Open AccessVocabulary and Phonological Abilities Affect Dual Language Learners' Consonant Production Accuracy Within and Across Languages: A Large-Scale Study of 3- to 6-Year-Old Spanish–English Dual Language Learners
Author(s) -
Bethany Keffala,
Shelley E. Scarpino,
Carol Scheffner Hammer,
Bárbara Rodríguez,
Lisa M. López,
Brian Goldstein
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american journal of speech-language pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.993
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1558-9110
pISSN - 1058-0360
DOI - 10.1044/2019_ajslp-19-00145
Subject(s) - consonant , vocabulary , production (economics) , psychology , linguistics , dual language , computer science , mathematics education , vowel , philosophy , economics , macroeconomics
Purpose This study examined factors of language ability that predict consonant production accuracy in young Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs). Method Participants were 695 Latino DLLs, ages 3;0-6;5 (years;months). Single-word productions were elicited using the Bilingual Phonological Assessment (Miccio & Hammer, 2006). Children's consonant productions were assessed using Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised (PCC-R; Shriberg et al., 1997a). Vocabulary abilities were assessed using the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-Revised (Woodcock et al., 2005). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine the effects of vocabulary abilities and cross-language consonant production abilities on children's consonant production accuracy in each language. Results Large amounts of the variance in PCC-R scores for English ( R 2 = .65) and Spanish ( R 2 = .43) were predicted by children's age, vocabulary scores within the same language, and PCC-R scores across languages. Conclusion Spanish-English DLLs' consonant production abilities in both languages improve with age between 3;0 and 6;5. DLLs' accuracy in each language is also affected by vocabulary abilities within the same language and by their consonant production abilities in the other language. In particular, children's consonant production abilities in each language were highly predictive of their consonant production abilities in the other language, which suggests that shared phonological skills support their development across languages.