Picture naming in early sequential bilinguals: a 1-year follow-up.
In a previous study, a cross-sectional approach was used to investigate developmental changes in basic-level lexical production and cognitive processing in early sequential bilinguals, exploring the effects of age and years of experience during single-language (Spanish or English) and mixed-language (alternating between Spanish and English) picture naming (K. Kohnert, E. Bates, & A. E. Hernandez, 1999). The current study reports on the performance, 1 year later, of a subgroup of these original study participants (n = 28; mean age = 10.2 years) on the same experimental task. Overall, from Time 1 to Time 2 testing, gains were greater in English than in Spanish and in the high-competition mixed-language processing condition than in the single-language processing condition. These results reinforce previous findings of a shift toward greater strength in L2 with increasing age (and years of language experience), as well as the primary role of cognitive development in control of the dual-language system. In addition, examination of individual performance revealed a complex non-monotonic pattern of L1-L2 change across time within an overall pattern of increasing speed, accuracy, and control of the dual-lexical system.
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. kohne005@umn.edu
Kathryn
K
Kohnert
D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D011930:Reaction Time; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014825:Vocabulary