There is a paucity of research regarding language use among bilingual clients, particularly with Latino children. In order to provide culturally sensitive counseling for bilingual, Spanish-speaking, Latino children it is important to understand their experience of language use. The purpose of this study was to investigate how second generation, bilingual, Mexican American, 5th grade students experience language use in the two languages with which they communicate. I employed a phenomenological method to data collection and analysis and conducted semi-structured individual and group interviews with three boys and five girls (N = 8). Analysis of the individual and group interviews yielded four main structures: (a) dominant language determined perception of developing dual selves, (b) speaking two languages useful in language brokering and upward mobility, (c) dominant language determined experience of language use, and (d) language use and aspects of the complementarity principle. Findings from this study suggest that bilingual Latino children experience language brokering for their parents as difficult, speaking two languages as useful regarding upward mobility, and that their dominant language influences various aspects of their daily experiences such as with whom and where they use each language. Limitations to this research include insufficient time building rapport with participants and challenges related to unexplored dimensions of bilingualism in the counseling research literature. An overarching implication for future research, clinical practice, and counselor education is that bilingualism, language use, and the depth of experience of Latino children are largely understudied topics.

Bilingual children sometimes respond to their interlocutors using a different language than the one in which they were addressed. These language choices, their concurrent correlates, and relations to subsequent language growth were examined in 91 Spanish-English bilingual children (44 girls, 47 boys). Children's language choices were assessed at 30 months, and their English and Spanish productive vocabularies and receptive language skills were examined at the ages of 30, 36, and 42 months. Children's language choices were concurrently related to English and Spanish productive and receptive language scores and to mothers' English and Spanish proficiency levels. Longitudinal multi-level modeling analyses indicated that children's language choices at 30 months were uniquely related to language growth on measures of English and Spanish productive vocabulary and Spanish receptive language, when controlling for language expo sure. These findings suggest that language use plays a causal role in language development. The findings of this study have implications for the maintenance of heritage languages in the U.S. and for the development of children's English language skills. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Wong, Hin Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-202). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements / List of Abbreviations / List of Tables / Abstract / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Bilingual first language acquisition --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Cross-linguistic Influence --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Definition --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual development --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Structural overlap --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Language dominance --- p.14 / Chapter 1.5 --- Language Input --- p.17 / Chapter 1.6 --- Individual variation --- p.18 / Chapter 1.7 --- English VPC and Cantonese DVC --- p.20 / Chapter 1.8 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter Two --- The structure of English VPC and Cantonese DVC / Chapter 2.1 --- English VPCs --- p.28 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Semantic classes of English VPCs --- p.28 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The Structure of English VPCs --- p.32 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Linear order of VPCs --- p.38 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- "Differentiating verb particles, prepositions and adverbs" --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2 --- Cantonese DVCs --- p.45 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Cantonese directional verbs --- p.46 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Cantonese simple DVCs --- p.50 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Cantonese complex DVCs --- p.51 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Structure of Cantonese DVC --- p.52 / Chapter 2.2.4.1 --- Simple DVCs vs Complex DVCs --- p.52 / Chapter 2.2.4.2 --- Insertion of dak1 and m4 --- p.56 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Aspectual meanings in directional complements --- p.58 / Chapter 2.3 --- Typological Differences between English VPCs and Cantonese DVCs --- p.59 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Talmy (2000)'s classification of languages --- p.59 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- English VPCs vs Cantonese DVCs --- p.62 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.65 / Chapter Chapter Three --- The acquisition of English VPCs in monolingual and bilingual children / Chapter 3.1 --- "Snyder (1995, 2001) The Compounding Parameter on acquisition of VPC s" --- p.69 / Chapter 3.2 --- Sawyer (2001)'s study of acquisition of English VPCs in monolingual children --- p.72 / Chapter 3.3 --- Diessel and Tomasello (2005)'s study on acquisition of VPCs --- p.76 / Chapter 3.4 --- Yip and Matthews (2007)'s study on acquisition of VPC in bilingual children --- p.78 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.82 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Hypotheses and Methodology / Chapter 4.1 --- Acquisition of English VPCs --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2 --- Acquisition of Cantonese DVCs --- p.86 / Chapter 4.3 --- Language dominance --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4 --- Parental input --- p.88 / Chapter 4.5 --- Multifactorial analysis of the choice of VPC order --- p.89 / Chapter 4.6 --- Methodology --- p.89 / Chapter 4.6.1 --- Subjects --- p.90 / Chapter 4.6.2 --- The bilingual data --- p.92 / Chapter 4.6.3 --- Analysis --- p.93 / Chapter 4.7 --- Summary --- p.100 / Chapter Chapter Five --- The Acquisition of English Verb-Particle Constructions / Chapter 5.1 --- Distribution of English VPCs --- p.101 / Chapter 5.2 --- Transitive VPCs with a null object --- p.103 / Chapter 5.3 --- Split/non-split order of VPCs --- p.106 / Chapter 5.4 --- Type of VPCs in split/non-split order --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Spatial VPCs vs Non-spatial VPCs --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- English VPCs containing particles in and out and their word order --- p.115 / Chapter 5.5 --- Frequency of particles in VPC --- p.116 / Chapter 5.6 --- Statistical analysis --- p.121 / Chapter 5.6.1 --- Monofactorial analysis among Cantonese-dominant bilingual children --- p.123 / Chapter 5.6.2 --- Monofactorial analysis among non-Cantonese-dominant bilingual children --- p.125 / Chapter 5.7 --- Input analysis --- p.127 / Chapter 5.8 --- Non-target forms --- p.128 / Chapter 5.8.1 --- Non-split VPCs with personal pronoun as direct object --- p.129 / Chapter 5.8.2 --- The combination of the verb and the particle --- p.132 / Chapter 5.8.3 --- Particle used as a verb --- p.135 / Chapter 5.8.4 --- Errors reported in monolingual children --- p.138 / Chapter 5.9 --- Summary --- p.140 / Chapter Chapter Six --- The Acquisition of Cantonese DVCs / Chapter 6.1 --- Simple and complex DVCs --- p.143 / Chapter 6.2 --- Directional verbs as complements and main verbs --- p.147 / Chapter 6.3 --- Frequency of directional verb complements --- p.153 / Chapter 6.4 --- Placement of objects --- p.155 / Chapter 6.5 --- Non-target forms --- p.160 / Chapter 6.5.1 --- Absence of the second verb complement in Cantonese complex DVCs --- p.160 / Chapter 6.5.2 --- Non-split order in complex DVCs --- p.162 / Chapter 6.5.3 --- Negation in Cantonese DVC --- p.165 / Chapter 6.4.5 --- Other non-target forms --- p.167 / Chapter 6.6 --- Summary --- p.168 / Chapter Chapter Seven --- Discussion of Results / Chapter 7.1 --- Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual acquisition --- p.170 / Chapter 7.2 --- Cross-linguistic influence in English VPCs --- p.171 / Chapter 7.3 --- Acquisition of Cantonese DVCs --- p.178 / Chapter 7.4 --- The factors of structural overlap and language dominance --- p.183 / Chapter 7.5 --- Parental Input --- p.184 / Chapter 7.6 --- Acquisition of the components of VPC and DVC --- p.185 / Chapter 7.7 --- Individual differences --- p.186 / Chapter 7.8 --- Snyder's parameter for English VPCs --- p.186 / Chapter 7.9 --- Sawyer's study on acquisition of English VPCs --- p.188 / Chapter 7.10 --- Summary --- p.188 / Chapter Chapter Eight --- Conclusions and Suggestions for Future Research / Chapter 8.1 --- Conclusions --- p.191 / Chapter 8.2 --- Suggestions for further research --- p.194 / Chapter 8.3 --- Open questions --- p.195 / References

Professional research project (Au.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 37 pages. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The accurate perception of spoken English is influenced by many variables, including the listener's native language, reverberation, and background noise. Few studies of speech perception by bilingual listeners have carefully controlled for second language proficiency and even fewer have presented speech in everyday listening environments that contain noise and reverberation. In the present study, detailed language background, language proficiency information, and individual language samples were collected and the speech stimuli were presented in a variety of quiet, noisy, and reverberant listening environments. / ABSTRACT: The effects of noise and reverberation on the perception of American English monosyllabic words was examined for two groups of young listeners with normal hearing: 1) monolingual American English speakers and 2) Spanish-English bilinguals who acquired both languages prior to age 6 years, exhibited similar spoken proficiency in both languages, and spoke English without a noticeable accent. An innovative test of virtual speech perception was used to assess word recognition in two listening environments typical of everyday communication: a simulated noisy anechoic environment and a simulated noisy reverberant environment. Word recognition was also measured in quiet and in an unprocessed noisy environment. For each noisy listening environment (unprocessed, anechoic, reverberant), three signal-to-noise ratios were employed. Results indicate that early bilingualism negatively affects perception of words presented in noisy listening environments. / ABSTRACT: Significantly poorer word recognition was observed for the bilingual listeners than for the monolingual listeners in all three noisy environments and at all noise levels. Both groups exhibited similar word recognition in quiet. The results were surprising considering the high level of spoken language proficiency exhibited by all bilingual listeners. It is often assumed that highly proficient Spanish-English speakers are equally proficient at understanding English; however, these data indicate that the speech understanding of this group may be overestimated in natural listening situations. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The general aim of this longitudinal study was to look at literacy acquisition of multilingual good and poor spellers (hereafter GS and PS) in German and French with a special emphasis on spelling. For this purpose GS and PS were selected in grade 2 in German and followed up to grade 4. The focus was on this period as in Luxembourg literacy is acquired through German from the first grade and written French from grade 3 on. The interval between grades 2 and 4 thus represents a critical period for written second language acquisition. The native language of the children, Germanic (e.g. Luxembourgish) or Romanophone (e.g. Portuguese), adds another linguistic characteristic. Research focused at the development of biliteracy but some multilingual aspects were analyzed.<p><p>Abstract The first two studies differentiate between top-level processes related to semantics (e.g. vocabulary) and bottom level processes implied in literacy (e.g. spelling). The first two studies established that the native language has an impact on reading comprehension as Germanic speaking children have an advantage on German tasks and Romanophone children an advantage on French tasks. By contrast, performances on bottom-level processes such as spelling and reading are not influenced by the native language. Structural equation models revealed that German top-level processes did not influence French top-level processes. Concerning bottom-level processes however, there was an influence from one academic year on the following as well as from German on French. <p><p>Abstract The last three studies focused on differences between biliterate GS and PS in German and in French. The third study examined the reading and spelling strategies (e.g. the application of orthographic rules) that both groups of children acquired in German and in French. Although GS outperformed PS, their overall reading and spelling performance patterns were different in German than in French. GS applied orthographic rules more systematically than PS in German. In French, both groups were strongly affected by frequency effects. The word frequency effect appeared clearly in French, showing that after one year of instruction children strongly rely on the orthographic lexicon for spelling and do not apply orthographic rules systematically. Study 4 establishes the link between the recognition and production of orthographic features. PS's performance is similar to GS's on orthographic judgments and for spelling they produce the same type of errors, showing GS and PS are sensitive to the underlying regularities of the orthography. However, PS produced more errors overall compared to GS. It seems that GS passed the level of automatic use of the most prominent response, whereas PS use the dominant responses as default spelling. In the last study, the emphasis was on GS and PS in French after two years of instruction in grade 4. GS and PS were re-classified to new groups according to their spelling performance in French. GS in French used more French specific phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences in a nonword dictation than PS. PS in French used more German phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences in the French and German nonword dictation. It seems that PS in French rely more on the phoneme-grapheme correspondences of the first acquired and thus dominant language (German). In the general discussion, the previously presented results are summarized and a theoretical model of bilingual spelling is proposed. / Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide research and data examining the impact of pre-kindergarten on Spanish-speaking ESL students on the third grade TAKS Reading test scores. The two questions that guided this study are: (1) As measured by the third grade TAKS reading test, what is the relationship between those limited english proficient (LEP) Spanish-speaking children who attended a pre-kindergarten program and those who did not attend a pre-kindergarten program? and (2) As measured by the third grade TAKS Reading test, how do the test scores of those LEP Spanish-speaking third graders who attended the district's pre-k program in 2000-2001 and testing in 2005, differ from those who attended the district's pre-k program in 2001-2002 and testing in 2006? The research study used a quantitative methodology designed as causal-comparative analysis. Independent t-tests were used to determine if there were any significant differences in test scores of third graders between the two groups of students. Although the results of the statistical analysis revealed some isolated statistically significant differences between those Spanish-speaking bilingual students who attended pre-kindergarten and those who did not, the data showed no real differences in the test scores of those students.

This study describes the language behaviors and social strategies of English as Second Language (ESL) and English as Primary Language (EPL) pre-kindergarten students during cooperative Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) experiences. Thirty-three pre-kindergarten subjects ages four to five years, were videotaped at two personal computers during self-selected center time. The sources of data for this descriptive study were a parent computer survey, videotapes, a subject interview derived from the Young Children's Computer Inventory, and written records.

Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a rapid increase in school age students entering PK-12 schools for whom English is not their primary home language. These students are known as English learners (ELs). In Oregon, 77% of ELs speak Spanish and constitute the largest minority group, 21% of the total K-12 student enrollment in 2011-2012. With such potential for bilingualism in schools, bilingual teachers should be prepared to teach biliteracy effectively, especially in the early school years when students learn to read. There is an increasing demand for bilingual teachers in Oregon each year to teach in bilingual programs, particularly at the primary grade levels. However, for the most part, the emphasis of instruction and teacher preparation is on developing student English skills rather than supporting bilingualism (Flores, Sheets, & Clark, 2011; Macedo, Dendrinos, & Gounari, 2003; Wink, 2005). There is a need in Oregon to effectively prepare bilingual teachers who can help Spanish-speaking students develop biliteracy skills in the early grades. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore in depth the lived experiences among Oregon bilingual reading specialists in relation to biliteracy. The research question was "How do bilingual reading specialists understand the phenomena of teaching biliteracy to bilingual students?" Three themes emerged from the interviews conducted: collaboration, language and caring. The insights gained from the lived experiences of bilingual reading specialists can allow teacher educators, school district personnel, and state policy makers to better understand the phenomenon of developing biliteracy and change the way we prepare bilingual teachers in Oregon regarding biliteracy pedagogy. Recommendations are offered for stakeholders, such as the need to include courses in biliteracy as part of the initial teaching license, deliver courses in Spanish, and provide practicum experiences that prepare bilingual teachers and reading specialists to collaborate with colleagues and families. Also, it is important that some of the strategies identified at the state level as part of the English Learner Strategic Plan specifically focus on biliteracy and dual language programs.

This study was designed to measure the relation of education and ethnic identity to attitudes towards bilingualism in two different ethnic groups, Asian and Latinos in the United States. In order to do this, an instrument was developed to measure attitudes towards bilingualism. No significant relations were found among education or ethnic identity and attitudes towards bilingualism in either group, but analyses revealed several other significant relationships. The two subscales of ethnic identity, MEIM-R Commitment and Exploration, were related to each other both within Asian and Latino groups and in all participants combined. In the combined sample, education levels of participants' mothers was correlated with the MEIM-R subscale of Exploration. In addition, participants with a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Commitment than participants with an Associates Degree or below. Participants with mothers who possess a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Exploration than participants with mothers who possess an Associates Degree or below. Finally, Asian participants were found to have lower levels of MEIM-R Commitment when compared to Latino participants. / by Cuong T. Le. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

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