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. 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. 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.

Coarticulation occurs in running speech when one speech sound or phoneme overlaps with another. It can be considered a result of the way we sequence and organize our articulators to efficiently produce consecutive consonants and vowels in fluent speech. Previous research has suggested that measures of coarticulation can provide insight into the maturity of the motor speech planning system (Barbier, Perrier, Ménard, Payan, Tiede, & Perkell, 2013; Zharkova & Hewlett, 2009; Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011). Speech stability has also been suggested as an indicator of motor speech maturity in previous research using ultrasound imaging of velar-vowel targets (Frisch, Maxfield, & Belmont, 2016). This study extends research by Frisch, Maxfield, & Belmont (2016) to investigate patterns of velar-vowel coarticulation and speech stability in bilingual children who wear cochlear implants. Ultrasound and acoustic data were recorded from one English-Spanish bilingual participant (P1) who wears bilateral cochlear implants, one English-Spanish bilingual control child (P2) with no hearing impairment, and one English-Spanish bilingual adult speaker. Measures of velar-vowel coarticulation and speech stability across three productions of English and Spanish words were recorded and analyzed following procedures of Wodzinski and Frisch (2006). The participants were asked to produce three repetitions of fifteen English and fifteen Spanish target words starting with a /k/+ vowel sequence. Ultrasound imaging was used to record and trace tongue movement at the point of maximum velar closure. Data was compared between English and Spanish words, across participants, and between repetitions of the same word. In comparing English and Spanish words, child participants (P1 and P2) demonstrated increased coarticulation during Spanish productions. All participants showed decreased stability in Spanish productions when compared to English. Adult participant (P3) showed greater overall stability in productions and consistent coarticulation across both languages. Measures of coarticulation and overall stability were relatively equal across P1 and P2, while P3 showed greater and more stable coarticulation across both languages. Preliminary results support findings in previous research suggesting that anticipatory coarticulation and speech stability could be used as an index for assessing speech motor planning in bilingual and clinical populations (Barbier, Perrier, Ménard, Payan, Tiede, & Perkell, 2013; Frisch, Allen, Betancourt, & Maxfield, 2016; Frisch, Maxfield, & Belmont, 2016; Frisch & Wodzinski, 2014; Zharkova & Hewlett, 2009; Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011). Results additionally indicate that a young cochlear implant user who receives early intervention and is learning two languages can develop commensurate motor speech planning systems to that of a typical bilingual peer and that patterns of coarticulation and stability may be different in English and Spanish contexts.

The present body of research examined adult bilinguals who acquired a second language (L2) from an early age and who subsequently developed language dominance in that language. The question investigated is whether such "early L2-dominant bilinguals" attain a native level of proficiency in their second language. This possibility was explored by comparing bilinguals who had Cantonese L1 (logographic, morphosyllabic), Vietnamese L1 (alphabetic, morphosyllabic) or some "Other" L1 (alphabetic, non-morphosyllabic) to English monolinguals on various tasks in English (L2). The ability to process spoken stimuli was examined using phoneme deletion, spelling-to-dictation, and auditory comprehension tasks. The results showed that bilinguals from all backgrounds had greater difficulty than monolinguals on tasks that required sublexical skills, with the morphosyllabic groups performing the most poorly. The processing of print was investigated using reading aloud and reading comprehension tasks. In contrast to the auditory tasks, only Cantonese L1 bilinguals displayed any discernable difference from monolinguals on reading. Cantonese L1 bilinguals did, however, outperform monolinguals on orthographic memory tasks, such as the spelling of idiosyncratic L2 words. The findings therefore indicated that L1 linguistic structure influences L2 processing in adulthood, despite the former having become subordinate. In order to elucidate whether transfer effects arise solely from early exposure to L1, or whether L1 maintenance also plays a role, the L1 and L2 proficiency of a separate sample of Cantonese L1 bilinguals was examined. However, no meaningful relationship between L1 and L2 proficiency was found. Finally, a sample of late bilinguals were also tested in order to determine whether the L1-specific effects observed in early bilinguals are simply an attenuated version of those in late bilinguals,. The results revealed that the development of language dominance in L2 does lead to qualitatively different outcomes in L2 for early bilinguals. The findings from the present research are most consistent with the Competition Model (e.g., Hernandez, Li, & MacWhinney, 2005), which espouses the notions of L1 transfer and entrenchment to explain second language acquisition. Overall, the research indicates that native attainment in L2 is not assured for all early L2-dominant bilinguals.

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine two groups of healthy older Dutch English bilingual migrants in a New Zealand setting to investigate whether they were showing signs of L2 attrition with accompanying L1 reversion post-retirement, and (b) to identify possible factors which might play a role in the incidence of any L2 attrition and concomitant L1 reversion. Previous research has focused on similar groups of migrants in the Australian context, while New Zealand based research has focused on language shift and maintenance amongst three generations of migrants. The research design involved an analysis of sociolinguistic life, using questionnaires. These included self-assessments of L1 and L2 proficiency at three key times: on arrival in New Zealand, at time of ultimate attainment and post-retirement. Further, an analysis of assessments of respondents’ L1 and L2 proficiency pre-and post-retirement completed by interviewees’ adult children moderated respondents’ self-reports. The findings revealed a considerable overlap between participants’ self-reports and assessments by their adult children. The study also revealed a relationship between participants’ level of prior education and their ultimate attainment in the L2, with those who had come to New Zealand having learned English at Secondary School English very likely to have achieved a “good” or “very good” level of L2 proficiency. Conversely, those who had not learned the L2 at secondary school prior to arriving in New Zealand, were less likely to have achieved a “very good” level of ultimate attainment as evident both from self-reports and assessments by adult children. The design also included a linguistic analysis of elicited free speech. Data focused on key indicators of age, gender, social class, prior education, occupation and predominant linguistic environment pre- and post-retirement. Free speech was examined for code-switching, response latency and L1 structure in respondents’ spoken L2. Results indicated that a majority of respondents showed minimal if any signs of L2 attrition with concomitant L1 reversion, both as evidenced by their spoken L2 and as indicated by self-reports and assessments by adult children. Any signs of L2 attrition which were found appeared linked to respondents’ level of prior education and L2 proficiency on arrival in New Zealand. Being exposed to a predominantly L1 social environment post-retirement also appeared to result in a lifting of the threshold for L2 lexical items, resulting in a slightly increased response latency in the spoken L2. Three participants said they experienced some problems expressing their healthcare needs to medical professionals, to the extent that they were searching for words. All stated they “got there in the end” but needed more time to paraphrase their health needs. Two subjects avoided the use of the L2 during the interview, even when prompted in English. Three respondents engaged in significant codeswitching from L2 to L1 and vice versa, with two engaging in what Muysken (2000) terms “congruent lexicalisation”. Adult childrens’ reports indicated that the respondents in question had always spoken in this manner, but to a greater extent now, post-retirement. Overall, a number of the healthy older subjects interviewed for the study were showing some signs of increased response latency and lexical retrieval problems when expressing themselves in the L2, but none to the degree that they were no longer able to communicate in that language.

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This study introduces themes and trends apparent from notable research and literature regarding the value and usefulness of bilingual teaching methods in the ESOL classroom, and the perceptions of ESOL managers and teachers regarding these, both from an international and a New Zealand perspective. From this, a shortage of awareness and research in the New Zealand context was identified, which created an opportunity for further research. The study aimed specifically to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of Auckland based ESOL-school professionals regarding the value of teacher bilingualism and the use of other languages in the ESOL classroom. The basic method employed was a survey involving the distribution of questionnaires to 60 Auckland language school teachers and 20 Auckland language school managers, and included both qualitative and quantitative type questions. The study probed the foreign language skills and overseas work experience of the managers and teachers, and investigated whether these factors had influenced their perceptions regarding the value of teacher bilingualism and the use of other languages as an ESOL teaching tool. The study identifies the perceptions of Auckland ESOL professionals regarding these issues and analyses further differentiating factors likely to have influenced these perceptions. It identifies differences of opinion between managers and teachers and investigates reasons for these. The study analyses the linguistic composition of the Auckland language school clientele and considers implications for the industry resulting from the identified perceptions of ESOL professionals. Finally, the study offers suggestions for further future research, in the interest of improvement and enhancement of the industry.

Social and textual aspects of the language assimilation of German exile writers are studied. Major differences concern the length of their exile, their foreign language learning ability and their attitude to assimilating, and the primary sources are letters and diaries. Descriptive analysis is performed on the prose, mainly in the area of crosslinguistic influences. Despite their differing assimilation, the prose contains similar crosslinguistic influences. There are consistent changes in crosslinguistic influences during the course of language assimilation, initially determined by the extent of second language acquisition. However, language learning factors give way to social factors with crosslinguistic infuences ultimately governed by the functional independence of the second language. Lexically triggered code-switching is usually a step towards functionally motivated code-switching. Finally a tentative, schematic model of how the process of language assimilation causes and modifies crosslinguistic influences is proposed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This is the first Japanese-English Bilingual First Language Acquisition (BFLA) longitudinal study carried out within the framework of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998a). The informant of this study is Hannah, who was raised in Australia in a one-parent one-language environment from birth. Hannah’s speech production in each language was collected in a language-specific setting with different interlocutors (i.e., Japanese with the Japanese-speaking mother and English with the English-speaking father), from the time she was 1; 11 (one year and eleven months) until she was 4;10. This study investigates Hannah’s lexical development, the acquisition of morphology and syntax in the two languages. Unlike previous studies in bilingual children’s lexicon (Deuchar and Quay, 2000), this study focuses on the composition of the lexicon in each language to test for language-specific developmental patterns (Gentner and Boroditsky, 2001).The study also compares the development of these two languages in terms of MLU, lexical, morphological and syntactic development. Furthermore, the study examines the relationships between lexical and grammatical development within each of the two languages and tests the Critical Mass Hypothesis (Marchman and Bates, 1994) in a bilingual context. One of the central issues in the field of BFLA, identified by scholars such as DeHouwer (2005) and Meisel (1990a), is to characterise the relationship between the two developing languages of one child. Does a bilingual child initially develop the two languages as one linguistic system that later separates into two as expounded by Volterra and Taeschner (1978), or does a bilingual child develop the two languages separately from the beginning, as represented by De Houwer’s (1990) Separate Development Hypothesis (SDH)? Previous BFLA studies addressing this issue (e.g., De Houwer, 1990; Meisel, 1990a; Mishina, 1997; Paradis and Genesee, 1996) did not have a common point of reference to compare the development of two different languages directly. In the present study, PT provides a common point of reference for a direct comparison of the development of two typologically distant languages. Results indicate that both Japanese and English of the child developed in the sequence predicted by PT. They also support the SDH for lexical development, the acquisition of morphology and word order. The study confirms the Critical Mass Hypothesis in bilingual context. The results from the present study suggest that, for one bilingual child, Japanese and English each developed in parallel but in a separate manner. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The study addressed immigrant families' and mainstream school systems' support for young children's home language learning in Basel, Switzerland. In Switzerland, as in many European countries and in Australia, early childhood educators work with growing numbers of children from immigrant, refugee and asylum seeking families. The culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse groups of children that now characterise childcare centres, kindergartens and primary schools result from these patterns of immigration and present challenges for teachers and other educators who cater for the needs of increasingly diverse student populations. The literature on home languages acknowledges the importance of the relationship between a child's first language and development in the second language and the essential role of language proficiency in academic success. Despite knowledge from extensive studies on the interdependency of first and second language development (Cummins, 1979, 1981b, 1991, 2001) and evidence that continued development in a child's first language is crucial for overall cognitive development and transfer to second language learning (Collier, 1995), there is little focus on helping children maintain their home language in the early years of education. Arguably too, information and communication technologies (ICTs) lead to increased availability and opportunities for global communication, affecting the nature of communication, and creating possibilities for new forms of learning in the home and school. Children must therefore have the opportunity to become proficient users of these new and evolving forms of technology in order to acquire the skills, including language skills that they will need for future employment. In the light of this conceptual background, the present research focused on: (1) Immigrant parent beliefs and attitudes to home language use and how languages were used at home. (2) The strategies families used to promote home language learning in oral and written forms. (3) The extent to which ICTs were used as a tool to support home languages in the family and school environment. (4) The kinds of support offered in school and communities and what government policies and initiatives were afforded to home languages. (5) The nature of school and community policies and practices on the promotion and maintenance on home languages. These issues were addressed through a qualitative interpretive research approach drawing on the traditions of phenomenography (Marton 1986) and Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The research was based on three main data sources: (1) analysis of policy and curriculum documents from school systems, (2) interviews with key education personnel and (3) interviews with ?immigrant? parents (n=58) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds living in Basel. Families were drawn from 16 countries including the former Yugoslavia, (Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia), Spain, South and Central America, and Turkey. All children, whose parents participated in the study, attended state run kindergartens and primary schools. A major focus in the data collection and analysis was on (a) parents' perspectives and experiences as they negotiated home language learning in the home, school and community and the extent to which they used ICTs to enrich home language development, and (b) mainstream teachers' perspectives on the role home languages played in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms, as well as the role ICTs and media played in teaching children from immigrant families. The results of the study showed that: (a) immigrant children's home languages and culture as well as bilingualism and multilingualism are prominent features in Basel integration policy and curriculum documents but this focus is rarely translated to early childhood classroom practice, (b) classroom teachers focus predominantly on children learning their second language (German), (c) immigrant children's home language and culture is valued and respected but formal opportunities for children to learn to read and write in their home languages begin only when they have reached second grade, (d) there were a range of perspectives, reasons and strategies for maintaining and promoting home languages within families, (e) ICT was not an integral part of children's classroom experiences in kindergarten and scarcely integrated in primary classrooms, but was used in a variety of ways within homes to promote home language and communication, (f) there were wide variations in parents' and teachers' perspectives on what constitutes parent involvement in children's learning and education, and (g) links between home and school were mostly 'one way' and formal and some parents desired more frequent, more informal and spontaneous contact with teachers. These findings have considerable implications for Basel school and classroom practice and for early and middle year policy makers. They show that embedded assumptions of both teachers and parents may have a negative impact on children's positive identification with both majority and minority language learning. Limited financial support for home language classes is likely to have a negative effect on immigrant children's home language literacy learning. Dialogue needs to be sought on the potential for ICT use in home language learning. Policy makers' efforts towards developing multilingualism in all children are problematic. Some parents drew attention to the challenge of learning a third language through a second language, L1 + L2a +L2b + L3+L4. (L1 = home language, L2a= German Swiss dialect, L2b = Standard German, L3= French, L4 = English). To help better explain and increase awareness of the interrelationship between home languages, ICT use and the home-school connection, a model was developed that reflects the range of immigrant family perspectives on home language learning and the influences that appear to promote home language development within children's environments. This 'multilingual social cohesive communications model' should assist in understanding the important links between home languages, ICTs and home-school communication. The model emphasises the importance of developing bottom up local level strategies and recognises the vital role of positive interactions between parents and teachers. It builds on a sociocultural view of language learning, tapping on the potential of new learning tools (ICTs) in real and virtual communities. It recognises the importance of intercultural identity formation and at the same time the inhibiting effects of discrimination both overt and covert. The model incorporates the strategies schools need to improve communication with families and to strengthen links between home and school with the view to improving educational outcomes and prospects for immigrant children.