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Article published In: Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education
Vol. 8:1 (2020) ► pp.80–106

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Influences of language input and production on the language skills of Persian-English bilingual immersion preschool children

 | Texas Woman’s University
 | University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Published online: 31 March 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.18032.pay
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to better understand bilingualism in Persian-English preschool-aged children, and how their language performance across two domains of language related to their language production and parental language input. Participants were 15, 2- through 5-year old Persian-English bilingual children attending a Persian immersion preschool in the U.S. The participants completed a battery of language tasks in English and Persian and participants’ parents provided language input and production information. Data indicate that greater input in the heritage language outside school, Persian, will likely lead to better Persian skills, while greater English input may negatively affect the children’s Persian skills. Participants received consistent native-level Persian input in school, yet the results suggest that Persian as a heritage language in the U.S. may be susceptible to the same vulnerability that affects other non-mainstream languages.
انتزاعی
هدف از اين مطالعه شناخت هر چه بهتر دوزبانگي در كودكان پيش دبستاني فارسي-انگليسي است، واينكه چگونه عملكرد زبان اين كودكان در هر دو حوزه با زبان بياني خودشان و همچنين با زبان مورد ارتباط دارد (input) استفاده والدين. شركت كنندگان در مطالعه شامل ۱۵ کودک ٥-٢ ساله دوزبانه بودند كه در يك مركز پيش دبستاني تك زبانه (فارسي) در آمريكا حاضر ميشدند. كودكان به مدرسه اي در آمريكا ميرفتند كه برخوردار از سيستم آموزشي غرقه سازي زبان (immersion school) بود. تمامي كودكان با يك سلسله از تكاليف به زبان انگليسي مورد سنجش قرار گرفتند، ضمن آنكه كودكان دوزبانه مورد سنجش همان آزمون به زبان فارسي نيز قرار گرفتند. والدين كودكان اطلاعات مربوط به زبان كلامي و درونداد را فراهم كردند. از نتايج اينگونه به نظر ميرسد كه فارسي به عنوان زبان موروثي در آمريكا ممكن است به اندازه ساير زبانهايي كه در أقليت هستند مستعد آسيب پذيري باشد. داده ها حاكي از اين هستند كه واردسازي هر چه بيشتر زبان فارسي توسط والدين، احتمال افزايش مهارتهاي مربوط به اين زبان را تقويت خواهد كرد، در حاليكه واردسازي با تمركز بيشتر بر زبان انگليسي ممكن است در رشد مهارتهاي زبان فارسي كودكان اثر منفي داشته باشد.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Theoretical framework of bilingual language development
    • 1.2Parental language input
    • 1.3Child language production
    • 1.4Persian language and culture
    • 1.5Current study
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Schools
    • 2.3Study assessments and procedures
      • 2.3.1Parent questionnaire
      • 2.3.2Language tasks
      • 2.3.3Study procedures
    • 2.4Analyses
    • 2.5Scoring
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Children’s Persian and English scores
    • 3.2Performance on English tasks
    • 3.3Language input and language production
      • 3.3.1Persian by parents
      • 3.3.2English by parents
      • 3.3.3Persian by children
      • 3.3.4English by children
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Parental language input
    • 5.1Child language production
    • 5.2Limitations and future directions
    • 5.3Conclusion
  • References
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2021. Narrative language development of Persian-English bilingual children attending an immersion preschool. Clinical Archives of Communication Disorders 6:3 ► pp. 149 ff. DOI logo

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