Influence of bilingualism in usual word designation in naming tasks: a study with Brazilian preschoolers.
OBJECTIVE
To verify if children enrolled in bilingual preschools are influenced by a second language.


METHODS
60 children were assessed, 30 enrolled in a bilingual preschool (Group I) and 30 in a regular Brazilian school (Group II), with ages ranging from 4 to 5 years and 11 months. To assess their lexical competence the ABFW Vocabulary test (Befi-Lopes, 2000) was used.


RESULTS
When comparing the results obtained in the inter-group study, no significant difference was observed in the groups' performance, in most of the semantic fields. In the intra-group study a superior performance was observed for Group I in the Portuguese language.


CONCLUSIONS
Learning a second language may influence the lexical competence of children, although these preschoolers are still proficient only in the Portuguese language.
Oppenheimer
Fernanda
F
Campo Fonoaudiológico, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina. fopp@graded.br
Avila
Clara Regina Brandão de
CR
D001938:Brazil; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012660:Semantics; D014796:Visual Perception; D014825:Vocabulary