What Factors in a Bilingual Family Influence Children's Verbal Working Memory? (Poster 12)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Seven
  In Poster Session: Critical Perspectives: Leveraging the Influence of Languages in Multilingual Contexts

Abstract

Code-switching between two languages is a common practice for bilingual children around the world. However, little is known about the environmental factors in bilingual families that influence the verbal working memory of bilingual children. This quantitative study aims to investigate how environmental factors, including the mother’s years of education, and children’s exposure to English, in bilingual families contribute to the development of verbal working memory. Multiple regressions analyses are conducted to examine the relationship. Based on the finding of this study, children’s age at first exposure to a bilingual environment was not directly related to verbal working memory. Instead, a mother’s year of education, home language exposure, and code-switching has a major effect.

Author

• Xuanyi Chen, Pepperdine University
  Presenting Author