Perla B. Gámez

Syntactic Priming in 3- and 4-Year-Old Children: Evidence for Abstract Representations of Transitive and Dative Forms.

The current studies used a syntactic priming paradigm with 3- and 4-year-old children. In Experiment 1, children were asked to describe a series of drawings depicting transitive and dative relations to establish baseline production levels. In Experiment 2, an experimenter described a similar series of drawings using one of two syntactic forms (i.e., active/passive for transitive; double-object/prepositional for dative). Children were then asked to describe pictures identical to those shown in the corresponding baseline procedure. In both transitive and dative conditions, 4-year-old children were more likely to use a particular syntactic form if it had been used by the experimenter. Three-year-old children did not show priming effects, but their production of transitive sentences was higher following transitive primes than in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, an additional group of 3-year-olds participated in a procedure in which they repeated the experimenters sentences before describing the pictures. This procedure yielded significant priming effects for transitive and dative forms. These results indicate that very young children possess abstract syntactic representations, but that their access to these representations is sensitive to task demands.

Cross-linguistic syntactic priming in bilingual children

Previous research has used cross-linguistic priming methodology with bilingual adults to explore the nature of their syntactic representations. The present paper extends the use of this methodology to bilingual children to investigate the relation between the syntactic structures of their two languages. Specifically, we examined whether the use of passives by the experimenter in one language primed the subsequent use of passives by the child in the other language. Results showed evidence of syntactic priming from Spanish to English: hearing a Spanish sentence containing a passive led to the increase in childrens production of the parallel structure in English. However, there was no priming in the other direction: hearing an English sentence containing a passive did not increase childrens use of the parallel structure in Spanish. These results provide evidence for both the integration of syntactic representations in bilingual children and the asymmetry of the relation between their two languages.

Oral Language Skills of Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: The Impact of High-Quality Native Language Exposure.

This study examined the relation between young English language learners’ (ELL) native oral language skills and their language input in transitional bilingual education kindergarten classrooms. Spanish-speaking ELLs’ (n = 101) Spanish expressive language skills were assessed using the memory for sentences and picture vocabulary subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery—Revised. Samples of transitional bilingual education teachers’ (n = 21) speech were recorded and coded for syntactic complexity and vocabulary usage. Results revealed considerable variation in ELLs’ language scores, with overall performance below the normative sample. There was also wide variation in teachers’ speech across classrooms. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that gains in ELLs’ expressive language skills were positively related to the diversity of teachers’ vocabulary and teachers’ syntactic complexity. These findings suggest that the quality of teachers’ language input, not just the quantity of their input, plays a significant role in the language learning trajectories of ELLs.

Priming a perspective in Spanish monolingual children: the use of syntactic alternatives.

We used a syntactic priming paradigm to show priming effects for active and passive forms in monolingual Spanish-speaking four- and five-year-olds. In a baseline experiment, we examined childrens use of the fue-passive form and found it was virtually non-existent in their speech, although they produced important elements of the form. Children used a more frequent Spanish passive form, the subjectless/se-passive. In a priming experiment, we presented children with drawings described using either active or fue-passive sentences. Children then described novel drawings. Priming was induced for active and passive forms; however, children did not produce the fue-passive provided for them. Instead, children used the subjectless/se-passive and what we term the function-passive, which like the fue-passive, emphasize the patient of the action. We argue that childrens use of different passive forms suggests they are sensitive to experimenters input as it relates to scene interpretation and to syntax.

Increasing Second Language Learners’ Production and Comprehension of Developmentally Advanced Syntactic Forms

This investigation extended the use of the priming methodology to 5- and 6-year-olds at the beginning stages of learning English as a second language (L2). In Study 1, 14 L2 children described transitive scenes without an experimenter’s input. They produced no passives and minimal actives; most of their utterances were incomplete. In Study 2, 56 additional L2 children were exposed to an experimenter’s transitives (actives or passives) to determine whether and how it affected their English production and comprehension of these forms. Results showed that exposure to passives increased children’s production of passives. Repetition of the experimenter’s sentences increased both production and comprehension of passives and actives. Further, exposure to passives increased children’s use of complete sentences (transitives, nontransitives), primarily those with a focus on the putative patient of the transitive scene. Findings suggest that exposure to developmentally advanced forms activates the relevant transitive conceptual structure which facilitates the acquisition of syntactic forms.

Narrative production skills of language minority learners and their English-only classmates in early adolescence

This study investigated the narrative production skills of early-adolescent, Spanish-speaking language minority (LM) learners (n = 43) and their English-only (EO) peers (n = 38). The sample was born in the United States, educated in English, and representative of low- and high-income backgrounds. Using a picture book as a prompt, students’ narratives were transcribed, coded, and compared on macrostructure skills (story structure), microstructure skills (discrete language skills: vocabulary and grammar), and use of mazes (disruptions in speech). Results demonstrated that the groups did not differ on story structure. However, LM learners produced lengthier narratives than their EO peers, ones that resulted in stories that were less grammatically diverse and included more grammatical revisions and errors in prepositions. Thus, by early adolescence, EO and LM learners in urban schools may have well-developed macrostructure skills, yet the LM learners may still be developing specific microstructure skills.

Exploring interactions between semantic and syntactic processes: The role of animacy in syntactic priming.

The current study addressed the relation between syntactic and semantic processes during language production in 5- and 6-year-old children. A priming paradigm was used to examine childrens production of passives in describing transitive scenes (target pictures) following exposure to the experimenters sentences (primes). The key question was whether the tendency to repeat the syntactic form of the prime was affected by the animacy features in the prime and the target picture. In Experiment 1, children heard either passive or active primes with varied animacy configurations (e.g., animate patient/inanimate agent vs. inanimate patient/animate agent). The animacy features of the prime matched those of the target. Similar to prior studies, results showed a greater use of passives following passive, as opposed to active, primes. Critically, the difference between the two priming conditions varied as a function of animacy; it was larger when the prime and the target included an animate patient/inanimate agent than with the reversed animacy. In Experiment 2, the animacy configuration of the prime either matched or did not match that of the target. Results showed a greater likelihood of producing a passive when the target picture contained an animate patient versus an inanimate patient, and this effect was stronger when the prime had the same animacy features. The findings indicating that syntactic priming is moderated by animacy are discussed in the broader context of understanding the role of semantics in guiding the choice of syntactic structure.

Structural Priming in Spanish as Evidence of Implicit Learning.

This study uses a structural priming technique with young Spanish speakers to test whether exposure to a rare syntactic form in Spanish (fue-passive) would increase the production and comprehension of that form. In Study 1, 14 six-year-old Spanish speakers described pictures of transitive scenes. This baseline study revealed that fue-passives were virtually non-existent in childrens spontaneous speech. Using the priming technique in Study 2, an additional 56 Spanish-speaking children were exposed to fue-passive or active picture descriptions; we varied whether children repeated the modeled form. With repetition, production of fue-passives increased past baseline usage. When not asked to repeat, comprehension and production of fue-passives was no different than chance. Results extend the existing literature by experimentally testing input effects on the production and comprehension of infrequently used constructions, further corroborating the relation between input frequency and language skill. Findings are consistent with the view that an implicit learning mechanism guides language learning.

A comparison of narrative skill in Spanish-English bilinguals and their functionally monolingual Spanish-speaking and English-only peers

Purpose: The Spanish and English narrative skills of young (mean age = 5.65 years) Spanish-English bilinguals were compared to functionally monolingual Spanish and English-only speakers’ narrative skills, respectively (n = 63). Method: Spanish and English oral retellings, elicited at the beginning and end of the kindergarten year, were transcribed and coded in terms of discourse- (story structure complexity), semantic- (word diversity) and grammatical-level (lexical and grammatical errors, revisions) skills. Data and analysis: Repeated measures ANOVAs, with Time (beginning-, end-of-year) and Language Status (bilingual and either functionally monolingual Spanish or English monolingual) or Language (English, Spanish) as factors, were used to compare children’s narratives in terms of story structure complexity, word diversity, errors and revisions. Pearson correlations examined the relation of revisions to word diversity and errors. Results: Time comparisons revealed significant gains in story structure complexity, with no statistically significant difference between bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ complexity scores. Bilinguals’ stories were also not different between English and Spanish. Yet, bilinguals included more errors in English than did English monolinguals, while engaging in a comparable number of revisions. Moreover, despite comparable error rates with Spanish monolinguals, bilinguals included more lexical and grammatical revisions in Spanish. Revisions and word diversity were positively correlated; no relation was found between revisions and errors. Conclusions: The relative differences in revisions between bilinguals’ and Spanish monolinguals’ narratives, versus English monolinguals’, highlight the linguistic strengths of bilinguals. In particular, bilinguals’ tendency to engage in revisions as they attempt to increase their language complexity, suggests that revisions require advanced linguistic knowledge, not language uncertainty. Originality: The children in this study were considered language minority learners in the United States. Moving past accounts of minority learners’ “low” performance on oral language and reading comprehension, our study findings reveal evidence of “advanced” linguistic knowledge for bilingual speakers.

Promoting Word Consciousness to Close the Vocabulary Gap in Young Word Learners

A proposed avenue for increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension is instruction that promotes students’ enthusiasm and attention to words, referred to as word consciousness. This study seeks to investigate, at the utterance level, whether and how word consciousness talk is used in classrooms with young word learners and whether this type of talk is associated with student gains in general vocabulary knowledge. Using videotaped classroom (N = 27) observations, this study found evidence of word consciousness talk, with variability of use across classrooms. Multilevel modeling revealed that this kind of teacher talk—operationalized as reinforcing students’ use of words, affirming students’ recognition of word meanings, and helping students make personal connections to words—was positively associated with student gains in general vocabulary knowledge at the end of kindergarten. Findings from this study can provide guidance for teachers seeking strategies to increase students’ general vocabulary knowledge, beyond words taught.