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Development of vocabulary in Spanish-speaking and Cantonese-speaking English language learners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

YUUKO UCHIKOSHI
YUUKO UCHIKOSHI*
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
*
Yuuko Uchikoshi, School of Education, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: yuchikoshi@ucdavis.edu
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Abstract

This study examines vocabulary growth rates in first and second languages for Spanish-speaking and Cantonese-speaking English language learners from kindergarten through second grade. Growth-modeling results show a within-language effect of concepts about print on vocabulary. Language exposure also had an effect on English vocabulary: earlier English exposure led to larger English vocabulary in kindergarten. There was no interference of early English exposure on native-language vocabulary. Moreover, Cantonese-speaking children had higher English expressive vocabulary scores than Spanish-speaking children and this difference remained for the 3 years. In contrast, although there were no significant differences in first language vocabulary at the start of kindergarten, Spanish-speaking children had steeper growth rates in first-language vocabulary than Cantonese-speaking children, after controlling for language of instruction and first-language concepts about print.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 119 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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