Te Reo Māori: indigenous language acquisition in the context of New Zealand English

Using Parent Report to Measure Vocabulary in Young Bilingual Children: A Scoping Review

A large number of children are exposed to more than one language. One well-established method of assessing early vocabulary development in monolingual children is parent report; however, its use in bilingual/multilingual contexts is less established and brings unique challenges. In this methodological scoping review, we reviewed studies of early vocabulary development using parent report with bilingual/multilingual children (January 1980-March 2022). A total of 576 articles were screened, yielding 101 studies for analysis. The number of studies on bilingual/multilingual vocabulary has grown in the last two decades; yet representation of the world's languages remains sparse. The majority of studies assessed bilingual/multilingual children's vocabulary in each language and used instruments adapted for linguistic and cultural characteristics. However, the field could benefit from standardized reporting practices regarding definitions of bi/multilingualism, selection of reporters, and tool development and is in critical need of studies that develop, validate, and norm parent report instruments specifically for the bilingual/multilingual case.

Resting EEG correlates of neurodevelopment in a socioeconomically and linguistically diverse sample of toddlers: Wave 1 of the Kia Tīmata Pai best start New Zealand study

Development of communication and self-regulation skills is fundamental to psychosocial maturation in childhood. The Kia Tīmata Pai Best Start (KTP) longitudinal study aims to promote these skills through interventions delivered at early childcare centers across New Zealand. In addition to evaluating effects of the interventions on behavioral and cognitive outcomes, the study utilizes electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize cortical development in a subsample of participating children. Here, we present results of the baseline resting EEG assessment with 193 children aged 15 to 33 months. We identified EEG correlates of individual differences in demographics, communication abilities, and temperament. We obtained communication and behavior ratings from multiple informants, and we applied contemporary analytic methods to the EEG data. Periodic spectral power adjusted for aperiodic activity was most closely associated with demographic, language, and behavioral measures. As in previous studies, gamma power was positively associated with verbal language. Alpha power was positively associated with effortful control. Nonverbal and verbal language measures showed distinct associations with EEG indices, as did the three temperament domains. Our results identified a number of candidate EEG measurements for use as longitudinal markers of optimal cortical development and response to interventions in the KTP cohort.

The role of translation equivalents in bilingual word learning

Bilingual environments present an important context for word learning. One feature of bilingual environments is the existence of translation equivalents (TEs)-words in different languages that share similar meanings. Documenting TE learning over development may give us insight into the mechanisms underlying word learning in young bilingual children. Prior studies of TE learning have often been confounded by the fact that increases in overall vocabulary size with age lead to greater opportunities for learning TEs. To address this confound, we employed an item-level analysis, which controls for the age trajectory of each item independently. We used Communicative Development Inventory data from four bilingual datasets (two English-Spanish and two English-French; total N = 419) for modeling. Results indicated that knowing a word's TE increased the likelihood of knowing that word for younger children and for TEs that are more similar phonologically. These effects were consistent across datasets, but varied across lexical categories. Thus, TEs may allow bilingual children to bootstrap their early word learning in one language using their knowledge of the other language. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Bilingual children must learn words that share a common meaning across both languages, that is, translation equivalents, like dog in English and perro in Spanish. Item-level models explored how translation equivalents affect word learning, in addition to child-level (e.g., exposure) and item-level (e.g., phonological similarity) factors. Knowing a word increased the probability of knowing its corresponding translation equivalent, particularly for younger children and for more phonologically-similar translation equivalents. These findings suggest that young bilingual children use their word knowledge in one language to bootstrap their learning of words in the other language.

Maternal depressive symptoms and child language development: Exploring potential pathways through observed and self-reported mother-child verbal interactions

Maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) in the postnatal period may impact children's later development through poorer quality parent-child interactions. The current study tested a specific pathway from MDS (child age 9 months) to child receptive vocabulary (4 ½ years) through both self-reported and observed parent-child verbal interactions (at both 2 and 4 ½ years). Participants (n = 4,432) were part of a large, diverse, contemporary pre-birth national cohort study: Growing Up in New Zealand. Results indicated a direct association between greater MDS at 9 months and poorer receptive vocabulary at age 4 ½ years. There was support for an indirect pathway through self-reported parent-child verbal interactions at 2 years and through observed parent-child verbal interactions at 4 ½ years. A moderated mediation effect was also found: the indirect effect of MDS on child vocabulary through observed verbal interaction was supported for families living in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation. Overall, findings support the potential role of parent-child verbal interactions as a mechanism for the influence of MDS on later child language development. This pathway may be particularly important for families experiencing socioeconomic adversity, suggesting that effective and appropriate supportive parenting interventions be preferentially targeted to reduce inequities in child language outcomes.

Kia Tīmata Pai (Best Start): a study protocol for a cluster randomised trial with early childhood teachers to support children's oral language and self-regulation development

INTRODUCTION

Oral language skills are associated with children's later self-regulation and academic skills; in turn, self-regulation in early childhood predicts successful functioning later in life. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the separate and combined effectiveness of an oral language intervention (Enhancing Rich Conversations, ENRICH) and a self-regulation intervention (Enhancing Neurocognitive Growth with the Aid of Games and Exercise, ENGAGE) with early childhood teachers and parents for children's oral language, self-regulation and academic functioning.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The Kia Tīmata Pai (Best Start) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with teachers and children in approximately 140 early childhood centres in New Zealand. Centres are randomly assigned to receive either oral language intervention only (ENRICH), self-regulation intervention only (ENGAGE), both interventions (ENRICH+ENGAGE) or an active control condition. Teachers' and parents' practices and children's oral language and self-regulation development are assessed at baseline at age 1.5 years and approximately every 9 months to age 5, and academic performance at age 6. Teacher-child interactions will also be videotaped each year in a subset of the centres. Children's brain and behaviour development and parent-child interactions will be assessed every 6 months to age 6 years in a subgroup of volunteers.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The Kia Tīmata Pai trial and the two substudies (Video Project; Brain and Behaviour Development) have been approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee (Health; H20/116), and reviewed for cultural responsiveness by: the Ngāi Tahu Research Committee (University of Otago), the Māori Advisory Group (University of Auckland, Liggins Institute) and an internal cultural advisory group. Results will be disseminated in international and national peer-reviewed academic journals and communicated to local, national and international organisations serving early childhood teachers, parents and young children. Data will be available via communication with the corresponding author.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12621000845831.

Current practices of New Zealand speech-language pathologists working with multilingual children

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the current practices of New Zealand speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with multilingual children, to compare these with best practice guidelines and make recommendations for training and service development.Method: An online survey was sent to SLPs working with children in New Zealand, asking questions about their training, languages spoken and management of multilingual children.Result: Responses from 146 SLPs were analysed. While 28% reported over 25% of children on their caseloads were multilingual, most SLPs felt under-trained to work with these clients. In accordance with best practice guidelines, SLPs supported retention of home languages for their multilingual children. Half of the children seen were assessed and treated in all languages, despite the majority of SLPs being monolingual English speakers. However contrary to best practice recommendations, parents were used as interpreters more frequently than professional interpreters. The SLPs reported a lack of resources for assessment and treatment of multilingual children. Informal assessments were frequently used, but dynamic assessment and peer-child comparisons were under-utilised.Conclusion: There were marked differences between SLPs' current practice with multilingual children and best practice guidelines. Increased training opportunities along with resource development in languages commonly spoken in New Zealand are required.

Effects of Home Language Environment and Household Crowding on Early Expressive Language Development

OBJECTIVE

This study examined prospective associations of the home language environment (HLE) and household crowding with expressive language development in 2-year-old children using the data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study, a population-based prospective cohort study.

METHODS

A total of 5960 children were included. The HLE (playing games, talking in everyday activities, playing with toys, singing songs, and reading books) and household crowding were measured when the children were 9 months old. Language development was assessed using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs)-II short form (A) at age 2 years. Maternal and child characteristics were measured antenatally and when the children were 9 months old.

RESULTS

Each HLE activity was associated with higher language scores. A high HLE score, defined as doing at least 3 of the 5 HLE activities at least once daily, was associated with an increase in the language score of 6.31 units (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.00 to 7.62, p < 0.0001). The effect of the HLE was less pronounced in more crowded homes (coefficient = -2.24, 95% CI -0.47 to 4.97, p = 0.106) compared with less crowded homes with at least one other child (coefficient = 6.19, 95% CI 4.28 to 8.10, p < 0.0001) or with no other children (coefficient = 8.19, 95% CI 5.69 to 10.70, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

These findings underscore the need to consider various aspects of the home environment in future interventions aiming to facilitate language development in young children.

Language Endangerment in Childhood

Language endangerment by definition excludes children and childhood, as the most endangered languages are those which are no longer being used, spoken, or acquired by the youngest generations. By and large, research in this area reflects this exclusion by focusing primarily on the documentation of grammatical knowledge elicited from the oldest speakers for storage in archives (what Maliseet anthropologist Bernard Perley has termed “zombie linguistics”). However, when approached from a language socialization orientation, the seeming paradox of language endangerment in childhood dissolves. Investigations of endangered languages in childhood reveal surprisingly vibrant and complicated amalgams of linguistic practices, socializing discourses, and cultural ideologies. They underscore the need to apply mixed methods to understanding processes of language endangerment. They challenge the grammatical boundedness of languages as (transparently) discrete objects. They recognize the vitalities emergent from situations of aggressive contact. Thus, attention to children and childhood not only calls into question the privileged rhetoric of zombie linguistics but also accentuates and challenges the socially constructed dimensions of languages and linguistic boundaries.