ERIC Number: EJ1345447
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7522
That's Hard! Item Difficulty and Word Characteristics for Bilinguals with and without Developmental Language Disorder
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v25 n5 p1838-1856 2022
Research has investigated how lexical-semantic and participant factors impact word learning in young children and adults. However, limited information pertaining to expressive vocabulary development exists for school-aged bilinguals--particularly those with developmental language disorder (DLD). Cross-linguistic differences in the semantic characteristics of words may impact the types of cues available for constructing expressive vocabulary knowledge. To address this gap, we evaluated the relationships between intrinsic factors (age, language ability), extrinsic factors (L1 exposure), and word characteristics (e.g. imageability, concreteness) with item difficulty and expressive vocabulary knowledge in school-aged Spanish-English bilinguals with and without DLD. While we found similar patterns of associations between item difficulty and word characteristics across language ability groups, divergent predictive patterns emerged across languages and across ability groups. Educators supporting the development of bilingual students' expressive vocabulary knowledge must account for not only cultural differences across students, but also characteristics inherent to words.
Descriptors: Spanish, English, Semantics, Vocabulary Development, Expressive Language, Developmental Disabilities, Language Impairments, Cues, Age Differences, Language Skills, Language Usage, Difficulty Level, Correlation, Bilingual Students, Familiarity, Environmental Influences, Second Language Learning, Kindergarten, Grade 2, Grade 4, Elementary School Students, Incidence
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Grade 2; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (DHHS/NIH); Department of Education (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DC010366; H325D140096