Article published in:
Language Impairment in Bilingual Children: State of the art 2017
Edited by Theodoros Marinis, Sharon Armon-Lotem and George Pontikas
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 7:3/4] 2017
► pp. 359–393

Language performance of sequential bilinguals on an Irish and English sentence repetition task

| National University of Ireland, Galway
| Health Service Executive Longford-Westmeath, Ireland
| Health Service Executive West, Ireland
Currently there are no standardized language assessments for English-Irish bilingual school age children that would test languages in a comparable way. There are also no standardized language assessments of Irish for this age group. The current study aimed to design comparable language assessments in both languages targeting structures known to be challenging for children with language impairments. A sentence repetition (SRep) task equivalent to the English SRep task (Marinis, Chiat, Armon-Lotem, Piper, & Roy, 2011) was designed for Irish. Twenty-four typically developing, sequential bilingual children immersed in Irish in the educational setting performed better on the English SRep task than on the Irish SRep task. Different patterns were observed in language performance across sentence types with performance on relative clauses being particularly poor in Irish. Similarly, differences were observed in error patterns with the highest number of errors of omission in Irish, and the highest number of substitution errors in English.
Keywords: Irish, bilingualism, sentence repetition, sequential bilingualism, minority language
Published online: 05 April 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15026.ant
References

References

Adani, F., van der Lely, H. K., Forgiarini, M., & Guasti, M. T.
(2010) Grammatical feature dissimilarities make relative clauses easier: A comprehension study with Italian children. Lingua, 120 (9–3), 2148–2166. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Archibald, L. M. D., & Joanisse, M. F.
(2009) On the sensitivity and specificity of nonword repetition and sentence recall to language and memory impairments in children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52 (4), 899–914. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Armon-Lotem, S., & de Jong, J.
(2015) Introduction chapter. In S. Armon-Lotem, J. de Jong, & N. Meir (Eds.), Methods for Assessing Multilingual Children: Disentangling Bilingualism from Language Impairment (pp. 1–22). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Armon-Lotem, S., Gagarina, N., & Walters, J.
(2011) The impact of internal and external factors on linguistic performance in the home language and in L2 among Russian-Hebrew and Russian-German preschool children. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(3), 291–317. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Blom, E., & Vasić, N.
(2011) The production and processing of determiner–noun agreement in child L2 Dutch. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(3), 265–290. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Butler, G. Y. & Hajuta, K.
(2006) Bilingualism and second language acquisition. In T. K. Bhatia, & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), The Handbook of Bilingualism (pp. 114–144). Malden: Blackwell Publishers. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Chiat, S., Armon-Lotem, S., Marinis, T., Polišenská, K., Roy, P. & Seeff-Gabriel, B.
(2013) Assessment of language abilities in sequential bilingual children: the potential of sentence imitation tasks. In V. C. Gathercole (Ed.), (pp. 56–86). Issues in the Assessment of Bilinguals. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Chondrogianni, V., & Marinis, T.
(2011) Differential effects of internal and external factors on the development of vocabulary, tense, morphology and morpho-syntax in successive bilingual children. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1 (3), 318–345. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Conti-Ramsden, G., Botting, N., & Faragher, B.
(2001) Psycholinguistic markers for specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 6, 741–748. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Crago, M. B. & Gopnik, M.
(1994) From families to phenotypes: theoretical and clinical implications of research into genetic basis of specific language impairment. In R. Watkins, & M. Rice (Eds). Specific Language Impairments in Children, pp 35–51. Baltimore: Paul H Brookes.Google Scholar
Friedmann, N., & Novogrodsky, R.
(2004) The acquisition of relative clause comprehension in Hebrew: A study of G-SLI and normal development. Journal of Child Language, 31, 661–681. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2011) Which questions are most difficult to understand? The comprehension of Wh questions in three subtypes of SLI. Lingua, 121, 367–382. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fritzelle, P., & Fletcher, P.
(2014) Relative clause constructions in children with specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 49 (2), 255–264. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gaelscoileanna Teo
(2013) Retrieved 1st October 2013, from http://​www​.gaelscoileanna​.ie​/en​/about​/statistics/.
Gathercole, V. C.
(Ed.) (2007) Language Transmission in Bilingual Families in Wales. Cardiff: Welsh Language Board.Google Scholar
Goodluck, H., Guilfoyle, E., & Harrington, S.
(2006) Merge and binding in children relative clauses: the case of Irish. Journal of Linguistics, 42 (3), 629–661. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Goodluck, H., & Stojanović, D.
(1996) The structure and acquisition of relative clauses in Serbo-Croatian. Language Acquisition, 5, 285–315. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Harris, J., Forde, P., Archer, P., Nic Fhearaile, & O’Gorman, M.
(2006) Irish in Primary Schools: Long-Term National Trends in Achievement. Dublin: Department of Education and Science.Google Scholar
Hickey, T.
(2001) Mixing beginners and native speakers in Irish immersion: Who is immersing whom?. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57 (3), 443–474. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hickey, T. M.
(2007) Children's language networks and teachers’ input in minority language immersion: What goes in may not come out. Language and Education, 21 (1), 46–65. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012) ILARSP: A grammatical profile of Irish. In M. Ball, & P. Fletcher (Eds.), The Languages of LARSP. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 149–166.Google Scholar
Ireland
. Irish Constitution, Article 8 1937 Dublin: Government Publications Office.Google Scholar
Labelle, M.
(1996) The acquisition of relative clauses: movement or no movement? Language Acquisition, 5, 65–82. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Laws, G., & Bishop, D. V. M.
(2003) A comparison of language abilities in adolescents with down syndrome and children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46 (6), 1324–1339. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lofranco, L. A. L., Peña, E. D., & Bedore, L. M.
(2006) English language narratives of Filipino children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 37(1), 28–38. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Marinis, T, Chiat, S, Armon-Lotem, S, Piper, J., & Roy, P.
(2011) School-age sentence imitation test- E32. In COST ACTION ISO804, Language impairment in a multilingual society: Linguistic patterns and the road to assessment. Retrieved 5th March 2012, from http://​www​.bi​-sli​.org/.
Marinis, T., & Armon-Lotem, S.
(2015) Sentence Repetition. In S. Armon-Lotem, J. de Jong, & N. Meir (Eds.), Methods for assessing multilingual children: disentangling bilingualism from Language Impairment. Multilingual Matters, pp. 95–124.Google Scholar
Marinis, T., & Saddy, D.
(2013) Parsing the passive: comparing children with Specific Language Impairment to sequential bilingual children. Language Acquisition, 20(2), 155–179. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, C., Marinis, T., & van der Lely, H.
(2007) Passive verb morphology: The effect of phonotactics on passive comprehension in typically developing and grammatical-SLI children. Lingua, 117 (8), 1434–1447. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Měchura, M. B.
(2015) Irish Word Frequency List. Retrieved from http://​www​.lexiconista​.com​/datasets​/frequency​-ga/
Meir, N., Walters, J., & Armon-Lotem. S.
(2016) Disentangling SLI and Bilingualism using Sentence Repetition Tasks: the impact of L1 and L2 properties. International Journal of Bilingualism, 20, 4, 421–452. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
McCloskey, J.
(1990) Resumptive pronouns, Ã binding and levels of representation in Irish. In R. Hendrick (Ed.), The Syntax of the Modern Celtic Languages, Syntax and Semantics, 23 (pp. 199–248). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Montgomery, J., & Evans, J.
(2009) Complex sentence comprehension and working memory in children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 269–288. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S.
(2008) Incomplete acquisition in bilingualism: Re-examining the age factor. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Muckley Uí Chomhraí, S. A., & Antonijević, S.
(2012) Effects of quantity and quality of input on bilingual language development in contexts of linguistic variation: Insights from the language production of 3 and 5 year old Irish and English speaking bilingual children. ICPLA 14, Cork, Ireland.Google Scholar
Muckley, S. A.
(2016) Language Assessment of Native Irish Speaking Children: Towards Developing Diagnostic Testing for Speech and Language Therapy Practice. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, National University of Ireland, Galway).Google Scholar
Ó Giollagáin, C., Mac Donnacha, S., Ní Chualáin, F., Ní Shéaghdha, A., & O’Brien, M.
(2007) Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht: Príomhthátal agus Moltaí. An Roinn Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta, Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh.Google Scholar
Ó’Dónaill, E.
(2005) Irish Grammar. London: Teach Yourself.Google Scholar
O’Toole, C., & Fletcher, P.
(2012) Profiling vocabulary acquisition in Irish. Journal of Child Language, 39, 205–220. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
O'Toole, C, & Hickey, T. M.
(2013) Diagnosing language impairment in bilinguals: Professional experience and perception. Child Language Teaching & Therapy, 29, 91–109 CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, J.
(2011) Individual differences in child English second language acquisition: Comparing child-Internal and child-external factors. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1 (3), 213–237. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Péterváry, T., Ó Curnáin, B., Ó Giollagáin, C., & Sheahan, J.
(2014) Analysis of Bilingual Competence: Language Acquisition among Young People in the Gaeltacht. Dublin: An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta.Google Scholar
Polišenská, K., Chiat, S., & Roy, P.
(2015) Sentence repetition: what does the task measure? International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 50 (1), 106–118. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Redmond, S. M., Thompson, H. L., & Goldstein, S.
(2011) Psycholinguistic profiling differentiates specific language impairment from typical development and from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54 (1), 99–117. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, C.
(1997) Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT) (4th ed.). London: Speechmark Publishing.Google Scholar
Rice, M. L., & Blossom, M.
(2012) What do children with specific language impairment do with multiple forms of do? Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 56, 222–235. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rice, M. L., & Wexler, K.
(1996) A phenotype of specific language impairment: Extended optional infinitives. In M. L. Rice (Ed.), Toward a genetics of a language (pp. 215–237). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Semel, E., Wiig, E. H., & Secord, W. A.
(1995) Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental (3rd ed). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation/Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
(2003) Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (4th ed). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.Google Scholar
Summers, C., Bohman, T., Peña, E. D., Bedore, L. M., & Gillam, R. B.
(2010) Relationships between bilingual children’s nonword repetition and language performance in English and Spanish. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 45, 480–493. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, E. M., & Roberts, D. B.
(2011) Exploring bilinguals’ social use of language inside and out of the minority language classroom. Language and Education, 25 (2), 89–108. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, E. M., Dafydd, A., & Gwyn, L.
(2014) The learner’s voice: exploring bilingual children’s selective language use and perceptions of minority language competence. Language and Education, 28 (4), 340–361. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, E. M., Lewis, W. G., & Apolloni, D.
(2012) Variation in language choice in extended speech in primary schools in Wales: implications for teacher education. Language and Education, 26 (3), 245–261. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thordardottir, E., & Brandeker, M.
(2013) The effect of bilingual exposure versus language impairment on nonword repetition and sentence imitation scores. Journal of Communication Disorders, 46 (1), 1–16. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
van der Lely, H. K. J.
(1996) Specifically language impaired and normally developing children: Verbal passive vs. adjectival passive sentence interpretation. Lingua, 98, 243–272. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Verhoeven, L., Steenge, J., & van Balkom, H.
(2012) Linguistic transfer in children with specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 47 (2), 176–183. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

ANTONIJEVIC, Stanislava, Sarah Ann MUCKLEY & Nicole MÜLLER
2020. The role of consistency in use of morphosyntactic forms in child-directed speech in the acquisition of Irish, a minority language undergoing rapid language change. Journal of Child Language 47:2 ► pp. 267 ff. Crossref logo
Antonijevic-Elliott, Stanislava, Rena Lyons, Mary Pat O’ Malley, Natalia Meir, Ewa Haman, Natalia Banasik, Clare Carroll, Ruth McMenamin, Margaret Rodden & Yvonne Fitzmaurice
2020. Language assessment of monolingual and multilingual children using non-word and sentence repetition tasks. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 34:4 ► pp. 293 ff. Crossref logo
Meir, Natalia
2018. Morpho-Syntactic Abilities of Unbalanced Bilingual Children: A Closer Look at the Weaker Language. Frontiers in Psychology 9 Crossref logo
Meir, Natalia & Rama Novogrodsky
2020. Syntactic abilities and verbal memory in monolingual and bilingual children with High Functioning Autism (HFA). First Language 40:4 ► pp. 341 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 january 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.