The levels of bilingualism hypothesis: Cognitive and linguistic developmental aspects.
Item
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Title
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The levels of bilingualism hypothesis: Cognitive and linguistic developmental aspects.
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Identifier
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AAI9630507
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identifier
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9630507
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Creator
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Segui, Ivelisse.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Katherine Nelson
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental | Education, Bilingual and Multicultural | Language, Linguistics
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Abstract
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The goal of this study was to explore the Levels of Bilingualism Hypothesis (Diaz, 1985) relating language proficiency and performance on categorization tasks. Kindergarten and first grade Puerto Rican children were tested for English and Spanish proficiency using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). All groups (except for the English dominant group) were at appropriate language levels in their dominant language, while second language proficiency was lower. The PPVT was used to group the children: Kindergarten-Monolingual Spanish and Dominant Spanish; First Grade-Monolingual Spanish, Dominant Spanish, and English Dominant. The categorization tasks were: Forced Choice Picture Tasks, Cued List Constructions, and Word Associations.;In the categorization tasks, the Spanish-speaking groups followed the same patterns described by Nelson for monolingual English speaking children. Within the Forced Choice Task, the preference order was the same: Thematic, slot-filler, and superordinate. Given the Category Productions, all the children relied more on script-based subcategories in contrast to conventional subcategories. Given the Word Associations, most of the Spanish-speaking and the older English monolingual children relied on Taxonomic Horizontal knowledge. However, the younger Lucariello, et al., (1992) sample relied on Thematic responses.;According to Diaz, children at the initial stages of bilingual development would exhibit positive cognitive effects. Superordinate responses were considered as the most complex categorization responses. In support of Diaz, when speaking in Spanish, the first grade Dominant Spanish children made significantly more superordinate choices than the first grade Spanish monolinguals, given both the Forced Choice Unlabeled and Labeled Tasks.;Cummins' would have predicted that the Dominant English group would exhibit negative consequences, because their language proficiency was not at age appropriate levels, in either language. However, the Dominant English group performed comparably to the other groups when speaking in English.;Overall, performance on the tasks was found to be language specific, such that better results were obtained when working in their dominant language. The children's dominant language, from which their scripts originated, served as the basis from which taxonomic classifications developed and thus best reflected more complex superordinate categorizations.;The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of bilingualism and cognitive development and in terms of their implications for educational policy.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
