Four studies explored patterns of language growth and processing in 64 19-31-month-old bilingual children acquiring English and Spanish. In the first study, cross-sectional and longitudinal methods revealed significant relationships between vocabulary size and grammatical development, replicating previous studies with monolingual children. The compositions of children's lexicons in each language were linked to vocabulary size in that language. With few exceptions, utterance length and complexity and the emergence of closed class and predicate terms in each language were linked more closely to vocabulary size in the same language than to total conceptual vocabulary (TCV) size. In the second study, performance on English and Spanish sentence repetition tests was compared for bilingual and monolingual children matched for vocabulary size in each language. The performance of the bilingual children was similar to that of their monolingual controls, indicating links between grammatical ability and vocabulary development within the same language. The slightly better performance of the bilingual children on a few comparisons suggested some degree of cross-linguistic bootstrapping. In the third study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the neural activity of bilingual children as they processed known and unknown words. There were differences in the timing and distribution of the ERP amplitude differences to known vs. unknown words for each language, and differences in these effects when children with larger TCV sizes were compared to those with smaller TCV sizes. These results thus replicated studies with monolingual children that found links between vocabulary development and the organization of ERP effects, although the exact patterns were different for the bilingual and monolingual children. In the fourth study the effects of mixed vs. blocked language testing conditions on ERP patterns were investigated. Results indicated that some of the differences in ERP effects between the monolingual and bilingual children noted in the third study may have been due to processing demands created by the mixed-language testing condition in which the bilingual children were tested. The results of these four studies support experience-based accounts of early language acquisition, and further establish the use of combined behavioral-neural imaging approaches for studying language development in bilingual toddlers.

The revised edition of this comprehensive graduate-level text gives SLPs the most current information on language development and disorders of Spanish-English bilingual children. Includes 5 new chapters on literacy and other hot topics.;

Both SLPs and researchers must understand speech and language developments in children - and SLPs also need reliable assessment and intervention approaches for serving bilingual children with language disorders. This comprehensive text is one of the few to offer readers in-depth theoretical and practical information on these timely topics. brings together more than a dozen top researchers to present developmental data, best assessment practices, and appropriate intervention approaches in the following areas: language processing skills; lexical development; morpho-syntactic development; first language loss; grammatical impairments; semantic development; phonological development and disorders; narrative development and disorders; fluency; language intervention for bilingual speakers. The chapter outlines the major purposes of intervention for bilingual children with speech and language disorders, explores the debate over which language SLPs should use with bilingual children, and examines ways to promote gains in both languages. With this research-based text, SLPs will understand the complexity of language development in bilingual children and learn appropriate assessment and intervention approaches.

The goal of this report was to explore ways to differentiate the performance of early school-aged Spanish-English bilingual children in U.S. public schools, who appear "at-risk" for language impairment versus those who have true risk. We compared the patterns of performance reported for children with typical development and language impairment reported in the literature to those for children with risk described by Bedore et al., (2013) and Perez et al., (in preparation). Children with risk seem quite different than their peers with true language problems on formal measures such as the Bilingual English Spanish Assessment (BESA). However these children presented fewer errors or weaknesses in spontaneous speech than did their peers with true language impairment. Language variability and errors are expected in the language of young bilingual children, so it is of utmost importance that language professionals closely assess each of the child's languages with formal and functional measures prior to making a diagnosis of language impairment.

This volume is an up-to-date, concise introduction to bilingualism and multilingualism in schools, in the workplace, and in international institutions in a globalized world. The authors use a problem-solving approach and ask broad questions about bilingualism and multilingualism in society, including the question of language acquisition versus maintenance of bilingualism. Key features: provides a state-of-the-art description of different areas in the context of multilingualism and multilingual communication presents a critical appraisal of the relevance of the field, offers solutions of everyday language-related problems international handbook with contributions from renown experts in the field

Prominent researchers from the US, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Spain contribute experimental reports on language development of children who are acquiring Spanish. The chapters cover a wide range of dimensions in acquisition: comprehension and production; monolingualism and bilingualism; typical development, children who are at risk and children with language disorders, phonology, semantics, and morphosyntax. These studies will inform linguistic theory development in clinical linguistics as well as offer insights on how language works in relation to cognitive functions that are associated with when children understand or use language. The unique data from child language offer perspectives that cannot be drawn from adult language. The first part is dedicated to the acquisition of Spanish as a first or second language by typically-developing children, the second part offers studies on children who are at risk of language delays, and the third part focuses on children with specific language impairment, disorders and syndromes.

This book pioneers the study of bilingualism across the lifespan and in all its diverse forms. In framing the newest research within a lifespan perspective, the editors highlight the importance of considering an individual's age in researching how bilingualism affects language acquisition and cognitive development. A key theme is the variability among bilinguals, which may be due to a host of individual and sociocultural factors, including the degree to which bilingualism is valued within a particular context.Thus, this book is a call for language researchers, psychologists, and educators to pursue a better understanding of bilingualism in our increasingly global society.