Common Consonant Inventories in English and Spanish
May 25, 2009
These are sounds that are commonly in the repertoires of young children. Note that the number of sounds typically used in initial and final position steadily increases but that the inventory is somewhat variable. For example M is commonly used in “word” final position at 12 months but that at 18 months /t/ and /s/ are often produced in that position. Thus, fluctuation in consonant inventory is a common characteristic of this stage.
Yellow applies to acquisition of both English and Spanish.
Blue applies to the acquisition of English only.
Red applies to the acquisition of Spanish only.
|
Age |
# |
Inventory (E&S, E, S) |
|
12 M |
5 |
b d g m h |
|
18 M |
9 |
b d m n w s h t y |
|
24 M |
10 |
b d p t k m n s w h y |
|
30 M |
13 |
b d p t k m n s w g f h y |
|
36 M |
13 |
b d p t k m n s w g f y h |
In Spanish words can only end in /d n s l and r (tap r)/
Semantics, Semantics: Early Bilingual Vocabulary Development
May 18, 2009
How is vocabulary development affected by learning two languages at an early age? While differences begin to emerge after age 4, there are quite a few developmental similarities at the younger ages. Here are a few:
• Vocabulary:
– 12 months – first words (usually labeling familiar objects, actions, and properties in child’s environment)
– 15 months - 4-6-word vocabulary
– 18 months – 20-50-word vocabulary
– 24 months – 200-300 word vocabulary
– 36 months - roughly 1000 words
• Overextensions
– Saying “dog” for all four-legged animals
• Underextensions
– “blankee” only for one particular blanket
• Bilingual children develop early vocabulary at the same rate as monolingual children (Pearson, 1993)
• Early language milestones are similar (single words, lexical spurt, 2-word phrases) (Pearson and Fernandez, 2001)
• Conceptual Scores are similar (Pearson, 1998)
Don’t get burned by the “Home Language Survey” !!!
May 11, 2009
We all get referrals for students with secondary language backgrounds and upon inquiring about language of dominance we are told to check the Home Language Survey. Never has a document carried so much weight and been so underfunded with current information. Why distrust the Home Language Survey?
Most are completed when a child enters school (age 4) and not updated.
Most are made up of 1-3 questions with no clarification questions asked.
Most are only provided in English (figure that one out).
How can we get more accurate information about language use?
Here are some questions we can ask:
• What language is the TV and radio set to?
• What language is used with the parents?
• Who else is living at the home? Older siblings are often fluent English speakers.
• What language is used in the classroom?
• Who does the child hangout with and what do they speak?
Why do we want more accurate information about language use?
If students use different languages across different settings, what should we expect? We would expect different sets of vocabulary to exist in each language and different abilities to exist in each language. This is important information to gather when considering whether a child is impaired or just has a language difference. Here is some interesting related research.
• High correlation between language exposure and vocabulary production (Pearson, Fernandez, Lewedeg, & Oller, 1997).
• For bilingual toddlers 30% of vocabulary is translation equivalents (Pearson, Fernandez & Oller, 1995).
• Young school-age bilinguals produce same # of category items in Spanish and English BUT 70% are unique to one language (Peña, Bedore & Zlatic, 2002).
• English-speaking parents use more nouns
• First words of English speakers are typically nouns (Gentner, 1982; Nelson, 1973)
• Mandarin Chinese-speaking parents use more verbs
• First words of their children are nouns and verbs (Tardif, 1995)
• Korean-speaking parents talk about activities more
• First words of their children are nouns and verbs (Choi, 2001)
What causes a cleft?
May 4, 2009
Another quick answer to a question that was posed to us that we thought that everyone might be interested in.
This information is from Fraser, a geneticist from Montreal
Gene Mutation
Parents can carry a gene and the clefting is inherited
For this reason new parents often go to genetic counseling if there has been someone with a cleft lip or palate born in the family or if they believe that they have the predisposition for it.
Chromosomal Aberrations
Such as Down’s Syndrome, not just a single gene but a whole section of the gene is affected
Teratogenic Agents
“monster-producing” this refers to drugs and the potential of certain drugs used in combination during pregnancy that can cause clefting.
An example, phenytoin (Dilantin) for epilepsy and aspirin taken together work synergistically to cause clefting. Also FAS
Multifactoral Inheritance
2 problems combine to cause clefting such as a mother who drinks and a recessive gene.
Mechanical Factors
A deformation in the development can cause the tongue not to drop down during development. Therefore the palate cannot fuse together.