Simon-Cereijido Gabriela, Méndez Lucía I
California State University, Los Angeles.
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2018 Jul 5;49(3):537-550. doi: 10.1044/2018_LSHSS-17-0058.
This study examined the nature of the relation between language-specific vocabulary and conceptual lexical-semantic skills with grammatical abilities within and across languages in preschool Latino dual language learners (DLLs).
Sixty-one typically developing, Spanish-English speaking DLLs from preschools serving low-income families participated in the study. Lexical, semantic, and grammar skills were assessed toward the end of the fall in both Spanish and English using normative and researcher-developed assessment instruments. Hierarchical linear regressions using baseline cross-sectional data were completed to determine the association of language-specific vocabulary and bilingual lexical and semantic abilities to grammatical skills measured by sentence repetition tasks in Spanish and English both within and across languages.
Results from the study revealed that a considerable percentage of the variance in the grammatical ability of these Latino DLL preschoolers in both Spanish and English was explained by lexical variables in the same language (54% in English and 16% in Spanish). In the strong language (Spanish), bilingual semantic skills also played a role, explaining an additional 8% of the variance. Conceptual vocabulary was a significant predictor of English grammar in the model that excluded the language-specific vocabulary measures.
These findings suggest that grammatical skills in the Latino preschoolers examined in the study are strongly related to language-specific measures of vocabulary. In contrast, no evidence supporting the relation between vocabulary and grammar skills across languages was observed. Findings from this study provide insight into the impact of bilingual lexical-semantic knowledge on the grammatical skills of dual-language preschool children developing language abilities in their 2 languages. Clinical implications are also discussed.
本研究考察了低收入家庭学前拉丁裔双语学习者（DLLs）在同一语言内及不同语言间，特定语言词汇与概念性词汇语义技能和语法能力之间关系的本质。
61名来自为低收入家庭服务的幼儿园、以西班牙语和英语为母语的典型发育DLLs参与了本研究。在秋季学期末，使用标准化和研究人员开发的评估工具对西班牙语和英语的词汇、语义和语法技能进行了评估。使用基线横断面数据完成分层线性回归，以确定特定语言词汇以及双语词汇和语义能力与西班牙语和英语句子重复任务所测量的语法技能在同一语言内及不同语言间的关联。
研究结果显示，这些拉丁裔DLL学前儿童在西班牙语和英语中的语法能力差异有相当一部分是由同一语言中的词汇变量所解释的（英语中为54%，西班牙语中为16%）。在优势语言（西班牙语）中，双语语义技能也发挥了作用，额外解释了8%的差异。在排除特定语言词汇测量的模型中，概念性词汇是英语语法的显著预测因素。
这些发现表明，本研究中所考察的拉丁裔学前儿童的语法技能与特定语言的词汇测量密切相关。相比之下，未观察到支持不同语言间词汇和语法技能关系的证据。本研究结果为双语词汇语义知识对同时发展两种语言能力的双语学前儿童语法技能的影响提供了见解。还讨论了临床意义。
