Speech sound disorders or differences: Insights from bilingual children speaking two Chinese languages

The study investigated how Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children differ from monolinguals in their acquisition of speech sound and phonological patterns. Fifty-four typically developing Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children aged 3;6-6;0 were recruited from nurseries in the North District of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Cantonese Articulation Test (Cheung et al., 2006) and a Putonghua picture-naming task (Zhu & Dodd, 2000) were used to elicit single-word samples of both languages. Acquisition of speech sound and phonological patterns exhibited by ≥20% of the children in an age group were compared to the normative data on children who were Cantonese native or Putonghua monolingual speakers. The bilingual children demonstrated smaller sound inventory in both languages and more delayed and atypical phonological processes. The atypical patterns could be explained by phonological interference between Putonghua and Cantonese. The findings serve as a preliminary reference for clinicians in differentiating language difference from true speech sound disorders in Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children in Hong Kong.