Learning Words and Definitions in Two Languages: What Promotes Cross-Language Transfer?

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Second Language Acquisition

Background:

• Cross-language transfer is a key aspect of bilingual development.
• Understanding factors influencing transfer, like L1-L2 similarity and proficiency, is vital for effective language education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how first language (L1) similarity and L1-L2 proficiency influence cross-language transfer in sequential bilingual children.
• To determine if high L1 proficiency facilitates vocabulary gains in the second language (L2).

Main Methods:

• A brief vocabulary training paradigm was employed with 54 sequential bilingual children (aged 6-8).
• Participants were grouped based on L1 (Vietnamese, Spanish) and L1 proficiency (low, high) relative to L2 English.
• Training involved L1-based mediated learning experiences targeting vocabulary, with some cognates between Spanish and English.

Main Results:

• All groups improved in L1 vocabulary definition quality post-training.
• Only the high L1 Spanish-English proficiency group demonstrated improvement in L2 English vocabulary.
• This indicates spontaneous cross-language transfer occurred primarily in children with high L1-L2 proficiency.

Conclusions:

• High L1 proficiency is a significant factor enabling cross-language transfer of vocabulary to an L2.
• The findings highlight the importance of strong L1 foundations for successful L2 acquisition in bilingual children.