Notes

Outline

Language development in Chinese and English: learning or losing? Mark Sebba Lancaster University Department of Linguistics and English Language

Outline Language development in English: a reasonable concern or unnecessary worry? Losing or maintaining Chinese: what we know and what we hope to find out. Note: this is a slightly updated version of the talk given at the CACH reunion on 13th March 2004.

Along the way: Some myths exploded

Part 1: Language development in English

‘Normal transmission’ of language

‘Unusual’ cases ‘Feral’ children Deaf children of hearing parents Hearing children of deaf parents  ‘Trans-linguistically adopted’ children

Vocabulary comprehension in‘Normal’ transmission

Vocabulary production in ‘Normal’ transmission

‘trans-linguistically adopted’ children

What happens now?

Scenario 1: slight setback

Scenario 2: medium-term setback

Scenario 3: major setback

Scenario 4: advantage

Which is the actual scenario? Slight setback? Medium-term setback? Major setback? Advantage? Or do different children respond differently to the abrupt change of language?

A linguist’s guess For the average child who had gone part-way to learning a first language, the abrupt change to a new language would represent a medium-term setback. ‘As she was adopted after the age of one year, her switch to English might be expected to be slow and difficult’ - Nicoladis, Elena and Grabois, Howard     Learning English and losing Chinese: A case study of a child adopted from China International Journal of Bilingualism 6:4 (2002) 2002 - 441-454 p.

Research to date One case study – in Canada Child was adopted into an English-speaking family at the age of 17 months Another large-scale study of English learning is under way in the U.S. and Canada (The Memphis study, but now at the University of Alberta)

Conclusions of research: Nicoladis, Elena and Grabois, Howard     Learning English and losing Chinese: A case study of a child adopted from China International Journal of Bilingualism 6:4 (2002) 2002 - 441-454 p. ‘Her acquisition of English was remarkably fast, as was her loss of Chinese… The switch from Cantonese to English can be described as a nonevent for this child’

They found: Child produced an English word at the first recording session (about 7 weeks after adoption at age 17 months) and more at each session thereafter

To be precise: Four months after adoption the child had a productive English vocabulary of 15+ words and comprehension of about 25 words This is within the normal range for a monolingual child (10 per cent of British children can only produce 16 words of English at 19 months)

Conclusions of research:    ‘These data suggest that the child's language acquisition was founded on already established social and communicative processes. Her previous exposure to Chinese may have allowed her to learn about language use in general, thus facilitating her rapid acquisition of English’.

So: There is no evidence to support the ‘major setback’ hypothesis for the learning of English Much of what is learned before the child starts producing words is not language-specific The ‘minor setback’ hypothesis seems to be the best supported one

Myth 1. Language is genetically transmitted Fact: The ability to learn any language perfectly  is genetically part of being human. Language-particular features are not inherited or conditioned by inherited anatomy Your child should not have a Chinese accent when speaking English!

Language Development Problems What proportion of children have a language development problem? Estimates vary from 7% to 15% Depends on criteria Some will need speech and language therapy Some will resolve by themselves

If you suspect a problem… Try to ensure that your child is assessed by someone who understands about bilingual language acquisition, who will not make assumptions based on monolingual English norms Beware of health visitors, social workers and the like who have no linguistic training and make negative assumptions about the effects of bilingualism

And … Don’t assume that there is no problem and that the transition from Chinese to English accounts for any delays or difficulties Remember that ‘the switch from Cantonese to English [was] a nonevent’ for the child in the Canadian study

Myth 2: Bilingualism is bad Bilingualism is the norm in many societies (about 50% of humans are bilinguals) But ‘Monolingual’ societies are ambiguous about bilingualism

‘ Bilingualism is bad’ English-French Bilingual (parents work for Global Corporation) PPP English-Cantonese Bilingual (parents work for Double Luck Takeaway) O O O

‘ Bilingualism is bad’ In 1923 Saer studied 1,400 Welsh-English bilingual children between the ages of seven and 14 in five rural and two urban areas of Wales. A 10-point difference in IQ was found between the bilinguals and the monolingual English speakers from rural backgrounds. From this Saer concluded that bilinguals were mentally confused and at a disadvantage in intelligence compared with monolinguals – and that this disadvantage was permanent through life.   Saer, D.J. (1923) An inquiry into the effect of bilingualism upon the intelligence of young children. Journal of Experimental Psychology Part I 6: 232-40- Part II 266-74.

Reasons to ignore Saer’s study General problems with defining ‘intelligence’ and IQ Saer found hardly any difference between urban monolinguals and bilinguals In fact the average IQ for urban bilinguals was 100, and 99 for monolinguals The tests measured ability in English, which was weaker for rural children

‘ Bilingualism is beneficial’ Balkan's (1970) study of French/English Swiss bilingual adolescents […] found that the bilinguals scored significantly better on tests of numerical ability, verbal and perceptual flexibility, and general reasoning by comparison with monolinguals with whom they were matched for non-verbal intelligence and socio-economic status. Balkan, L (1970): Les Effets du Bilinguisme Français-Anglais sur les Aptitudes Intellectuelles. Bruxelles: Aimav.

‘ Bilingualism is beneficial’ He also found that those who had become bilingual before the age of four were markedly superior not only to monolinguals, but also significantly better than  bilinguals who had acquired their second language after the age of four. Romaine, Suzanne: Bilingualism (1989):214

Cognitive advantages of bilingualism (1) More recent research has shown that bilinguals may have some advantages in thinking, ranging from creative thinking to faster progress in early cognitive development and greater sensitivity in communication… Li Wei (ed.) 2000  The bilingualism reader. London: Routledge

Cognitive advantages of bilingualism (2) … a bilingual has the possibility of more awareness of language and more fluency, flexibility and elaboration in thinking than a monolingual. Li Wei (ed.) 2000  The bilingualism reader. London: Routledge

Part 2: Losing or maintaining Chinese

What do we know? Just one study – the same one, by Nicoladis and Grabois Study in progress – Sebba and Franceschina

In Nicoladis and Grabois’s study ‘Her acquisition of English was remarkably fast, as was her loss of Chinese.’

To be precise: Child produced no Chinese words from the second recording session onwards (about 7 weeks after adoption at age 17 months) Child showed no comprehension of Chinese words from 11 weeks after adoption

Study in progress by Franceschina and Sebba at Lancaster University Similar pattern - loss of Chinese accompanied by rapid learning of English BUT Even after 6 months, there is still some comprehension of Chinese vocabulary

Possible reasons for rapid loss of Chinese Chinese is not associated with the child’s new environment Chinese is not used by either parent, or by the community at large

Possible reasons for rapid loss of Chinese Chinese is not spoken sufficiently in the child’s environment Chinese is not well-established yet as the child’s first language

Losing Chinese: what we know It happens fairly quickly – first the child stops producing Chinese, then there is a more or less rapid loss of vocabulary comprehension

What we don’t know Whether there is some residual comprehension or ‘feel for’ the language (we can only really measure words but there is a lot more to language) Whether the early exposure to Chinese gives an advantage in learning it later on (e.g. in learning tones)

What can be done? ‘How much Chinese does my child need to be exposed to in order to acquire and maintain Chinese?’

What we know From a study of 25 simultaneous bilingual infants aged 8 to 30 months Vocabulary is learnt in proportion to exposure to the language ‘even at reduced levels of exposure to a language, children will still learn its vocabulary’. Pearson, B.Z., Fernández, S., Lewedag, V. and Oller, D.K. (1997) ‘Input factors in lexical learning of bilingual infants (aged 10 to 30 months)’, Applied Psycholinguistics, 18: 41–58.

However, ‘Whether children can acquire a grammar and a sound system from low levels of exposure to a language cannot be inferred from vocabulary learning’ Pearson, B.Z., Fernández, S., Lewedag, V. and Oller, D.K. (1997) ‘Input factors in lexical learning of bilingual infants (aged 10 to 30 months)’, Applied Psycholinguistics, 18: 41–58.

An ‘informed guess’ 20 percent exposure is insufficient (children stop producing words spontaneously)  25 percent or more is a minimum for maintenance.

A parent’s response Oh dear!

Some questions: What are parents doing to establish/maintain Chinese for their children? What works best, and why?

Some different approaches ‘Family learning’ – parent(s) and child are all beginners together Foreign-language learning approach (Chinese classes) – could this work with preschool children? Immersion – move to China or Hong Kong Increased exposure – ‘Chinese nanny’

Some questions: Does it make a difference if the parents know Chinese already? Does it help if the parents learn Chinese at the same time as the child? Does it help if the child mixes with Chinese-speaking children, if Chinese is hardly or never used at home?

Research projects (1) More studies of recent arrivals, to study the process of language gain and loss in more detail Any volunteers?

Research projects (2) A study (by questionnaires and interviews) to find out about successes and failures in getting children to learn and maintain Chinese – who is doing what? what works and what doesn’t? Any volunteers?

Contact Details Dr Mark Sebba Reader in Sociolinguistics and Language Contact Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University Lancaster LA1 4YT Tel. 01524 592453 e-mail: M.Sebba@lancaster.ac.uk http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/mark/mark.htm

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