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Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
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Language choice in bimodal bilingual development.

Diane Lillo-Martin1, Ronice M de Quadros2, Deborah Chen Pichler3

  • 1Department of Linguistics, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT, USA ; Haskins Laboratories New Haven, CT, USA.

Frontiers in Psychology
|November 5, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bilingual children adapt their language use based on who they are talking to. Bimodal bilingual children, who learn sign and spoken languages, also show sensitivity to interlocutors, influenced by community language dominance.

Keywords:
bilingual developmentbimodal bilingualismcode-blendinginterlocutor sensitivitylanguage mixing

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Bilingualism Research

Background:

  • Bilingual children exhibit early sensitivity to interlocutor language, adjusting their output accordingly.
  • Bimodal bilingual children face unique complexities, including simultaneous use of sign and spoken languages (code-blending).
  • Community language dominance and discourse context influence language differentiation in young bilinguals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how bimodal bilingual children adapt their language production based on interlocutors.
  • To explore the role of community language dominance in the language choices of bimodal bilingual children.
  • To examine the use of code-blending versus language suppression in bimodal bilingual children.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal analysis of spontaneous language production data from four bimodal bilingual children.
  • Observation of interactions between children and both Deaf and hearing interlocutors.
  • Quantitative assessment of single-language versus bimodal utterances in different interactional contexts.

Main Results:

  • Children consistently used more sign language with Deaf interlocutors and more spoken language with hearing interlocutors.
  • While proficient in spoken language, children produced significantly less sign language alone in specific sessions.
  • All children produced bimodal utterances, more frequently in sign-focused sessions, suggesting difficulty suppressing the dominant language.

Conclusions:

  • Bimodal bilingual children demonstrate sensitivity to interlocutor language, mirroring patterns in monolingual bilinguals.
  • The dominant community language exerts a significant influence on children's language production strategies.
  • Code-blending appears to be a preferred strategy over language suppression for bimodal bilingual children in certain contexts.