Poster #71 - Spanish-English Bilingual Toddlers’ Vocabulary Skills: The role of caregiver language input and warmth

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Introduction. There is a well-documented link between bilingual children's language development and their amount of language exposure (i.e., quantity; DeHouwer, 2007; Hoff et al., 2012; Pearson et al., 1997). Despite the age-related differential influence of the amount and diversity of language exposure for monolingual children, few studies have investigated the role of diverse language exposure on bilingual learning (Carroll, 2017). By 24 months of age, exposure to diverse speech becomes a prominent predictor of monolingual children's language skills (Anderson et al., 2021; Madigan et al., 2019). Some scholars (Hoff et al., 2012; De Houwer, 2009) argue that bilingual children may receive less exposure to each language than if they were exposed to only one language. If so, the time for language development milestones should differ between bilinguals and monolinguals. This study examines how diverse Spanish and English exposure is associated with bilingual language outcomes by 24 months.
Theoretical Framework. Our study is guided by interactionist theories positing that language input and opportunities to practice speaking it are essential for developing language (Snow, 1994; Tomasello et al., 2005). Integrating ideas from Attachment Theory, we propose that children learn best in language environments that occur within warm and supportive interactions (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Thus, we examine the relation between Latina caregiver input (lexical diversity, amount) and warmth on toddlers' subsequent English and Spanish vocabulary outcomes.
Study Population. Participants include 47 Latino caregiver-child dyads. Child participants (F = 24; M = 23) were 18 months of age at the beginning of the study (M = 18.32 months; SD = 1.02 months) and 24 months at the end (M = 24.85 months; SD = 0.66). Household income varied from less than $15,000 to over $100,000 annually.
Methods. Caregiver-child interactions were video-recorded during 10-minute play sessions (Three Bags Task; Brady-Smith et al., 1999). Play-session transcripts (CHILDES; MacWhinney, 2018) tallied the numbers of total (tokens) and different words (NWD; lexical diversity) caregivers spoke in English and Spanish. Caregiver warmth (e.g., physical affection and praise) was rated on a 7-point scale (7= very high to 1= very low). Caregivers completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Inventories (MCDIs) "Words and Sentences" in English (out of 396) and Spanish (428) at 18 and 24 months. The sum of all items across both languages was used for total vocabulary scores.
Results. Table 1 shows that children’s Spanish performance was higher than English (p < 0.05). Multiple Regression analyses (Table 2) revealed that Spanish NDW was positively associated with children's Spanish productive and total vocabulary (both English and Spanish; p's < 0.05). Caregiver's English NDW was positively associated with children's English productive vocabulary (p < 0.01). Caregivers' warmth was positively associated with children's Spanish and English vocabulary scores (p's < 0.01). Findings extend prior research by suggesting that bilingual children's development may depend on their exposure to diverse words and caregiver warmth. Moreover, the positive relation between diverse language forms and warmth on children's language learning may be driven by age instead of the length of language exposure.

Authors

• Maily Galindo, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Perla Blanca Gamez, Loyola University Chicago

• Francisco Palermo, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Jordan Sierra Perry, Loyola University Chicago