native and foreign born children - minds@uw home
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Comparing the Language Development of Native and Foreign Born Children
Julie Endvick, Stacy Heath, Jennifer Mick, Student ResearchersMarie Stadler Ph.D, Faculty Advisor
Communication Sciences and Disorders University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
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Ave
rage
Num
ber o
f Mor
phem
es p
er U
tter
ance
Mean Length of Utterance
Ivy
Luke
Evan
27.5 months 32 months 36.5 months
27.5 months 32 months 36.5 months 27.5 months 32 months 36.5 months
Type Token Ratio
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Num
ber o
f Wor
ds p
er 5
0 U
tter
ance
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Total Number of Words
Ivy
Luke
Evan
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Num
ber o
f Wor
ds p
er 5
0 U
tter
ance
sTotal Number of Different Words
Ivy
Luke
Evan
ParticipantsIvy: Born to English speaking parents
•Lives with mother and fatherLuke: Born to English speaking parents
•Lives with mother and fatherEvan: Adopted from Ethiopia at 22 months
•No exposure to English pre-adoption•Started speech therapy at 29 months•Lives with mother, father, & older sister
The researchers would like to thank the participants and their families for taking part in this study.
Methods•Pre-tested at 26 months•Post-tested at 36 months
•The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale•MacArthur-Bates Communicative Inventories
•Language samples collected at 27.5, 29, 32, 33, 35, 36.5 months of age
•Semantics TTR and semantic roles
•SyntaxMean Length of Utterance
•PragmaticsPrimitive and Conversational Acts
27.5 m 32 m. 36.5 m. 27.5 m. 32 m. 36.5 m.
27.5 m. 32 m. 36.5 m.
Percent of Semantically Coded UtterancesSingle-term vs. Multi-term
18%23%
60%
81%76%
40%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Evan
Multi
Single
50%
79%
92%
50%
21%
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Ivy
Multi
Single
21%
61%
75%79%
39%
25%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Luke
Multi
Single
Retherford, K. S. (2000). Guide to Analysis of Language Transcripts (3rd ed.). Eau Claire, Wisconsin: Thinking Publications.
26 mo. 36 mo.10
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Mea
n La
ngua
ge E
xpre
ssio
n A
ge
The RossettiInfant-Toddler Language Scale
Ivy
Luke
Evan
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Perc
enta
ge o
f Wor
ds P
rodu
ced
MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development
Inventories
Ivy
Luke
Evan
26 mo. 36 mo.
Pre- and Post-Testing
Fenson, L., Marchman, V. A., Thal, D. J., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S. & Bates, E. (2007). MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories(2nd ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes Publishing Co.
Rossetti, L. (2005). The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale. East Moline, Illinois: LinguiSystems, Inc.
Research Questions•What are the differences and/or similarities in the development of semantics for native and foreign born toddlers?•What are the differences and similarities in the development of syntax for native and foreign born toddlers?•What are the differences and/or similarities in the development of pragmatics for native and foreign born toddlers?
Conclusions
•Although delayed compared to Ivy and Luke, Evan’s semantic and syntactic development increased at a similar rate.
•Ivy and Luke explored a variety of pragmatic speech acts early on, while Evan increased his variety of pragmatic acts with age.
Developmental data is limited and contingent on contextual variables such as people and toys in the environment.
•Ivy: consistent use of pragmatic acts •Luke: consistent use of pragmatic acts with an increase in initiations •Evan: expanded use of a greater variety of pragmatic acts
Pragmatics