct conventional systems of communication. Recent studies have demonstrated that even mere exposure to non-native languages, particularly from parent, also promotes monolingual children’s willingness to endorse two different labels across languages (Akhtar, Menjivar, Hoicka, & Sabbagh, 2012; Rojo & Echols, 2018).
To date, there is little experimental evidence on such advantage in children who grow up with very limited natural exposure to foreign languages. For instance, most Korean children live in linguistically homogeneous communities with little chance to encounter native foreign language speakers in daily life. Instead, they are exposed to a foreign language (usually English) typically through media or very minimal social interactions (1~2 hours per week) with a foreign language speaker in formal educational settings. Does such minimal exposure to foreign languages in nonsocial or social settings also affect monolingual children’s willingness to accept different labels for a single object across languages?
We tested 3- to 5-year-old Korean monolingual children who had limited exposure to foreign languages via media or interpersonal interactions (about 2.5 hours per week on average). They watched a video in which two speakers – a Korean speaker and a Spanish speaker - took turns labeling an object at a time. None of the participants were familiar with Spanish. After watching familiarization videos in which the speakers labeled 3 familiar objects, the children received 2 test trials. In each test trial, a novel object was presented, and the Korean speaker labeled it by a novel Korean word (e.g., “Muppi”) and the Spanish speaker labeled it by a novel Spanish word (e.g., “Chisa”). Then the children were asked whether they would endorse only one label or both of the two labels (e.g., “Which do you think is the right name for this toy? Muppi? Chisa? Or are both OK? Chisa? Muppi? Or are both OK?”). We also asked their parents how long (minutes per week) and how (via interpersonal interaction vs. media) their children were exposed to a foreign language.
According to preliminary data, children with greater exposure to foreign languages were more likely to accept both Korean and Spanish labels for an object than those with less foreign language exposure. The results are consistent with previous findings (e.g., Au & Glusman, 1990; Menjivar & Akhtar, 2017; Rojo & Echols, 2018). The amount of foreign-language exposure has different effects, depending on the source of exposure: only the amount of exposure through interpersonal interactions significantly predicted how likely the children were to assign two different labels to an object. These findings suggest that limited exposure to foreign languages only through social interaction enhances children’s understanding that an object can have different labels across languages.

Authors

• Hyuna Lee, Yonsei University
  Presenting Author

• Hyun-joo Song, Yonsei University
  Non-Presenting Author