[Cognitive development and risk factors in bilingual pre-school children from an immigrant background]

A sample of N=126 preschool children ages 57 to 72 months were examined to explore whether bilingual children from an immigrant background have a higher risk of developing specific developmental problems of educational ability and whether specific precursors could be identified. 63 children with bilingualism and immigrant background were compared to 63 controls matched for age, sex and length of stay in kindergarten. All children were tested with the BASIC-Preschool, a screening tool which assesses specific and non-specific precursors of school problems. Significantly higher risks for developing specific educational problems were found for children growing up bilingually. The subgroup of children with a Turkish background showed the poorest results. Not only language-based subtests of the BASIC-Preschool, but numeracy and visual spatial subtests were affected as language is necessary to understand and/or solve the tasks. For children with immigration background a differentiated analysis of individual resources and risk factors including the consideration of their primary language is required and no universal interventions can be recommended.