Dual Language Development among Vietnamese-English Bilingual Children

152 Pages·2011·1.42 MB·English

DualLanguage Developmentamong Vietnamese-English Bilingual Children:
ModelingTrajectories and Cross-Linguistic Associations
withina DynamicSystems Framework
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THEFACULTY OFTHEGRADUATE SCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITY OFMINNESOTA
BY
Giang ThuyPham
INPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREEOF
DOCTOR OFPHILOSOPHY
KathrynKohnert,Ph.D.
June2011
©GiangThuyPham, 2011
i
Acknowledgements
Iwouldlike toacknowledgemyfacultyadviser,KathrynKohnert,Ph.D., whose
guidance, support,and wisdom have fundamentallyshapedmythinkingand writing.
Dr.Kohnerthas taughtme byexample how tointegrate thepersonal andprofessional,
the heartandmind,and how tobe ascholar, teacher,and mentor.
Iwouldlike tothank mydissertationcommittee fortheirthoughtfulinputonthis study
and inthe writing process includingRichardLee,Ph.D., Peggy Nelson,Ph.D., Joe
Reichle, Ph.D., andMoin Syed, Ph.D. Iwouldlike tothank Jennifer Windsor, Ph.D. for
her inputonpreliminaryprojects,EdwardCarney, Ph.D. fortechnicalsupport,and
JeffreyLong,Ph.D. forassistancewithR software.
Iam gratefulfor myfive-year collaborationwithHillcrestForeignLanguage Academy
inOrlando, Florida, andinparticular formygoodfriend and colleague,Mrs.HaiAnh
Nguyen,Vietnamese language teacher, forher essential helpwithcoordinating
communicationbetweenHillcrest staff,students, andparents. Iwouldlike tothank all
the children and theirfamilies fortheirparticipationinthis study.
Iwouldlike toacknowledgeallofthe hardworkcontributed bygraduate and
undergraduate students who havehelpedwithdatacollectionand entryincluding
Amelia Medina, Irene Hien Duong, KelannLobitz, Kimson Nguyen,EllynDam,Bao
Dang,LyNguyen,SamanthaYang,Maura Arnoldy,Renata Solum,and Jamie
Wennblom.Iam thankfulfor the camaraderie andfriendshipoffellow doctoral students
includingKellyNettCordero, Ph.D., Pui FongKan,Ph.D., Kristina Blaiser,Ph.D.,
KerryEbert,ChristineWing, JillRentmeester,Bita Payesteh,Alisia Tran, andMary
JoyceJuan.
Lastbutcertainlynotleast Iammostappreciative forthe love andkindness ofmy
husband,Tien Pham, myparents, XuanandFrancisTang, and myfamilyand close
friends includingVanTang, Bogonko Siko,Fr.NguyenThe Vien, Sabrina Dycus, and
JanetCalderón.Allhave played a vital role inprovidingsocial,emotionalandspiritual
support.
This projectwas funded bya predoctoral fellowship fromthe National Institute ofChild
Healthand Human Development (F31HD055113, PI: G. Pham).Additional funding
was provided bythe AmericanSpeech-Language andHearingFoundationNewCentury
Scholars DoctoralScholarship,CenterforAdvancedResearchonLanguage Acquisition
Fellowship,CommunityofScholars Program TravelGrant, College ofLiberal Arts
StudentDissertationResearchActivityAward,and Speech-Language-HearingSciences
BryngBryngelsonResearchAward.
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Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my grandfather, Ông Nội Phanxicô Tăng Văn Phốc,
who passed away in 2010 at the age of 90. Ông Nội was a lifelong learner and instilled
ineachofhis five sonsand fourdaughters the importanceofeducation,an unwavering
optimism, anddedicatedfaith. His spiritlives oninhis 22grandchildren andsix great
grandchildren.
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Abstract
The purpose ofthis longitudinal studywas tomathematicallymodelfirstand
secondlanguage trajectories and interactions amongdevelopingsequential bilingual
school-agechildren. Language data were collectedinfourwaves,witha one-year
intervalbetweeneachwave. Participants (N=34,meanage of7.3at Wave1)lived in
the US,spoke Vietnameseasa firstand home language (L1)and beganlearningthe
majoritycommunitylanguage,English (L2),inearlychildhood. Children completed
measures inthe L1and L2at lexical,grammatical,anddiscourse subsystems eachyear
forfourconsecutive years. Multivariate hierarchical linear modelswerecalculatedto
examine theshapeand rates ofchange forthe twolanguages nested withinindividual
children. Associations withinand betweenlanguageswereexamined acrossdifferent
language subsystems ateachwaveand over time ina series ofcorrelationaland
longitudinal analyses. Results showed(a) positive growthacross alllanguage
subsystemsforthe L1andL2withrelatively more rapidgains inthe L2,(b)moderate
tostrongpositive associationsbetween languages ateachwave andover time, (c)
bidirectionalcross-linguistic transfer,and(d)changes inthe nature ofL1-L2
relationshipswithage. Findings are interpretedwithina Dynamic Systems framework
inwhich a child’s language systememerges frommultiple interactionsacross cognitive,
socialand language systemsas wellas interactions withinand betweenlanguages (de
Bot,Lowie, &Verspoor,2007;Kohnert,2007).
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Table ofContents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................i
DEDICATION..................................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................iii
TABLEOFCONTENTS.................................................................................................iv
LIST OFTABLES...........................................................................................................vi
LIST OFFIGURES.........................................................................................................vii
LIST OFAPPENDICES................................................................................................viii
CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2:THEORETICALFRAMEWORK.............................................................3
CHAPTER 3:REVIEW OFTHE LITERATURE...........................................................8
First and SecondLanguage Developmentamong School-Age Children.............8
L1and L2Interdependence................................................................................17
CHAPTER 4:VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH BILINGUALISM........................................27
Connections betweenLanguage, Identity,and Well-Being...............................27
Linguistic Characteristics ofVietnamese...........................................................29
Lexical Semantics...................................................................................29
Grammar.................................................................................................31
Discourse.................................................................................................31
CHAPTER 5:THEPRESENTSTUDY.........................................................................34
Research Questions.............................................................................................34
Study Design.......................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 6:METHODS..............................................................................................37
Participants.........................................................................................................37
General Procedures.............................................................................................39
Language Measures.............................................................................................39
Picture WordVerification.......................................................................39
Timed Picture Naming............................................................................41
Sentence Repetition.................................................................................43
Story Tell.................................................................................................44
CHAPTER 7:STATISTICALANALYSIS....................................................................46
ModelBuilding...................................................................................................51
TestofEqualityofSlopes andofIntercepts.......................................................53
Associations Withinand BetweenLanguages....................................................53
StatisticalAssumptions.......................................................................................55
TestofAttrition...................................................................................................55
CHAPTER 8:RESULTS................................................................................................57
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Shape ofChange.................................................................................................57
Developmental Trajectories inVietnamese andEnglish...................................58
Associations Withinand BetweenLanguages:Cross-Sectional Analysis.........60
Associations Withinand BetweenLanguages:LongitudinalAnalysis..............63
CHAPTER 9:DISCUSSION..........................................................................................66
Developmental Trajectories...............................................................................66
Cross-Linguistic Transfer...................................................................................68
ConcludingRemarks..........................................................................................71
TABLES.........................................................................................................................74
FIGURES........................................................................................................................86
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................99
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................111
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List ofTables
Table 1 Participant Characteristics.......................................................................74
Table 2 SummaryofLanguage Measures............................................................76
Table 3 Descriptive Statistics...............................................................................77
Table 4 Fixed Effects ofMultivariate Hierarchical LinearModels.....................79
Table 5 LongitudinalAssociations: One Language asaDynamic Predictorofthe
Other........................................................................................................82
Table 6 DirectionalityofCross-Linguistic Transfer............................................84
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List ofFigures
Figure 1 SchematicRepresentationofLanguageas a Dynamic System...............86
Figure 2 VietnameseLanguageDevelopmentacross Subsystems........................87
Figure 3 English LanguageDevelopment across Subsystems...............................88
Figure 4 Picture WordVerificationAccuracy.......................................................89
Figure 5 Picture WordVerificationResponseTime..............................................90
Figure 6 Timed Picture NamingAccuracy............................................................91
Figure 7 Timed Picture NamingResponseTime...................................................92
Figure 8 Sentence Repetition.................................................................................93
Figure 9 MeanLength OfUtterance......................................................................94
Figure 10 Story Quality...........................................................................................95
Figure 11 LongitudinalCross-linguistic Associations: InteractionwithAgeon
Timed Picture NamingAccuracy...........................................................96
Figure 12 LongitudinalCross-linguistic Associations: InteractionwithAgeon
Timed Picture NamingResponseTime..................................................97
Figure 13 LongitudinalCross-linguistic Associations: InteractionwithAgeon
Story Quality..........................................................................................98
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List ofAppendices
AppendixA Picture WordVerification:ObjectStimuli............................................111
AppendixB Picture WordVerification:ActionStimuli............................................113
AppendixC Timed Picture Naming:ObjectStimuli.................................................115
AppendixD Timed Picture Naming:ActionStimuli.................................................117
AppendixE VietnameseSentence RepetitionStimuli..............................................119
AppendixF Story QualityScore Record Form.........................................................121
AppendixG Taxonomy ofFirst-Order Polynomial TransformationsofTime..........123
AppendixH Comparison ofLinearandNonlinearModels.......................................124
AppendixI IndividualParticipant Plots forEachDependentMeasure....................128
AppendixJ Intercorrelations ofLanguage Measuresat EachWave........................135