Josje Verhagen

The benefits of being bilingual: Working memory in bilingual Turkish–Dutch children

Whether bilingual children outperform monolingual children on visuospatial and verbal working memory tests was investigated. In addition, relations among bilingual proficiency, language use at home, and working memory were explored. The bilingual Turkish-Dutch children (n=68) in this study were raised in families with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and had smaller Dutch vocabularies than Dutch monolingual controls (n=52). Having these characteristics, they are part of an under-researched bilingual population. It was found that the bilingual Turkish-Dutch children showed cognitive gains in visuospatial and verbal working memory tests when SES and vocabulary were controlled, in particular on tests that require processing and not merely storage. These findings converge with recent studies that have revealed bilingual cognitive advantages beyond inhibition, and they support the hypothesis that experience with dual language management influences the central executive control system that regulates processing across a wide range of task demands. Furthermore, the results show that bilingual cognitive advantages are found in socioeconomically disadvantaged bilingual populations and suggest that benefits to executive control are moderated by bilingual proficiency.

Psychometric properties and convergent and predictive validity of an executive function test battery for two-year-olds

Executive function (EF) is an important predictor of numerous developmental outcomes, such as academic achievement and behavioral adjustment. Although a plethora of measurement instruments exists to assess executive function in children, only few of these are suitable for toddlers, and even fewer have undergone psychometric evaluation. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties and validity of an assessment battery for measuring EF in two-year-olds. A sample of 2437 children were administered the assessment battery at a mean age of 2;4 years (SD = 0;3 years) in a large-scale field study. Measures of both hot EF (snack and gift delay tasks) and cool EF (six boxes, memory for location, and visual search task) were included. Confirmatory Factor Analyses showed that a two-factor hot and cool EF model fitted the data better than a one-factor model. Measurement invariance was supported across groups differing in age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), home language, and test setting. Criterion and convergent validity were evaluated by examining relationships between EF and age, gender, SES, home language, and parent and teacher reports of childrens attention and inhibitory control. Predictive validity of the test battery was investigated by regressing childrens pre-academic skills and behavioral problems at age three on the latent hot and cool EF factors at age 2 years. The test battery showed satisfactory psychometric quality and criterion, convergent, and predictive validity. Whereas cool EF predicted both pre-academic skills and behavior problems 1 year later, hot EF predicted behavior problems only. These results show that EF can be assessed with psychometrically sound instruments in children as young as 2 years, and that EF tasks can be reliably applied in large scale field research. The current instruments offer new opportunities for investigating EF in early childhood, and for evaluating interventions targeted at improving EF from a young age.

How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? : A comparison between first and second language learners

Previous studies show that verbal short-term memory (VSTM) is related to vocabulary learning, whereas verbal working memory (VWM) is related to grammar learning in children learning a second language (L2) in the classroom. In this study, we investigated whether the same relationships apply to children learning an L2 in a naturalistic setting and to monolingual children. We also investigated whether relationships with verbal memory differ depending on the type of grammar skill investigated (i.e., morphology vs. syntax). Participants were 63 Turkish children who learned Dutch as an L2 and 45 Dutch monolingual children (mean age = 5 years). Children completed a series of VSTM and VWM tasks, a Dutch vocabulary task, and a Dutch grammar task. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that VSTM and VWM represented two separate latent factors in both groups. Structural equation modeling showed that VSTM, treated as a latent factor, significantly predicted vocabulary and grammar. VWM, treated as a latent factor, predicted only grammar. Both memory factors were significantly related to the acquisition of morphology and syntax. There were no differences between the two groups. These results show that (a) VSTM and VWM are differentially associated with language learning and (b) the same memory mechanisms are employed for learning vocabulary and grammar in L1 children and in L2 children who learn their L2 naturalistically.

Effects of home language environment on inhibitory control in bilingual three-year-old children

Previous studies have shown effects of bilingualism on inhibitory control in preschool children. However, these effects only held for ‘conflict tasks’, and not delay of gratification tasks, and other domains of executive functioning were not investigated. For older children, previous studies have found relationships between bilinguals’ advantages and home language environment. This study investigates effects of bilingualism and bilingual home language environment on executive functioning in three-year-old children. 200 bilingual and 829 monolingual three-year-olds performed tasks of inhibitory control, working memory, and selective attention. Home language environment characteristics were assessed through a parental questionnaire. The bilinguals outperformed the monolinguals on a conflict task only, and this effect was very small. Further analyses showed broader effects on inhibitory control that were related to home language environment: Bilinguals whose parents spoke different languages outperformed bilinguals whose parents spoke the same language on both the conflict task and a delay of gratification task.

Asymmetries in the acquisition of subject-verb agreement in Dutch: Evidence from comprehension and production

Across languages, children do not comprehend 3SG/3PL subject–verb agreement before age five, despite early mastery in spontaneous speech. This study investigates subject–verb agreement in a language hitherto not studied in this respect, namely Dutch. The authors examine if (1) Dutch two- and three-year-olds comprehend subject–verb agreement and (2) a comprehension–production asymmetry still exists if task materials are kept constant across domains. Dutch-speaking two- and three-year-olds completed a comprehension (picture selection) and production (sentence completion) task testing 3SG and 3PL. In comprehension, both groups performed above chance on 3PL but not on 3SG. In production, accuracy on 3PL and 3SG was slightly higher than in comprehension. Comprehension and production were moderately correlated. These results show that comprehension is earlier in Dutch than in previously investigated languages, but only for 3PL, suggesting that phonological salience and cue reliability are important. They also show an asymmetry between comprehension and production, albeit much smaller than assumed in previous studies.

Verb placement in second language acquisition: Experimental evidence for the different behavior of auxiliary and lexical verbs

This study investigates the acquisition of verb placement by Moroccan and Turkish second language (L2) learners of Dutch. Elicited production data corroborate earlier findings from L2 German that learners who do not produce auxiliaries do not raise lexical verbs over negation, whereas learners who produce auxiliaries do. Data from elicited imitation and sentence matching support this pattern and show that learners can have grammatical knowledge of auxiliary placement before they can produce auxiliaries. With lexical verbs, they do not show such knowledge. These results present further evidence for the different behavior of auxiliary and lexical verbs in early stages of L2 acquisition.

Guidelines for Designing Social Robots as Second Language Tutors

In recent years, it has been suggested that social robots have potential as tutors and educators for both children and adults. While robots have been shown to be effective in teaching knowledge and skill-based topics, we wish to explore how social robots can be used to tutor a second language to young children. As language learning relies on situated, grounded and social learning, in which interaction and repeated practice are central, social robots hold promise as educational tools for supporting second language learning. This paper surveys the developmental psychology of second language learning and suggests an agenda to study how core concepts of second language learning can be taught by a social robot. It suggests guidelines for designing robot tutors based on observations of second language learning in human–human scenarios, various technical aspects and early studies regarding the effectiveness of social robots as second language tutors.

Dummy auxiliaries in first and second language acquisition

Dummy auxiliaries are seemingly superfluous words that appear in learner varieties across languages. This volume is an up-to-date overview of research on dummy auxiliaries with contributions covering English, Dutch, German, French, Cypriot-Greek, first and second language acquisition, and specific language impairment as well as dialectal variation.

The Role of the Auxiliary Hebben in Dutch as a Second Language

SummaryThe acquisition of non-modal auxiliaries has been assumed to constitute an important step in the acquisition of finiteness in Germanic languages (cf. Jordens/Dimroth 2005, Jordens 2004, Becker 2005). This paper focuses on the role of the auxiliary hebben (›to have‹) in the acquisition of Dutch as a second language. More specifically, it investigates whether learners’ production of hebben is related to their acquisition of two phenomena commonly associated with finiteness, i.e., topicalization and negation. Data are presented from 16 Turkish and 36 Moroccan learners of Dutch who participated in an experiment involving production and imitation tasks.The production data suggest that learners use topicalization and post-verbal negation only after they have learned to produce the auxiliary hebben. The results from the imitation task indicate, that learners are more sensitive to topicalization and post-verbal negation in sentences with hebben than in sentences with lexical verbs. Interestingly this holds also for learners that did not show productive command of hebben in the production tasks.Thus, in general, the results of the experiment provide support for the idea that nonmodal auxiliaries are crucial in the acquisition of (certain properties of) finiteness.ZusammenfassungIn der Literatur zum Erwerb der Finitheit in germanischen Sprachen (vgl. Jordens/Dimroth 2005, Jordens 2004, Becker 2005) wird das Auftreten von Auxiliarverben als ein besonders wichtiger Schritt in Richtung Zielsprache angesehen. Der vorliegende Beitrag konzentriert sich auf die Rolle des Auxiliars hebben (›haben‹) im Erwerb des Niederländischen als Zweitsprache. Es wird untersucht, ob der Erwerb von hebben mit dem Erwerb zweier Phänomene korreliert, die oft mit Finitheit assoziiert werden: Inversion und Negation. Dazu wurden Daten von 16 türkischen und 36 marokkanischen Lernern des Niederländischen ausgewertet, die an einem Produktions- und Imitations-Experiment teilnahmen.Die Ergebnisse des Produktionsexperiments belegen, dass nur solche Lerner Inversion und die zielsprachliche postverbale Stellung der Negation produzieren, die auch das Auxiliar hebben erworben haben. Die Ergebnisse des Imitationsexperiments zeigen hingegen, dass alle Lerner, d.h. auch solche, die das Auxiliar noch nicht selbst produzieren, für Inversion und postverbale Negation sensibler sind, wenn sie diese Eigenschaften in Sätzen antreffen, die das Auxiliar hebben anstelle eines finiten lexikalischen Verbs enthalten.Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass nicht-modale Auxiliare bereits eine entscheidende Rolle für den Erwerb von Finitheitseigenschaften spielen, bevor Lerner produktiven Gebrauch von ihnen machen können.

Differences or fundamental differences

In his paper, Meisel discusses the differences between (bilingual) L1 ((2)L1), child L2 (cL2), and adult L2 (aL2) acquisition. He claims that both types of L2 acquisition are fundamentally different from (monolingual as well as bilingual) L1 acquisition. He argues that these fundamental differences are due to neuronal maturation and that they concern in particular the acquisition of morphosyntax. Meisel presents both neurological and linguistic evidence suggesting that the age of approximately 3;7 till 4 years is critical such that children who acquire a language after the age of acquisition (AoA) of 4 should in general be classified as cL2 learners, whereas children that start learning one (or several) languages before the AoA of 4 are expected to behave like L1 acquirers. More specifically, Meisel postulates that maturational changes in the course of childhood explain why L1 and L2 acquisition proceed in different ways. He reviews neuroimaging studies that show that L2 learners process syntactically deviant sentences differently from native speakers (Weber-Fox & Neville 1999). The results of these studies suggest that L2 learners show a more diffuse spatial distribution of activation patterns as well as increased activation in the right hemisphere. According to Weber-Fox & Neville (1999), the critical age ranges from which on these changes appear lie around the age of four and the age of seven. Meisel takes this as evidence that there are qualitative changes in the acquisition process around these two age ranges. To further pinpoint the areas of grammar where L2 acquisition might be fundamentally different from L1, Meisel considers linguistic evidence