Individual differences in bilingual children's language competencies: The case for Spanish and English
Author(s):
Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Rodríguez, Barbara L.
Editor(s):
Weiss, Amy L.
Format:
Book section
Publisher:
Psychology Press, New York, NY, 2010.
Series:
New directions in communications disorders research
Language:
English
Abstract:
The number of children who speak two languages is increasing in the United States. Over a 10-year period from 1995-1996 to 2005-2006, the number of English language learners (ELLs) has grown from 3.2 million to 5.1 million, a 57% increase (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2007). Note that these figures do not include bilingual children who are proficient speakers of English. Of the languages spoken by bilingual children, Spanish is by far the most common. Approximately 80% of ELLs speak Spanish. The languages that are next most commonly spoken by ELLs are Vietnamese, spoken by 2%; Hmong, spoken by 1.5%; and Cantonese, spoken by 1% (United States Department of Education, 2002). Given the large numbers of children in the United States who are learning two languages, it is critical that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) understand bilingual children's language development and the individual differences that are observed in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss factors that may lead to individual differences in bilingual children's developing language competencies, specifically the variation that occurs in children's semantic and morphosyntactic development, and considerations for service delivery. Because Spanish-English bilinguals constitute the largest group of children learning two languages in the United States, the focus of the chapter will be on this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)