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Language development in bilingual children: Applying Processability Theory to ArabicSwedish children

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Writing. L2, SLI differ from L1. Gender /number agr ... levels for Swedish and three PT levels for Arabic. The same interviewer (both in Arabic and in Swedish) ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Language development in bilingual children: Applying Processability Theory to ArabicSwedish children


1
Language development in bilingual
childrenApplying Processability Theory to
Arabic-Swedish children
  • Gisela Håkansson
  • Dept of Linguistics, Lund University
  • Gisela.Hakansson_at_ling.lu.se

2
Disposition of presentation
  • Processability Theory applied to Swedish
  • Earlier studies of Swedish as L2 or L1 (including
    SLI)
  • An empirical study on language development in
    bilingual children

3
PT and L2 Swedish
  • Pienemann Håkansson (1999) identified 5 levels
    for the development of Sweden morpho-syntax
  • The levels were tested against data from 14
    empirical studies, including more than one
    thousand learners
  • No evidence against the predictions were found
    but not all levels were tested. Different studies
    focussed on different aspects of SLA

4
Swedish syntax and morphologyPT levels
  • Syntax
  • 5. Sub clause wo
  • 4. subj-vb inversion
  • 3. ADV (SV)
  • 2 SVO
  • Single constituents
  • Morphology
  • 5. ---
  • 4. Pred agr (N cop A)
  • 3 Phrasal agr (AN)
  • 2. Lexical morphology
  • 1. Words

5
Four earlier studies of Swedish as an L2
  • Hammarberg (1996)
  • Formal learners
  • Håkansson (1998)
  • Formal vs. informal learners
  • Håkansson (2001)
  • Comparing L1, SLI and L2 children
  • Glahn et al (2001)
  • Formal learners of Danish, Norwegian, Swedish

6
Results earlier studies
  • On the whole, predictions confirmed!
  • But, some issues need explanations
  • Polyfunctional det
  • Writing
  • L2, SLI differ from L1
  • Gender /number agr

7
Measuring language development in bilingual
childrenHåkansson, Salameh Nettelbladt 2003
  • Background of study
  • Increased number of bilingual children referred
    to language clinics in Sweden
  • 150 different L1s in pre-schools and schools
  • Speech therapists have to measure both language
    when assessing children in order to differentiate
    between SLI and L2

8
Measuring .
  • Hypotheses
  • The children will develop both languages
    according to PT predictions
  • Children with SLI will have a low level in both
    languages

9
Measuring ...
  • Material
  • 10 Arabic-Swedish children with SLI
  • 10 Arabic Swedish children without SLI
  • The children are matched according to
  • Age (4-6 yrs)
  • Gender
  • Exposure to Swedish
  • Arabic dialect of parents

10
Measuring ...
  • Procedure
  • Pilot tests to find Arabic and Swedish items
    suitable for pre-school children
  • Final test included five PT levels for Swedish
    and three PT levels for Arabic
  • The same interviewer (both in Arabic and in
    Swedish)
  • Elicitation tests based on toys, pictures and
    games

11
Measuring ...
  • Results
  • Hypotesis A confirmed both languages developed
    in implicational order (.86 - .94)
  • Hypothesis B partly confirmed. 8/10 children with
    SLI had low levels of both languages
  • Potential practical implication
  • The non language-specific nature of PT makes it
    possible to use it as a yardstick to measure and
    compare development of two languages.

12
References
  • Glahn, E., Håkansson, G., Hammarberg, B., Holmen,
    A., Hvenekilde, A., Lund, K. (2001)
    Processability in Scandinavian SLA. Studies in
    Second Language Acquisition 23, 389-416.
  • Håkansson, G. (1998) Modern Times in L2 Swedish.
    In Diáz, L. Pérez, P. (eds) EUROSLA 7.
    Barcelona. Spain. 39-50
  • Håkansson G. (2001) Tense morphology and
    verb-second in Swedish L1 children, L2 children
    and children with SLI. Bilingualism Language and
    Cognition 4, 85-99.
  • Håkansson, G, Salameh, E-K. Nettelbladt, U.
    (2003) Measuring language development in
    bilingual children Swedish-Arabic children with
    and without language impairment Linguistics 41,
    255 288.
  • Hammarberg, B. (1996) Examining the
    processability theory The case of adjectival
    agreement in L2 Swedish. In E. Kellerman, B.
    Weltens Bongaerts, T. (eds) EUROSLA 6 A
    selection of papers. Amsterdam 75-88.
  • Pienemann, M. Håkansson, G. (1999) A unified
    approach toward the development of Swedish as L2.
    A Processability Account. Studies in Second
    Language Acquisition 21, 383-420.
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