Department of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, Dole Center, Room 3001, Lawrence, KS 66045, United States.
Department of Communication Disorders, Willow Hall 249, Texas State University, Round Rock, TX 78665, United States.
J Fluency Disord. 2023 Sep;77:105988. doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.105988. Epub 2023 Jun 15.
This study examined the language skills and the type and frequency of disfluencies in the spoken narrative production of typically developing Spanish-English bilingual children.
A cross-sectional sample of 106 bilingual children (50 boys; 56 girls) enrolled in kindergarten through Grade 4, produced a total of 212 narrative retell language samples in English and Spanish. A specialized fluency coding system was implemented to index the percentage of total (%TD) and stuttering-like disfluencies (%SLD) in each language. Large-scale reference databases were used to classify children's dual language proficiency profiles (balanced, English dominant, Spanish dominant) based on language sample analysis measures of morphosyntax and lexical diversity.
The bilingual Spanish-English children in this study did not demonstrate significant cross-linguistic differences for mean %TD or %SLD. However, the mean %TD and %SLD in both languages exceeded the risk threshold based on monolingual English-speaking norms. English dominant bilingual children demonstrated significantly lower %TD in English than Spanish. Spanish dominant children demonstrated significantly lower %SLD in Spanish than English.
This study included the largest sample size of bilingual Spanish-English children investigated to date from a fluency perspective. The frequency of disfluencies was found to be variable across participants and change dynamically as a function of grade and dual language proficiency profiles, indicating the need for studies that employ larger sample sizes and longitudinal designs.
本研究考察了西班牙语-英语双语发展儿童口语叙事产生中的语言技能以及不流畅的类型和频率。
一个由 106 名双语儿童（50 名男孩；56 名女孩）组成的横断面样本，在幼儿园到 4 年级期间总共产生了 212 个英语和西班牙语的叙事复述语言样本。实施了专门的流畅性编码系统，以索引每种语言的总不流畅百分比（%TD）和类口吃不流畅百分比（%SLD）。大规模参考数据库用于根据语言样本分析的形态句法和词汇多样性措施，对儿童的双语能力概况（平衡、英语主导、西班牙语主导）进行分类。
本研究中的西班牙语-英语双语儿童在平均%TD 或%SLD 方面没有表现出显著的跨语言差异。然而，两种语言的平均%TD 和%SLD 都超过了基于单语英语标准的风险阈值。英语主导的双语儿童在英语中的平均%TD 明显低于西班牙语。西班牙语主导的儿童在西班牙语中的平均%SLD 明显低于英语。
从流畅度的角度来看，本研究包括了迄今为止从西班牙语-英语双语角度研究的最大双语儿童样本量。不流畅的频率在参与者之间是可变的，并随着年级和双语能力概况的变化而动态变化，这表明需要进行更大样本量和纵向设计的研究。
