University of Helsinki, Finland.
Acta Paediatr. 2012 Sep;101(9):946-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2012.02733.x. Epub 2012 Jun 7.
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.
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.
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.
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.
关于双语环境是否会加重儿童特定语言问题，相关数据较少。本研究分析了这些问题是否会与同时双语环境相互影响。
研究对象为 5-7 岁存在特定语言问题的儿童（LANG 组，N=56）或语言发育正常的儿童（CONTR 组，N=60）。73 名儿童为瑞典-芬兰双语者，43 名儿童为瑞典语单语者。评估（瑞典语）包括表达性语言、理解、重复和语言记忆测试。
根据定义，LANG 组在所有语言测试中的得分均低于 CONTR 组。双语组在身体部位命名测试中的得分低于单语组。重要的是，在任何语言测试中，组（LANG 或 CONTR）与双语环境的相互作用均不显著。
同时双语环境不会加重特定语言问题，但可能导致有和没有特定语言问题的儿童词汇发展较慢。同时考虑到双语环境的优势，双语教育也是有特定语言问题儿童的一个选择。在评估中，词汇测试可能对双语环境敏感，而评估理解、语法和非词重复的测试可能提供较少偏差的方法。
