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Chapter 4. Two solitudes?

Simultaneous bilingual children’s lexical access in experimental tasks
  • Robyn Enns , Nicole Lemire and Elena Nicoladis
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Child Bilingualism and Second Language Learning
This chapter is in the book Child Bilingualism and Second Language Learning

Abstract

Proficient adult bilinguals likely have one conceptual store encompassing both languages: in experimental tasks, they produce many translation equivalents. In contrast, bilingual preschoolers often produce few translation equivalents on similar tasks, perhaps because they have not yet developed the hierarchical semantic organization to access concepts consistently across languages. We test this possibility in two studies. In Study 1, French-English bilingual children between 4–6 years of age generated examples of animals, clothes, food and drinks in both languages. The results showed 15% conceptual overlap. In Study 2, French-English bilingual children between 7–10 years of age completed a picture-naming task in both languages. The results showed 8% overlap. These results are consistent with hierarchical organization being necessary for producing many translation equivalents.

Abstract

Proficient adult bilinguals likely have one conceptual store encompassing both languages: in experimental tasks, they produce many translation equivalents. In contrast, bilingual preschoolers often produce few translation equivalents on similar tasks, perhaps because they have not yet developed the hierarchical semantic organization to access concepts consistently across languages. We test this possibility in two studies. In Study 1, French-English bilingual children between 4–6 years of age generated examples of animals, clothes, food and drinks in both languages. The results showed 15% conceptual overlap. In Study 2, French-English bilingual children between 7–10 years of age completed a picture-naming task in both languages. The results showed 8% overlap. These results are consistent with hierarchical organization being necessary for producing many translation equivalents.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Integrating multiple views and multiple disciplines in the understanding of child bilingualism and second language learning 1
  5. Part I. Theoretical overviews
  6. Chapter 2. The application of bilingual phonological learning models to early second language development 9
  7. Chapter 3. Issues for second language pronunciation in children 29
  8. Part II. Bilingualism and second language learning
  9. Chapter 4. Two solitudes? 45
  10. Chapter 5. Using a novel sorting game to explore the role of phonotactic probability and linguistic environment in nonword processing by Spanish-English bilingual children 65
  11. Chapter 6. Effects of nonnative input on language abilities in Spanish-English bilinguals 87
  12. Chapter 7. Phonetic characteristics of filled pauses in Hungarian-English bilingual and Hungarian monolingual speech 113
  13. Chapter 8. Current developments in bilingual primary education in the Netherlands 137
  14. Chapter 9. Speech perception in French immersion students in Western Canada 167
  15. Chapter 10. Second first language acquisition following international adoption 189
  16. Part III. Methodological approaches
  17. Chapter 11. Phonological development 223
  18. Chapter 12. Using Phon to analyze phonological and speech data 249
  19. Chapter 13. Wordlikeness and nonword repetition in Spanish-speaking bilingual children 275
  20. Index 303
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.10.04enn

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Integrating multiple views and multiple disciplines in the understanding of child bilingualism and second language learning 1
  5. Part I. Theoretical overviews
  6. Chapter 2. The application of bilingual phonological learning models to early second language development 9
  7. Chapter 3. Issues for second language pronunciation in children 29
  8. Part II. Bilingualism and second language learning
  9. Chapter 4. Two solitudes? 45
  10. Chapter 5. Using a novel sorting game to explore the role of phonotactic probability and linguistic environment in nonword processing by Spanish-English bilingual children 65
  11. Chapter 6. Effects of nonnative input on language abilities in Spanish-English bilinguals 87
  12. Chapter 7. Phonetic characteristics of filled pauses in Hungarian-English bilingual and Hungarian monolingual speech 113
  13. Chapter 8. Current developments in bilingual primary education in the Netherlands 137
  14. Chapter 9. Speech perception in French immersion students in Western Canada 167
  15. Chapter 10. Second first language acquisition following international adoption 189
  16. Part III. Methodological approaches
  17. Chapter 11. Phonological development 223
  18. Chapter 12. Using Phon to analyze phonological and speech data 249
  19. Chapter 13. Wordlikeness and nonword repetition in Spanish-speaking bilingual children 275
  20. Index 303
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