Sentence Repetition Performance Differences in Bilingual and Monolingual Children

Purpose: This study examined language group differences in English syntactic knowledge based on performance on a sentence repetition task. Method: Fourth and sixth grade students who were monolinguals (n = 30), early bilinguals (i.e., simultaneous; n = 27), or late bilinguals (i.e., sequential; n =...

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Published in:Journal of speech, language, and hearing research language, and hearing research, 2022-08, Vol.65 (8), p.2948-2961
Main Authors: Friesen, Deanna C, Ward, Olivia, Archibald, Lisa M. D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anglophones
Bilingual Students
Bilingualism
Content words
Elementary education
Elementary School Students
Elementary schools
English (Second Language)
English as a second language
English language
Foreign Countries
French as a second language
Function words
Grade 4
Grade 6
Immigration
Knowledge
Language acquisition
Language instruction
Middle school students
Monolingualism
Nonverbal Ability
Population
Prepositional phrases
Repetition
Sentence Structure
Standard scores
Students
Syntax
Task Analysis
Verbal Ability
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Development
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Summary:Purpose: This study examined language group differences in English syntactic knowledge based on performance on a sentence repetition task. Method: Fourth and sixth grade students who were monolinguals (n = 30), early bilinguals (i.e., simultaneous; n = 27), or late bilinguals (i.e., sequential; n = 29) completed an English sentence repetition task. Their responses were analyzed as a function of sentence length (short vs. long), sentence type (active vs. passive), phrase type (noun, verb, and prepositional), and word type (content vs. function). Results: Overall, early bilinguals' performance did not differ significantly from that of the monolinguals. However, these bilinguals recalled significantly more content words than function words on the long sentences. At each level of analysis, the late bilinguals' performance was less accurate than the other groups. The magnitude of these group differences was larger for passive sentences and prepositional phrases. Conclusion: Findings highlight areas of syntactic development that differ among groups and should be targeted for additional instruction with English language learners in elementary school.
ISSN:1092-4388
1558-9102
DOI:10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00596