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Does simultaneous bilingualism aggravate children’s specific language problems?
Author(s) -
Korkman Marit,
Stenroos Maria,
Mickos Annika,
Westman Martin,
Ekholm Pia,
Byring Roger
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2012.02733.x
Subject(s) - neuroscience of multilingualism , repetition (rhetorical device) , vocabulary , comprehension , syntax , peabody picture vocabulary test , linguistics , test (biology) , second language , language development , medicine , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , psychology , philosophy , biology , paleontology
Aim: There is little data on whether or not a bilingual upbringing may aggravate specific language problems in children. This study analysed whether there was an interaction of such problems and simultaneous bilingualism. Methods: Participants were 5‐ to 7‐year‐old children with specific language problems (LANG group, N = 56) or who were typically developing (CONTR group, N = 60). Seventy‐three children were Swedish–Finnish bilingual and 43 were Swedish‐speaking monolingual. Assessments (in Swedish) included tests of expressive language, comprehension, repetition and verbal memory. Results: Per definition, the LANG group had lower scores than the CONTR group on all language tests. The bilingual group had lower scores than the monolingual group only on a test of body part naming. Importantly, the interaction of group (LANG or CONTR) and bilingualism was not significant on any of the language scores. Conclusions: Simultaneous bilingualism does not aggravate specific language problems but may result in a slower development of vocabulary both in children with and without specific language problems. Considering also advantages, a bilingual upbringing is an option also for children with specific language problems. In assessment, tests of vocabulary may be sensitive to bilingualism, instead tests assessing comprehension, syntax and nonword repetition may provide less biased methods.