ERIC Number: EJ976176
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: N/A
Lexical Knowledge Development in the First and Second Languages among Language-Minority Children: The Role of Bilingual versus Monolingual Preschool Education
Schwartz, Mila; Moin, Victor; Leikin, Mark
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v15 n5 p549-571 2012
This study focused on the role of bilingual versus monolingual preschool education in the development of lexical knowledge in Russian (L1) and Hebrew (L2) among second-generation Russian-Hebrew speaking immigrants in Israel. The study was designed as a longitudinal and comparative study. The lexical knowledge of children was measured three times during the education year. Thirty-two Russian-Hebrew speaking bilinguals (around age three) were selected from bilingual (Russian/Hebrew) and monolingual (Hebrew) preschools. The research design included observation of the preschools, testing of children's lexical knowledge, and a parents' questionnaire. The children's lexical knowledge was measured in both languages by applying the multidimensional approach of different domains: breadth of the lexical knowledge and depth of the lexical knowledge (paradigmatic semantic relations and syntagmatic semantic relations). The results demonstrated that later immersion in L2 and continuing development of L1 within a bilingual educational context not only do not impede the lexical knowledge development in the L2, but can even accelerate its progress. In addition, the differences between the groups in L1 were particularly striking in the paradigmatic semantic relations. Finally, the paradigmatic semantic relations in L1 were significantly and positively correlated with the lexical knowledge in Hebrew in both groups of comparison. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Semitic Languages, Speech Communication, Preschool Education, Semantics, Minority Group Children, Monolingualism, Foreign Countries, Comparative Analysis, Language Minorities, Bilingualism, Role of Education, Russian, Vocabulary Development, Longitudinal Studies, Immigrants, Preschool Children, Parent Attitudes, Questionnaires, Second Language Learning, Bilingual Education, Native Language, Language Acquisition, Correlation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A