Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 8:4 (2018) ► pp.502–522

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Do bilinguals create two different sets of vocabulary for two domains?

Vocabulary development and overlap in the first years of schooling

ORCiD logo with link | Center for Diversity and Education, Institute for German Language and Literature, University of Hildesheim, Germany
 | Institute for Psychology, University of Kassel, Germany
 | Center for Diversity and Education, Institute for German Language and Literature, University of Hildesheim, Germany
 | Center for Diversity and Education, Institute for German Language and Literature, University of Hildesheim, Germany
Published online: 12 April 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.16021.mon
Abstract
The central research question is how intensive exposure to the majority language at school affects the development of vocabulary. In a cross-sectional study with a longitudinal subsample follow-up, we investigated the development of vocabulary during the first four years at school, as vocabulary development is considered an important factor regarding bilingual children’s success at school. The sample consisted of 126 bilingual Russian/German-speaking children aged 6;0 to 10;11 years in Germany, who were tested for expressive and receptive vocabulary using a picture naming task.
Our results show that while the majority language is acquired at an expected rate, the heritage language’s extensive vocabulary does not develop further over the course of primary school attendance. The overlap of the vocabularies increases. Additionally, the number of items that are named exclusively in the majority language increases, whereas the number of items that are named exclusively in the heritage language decreases.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research
    • Research questions and assumptions
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Tasks
    • 3.3Procedure
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Cross-sectional results
    • 4.2The longitudinal subsample
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (44)
References
Allen, S. E. M., Crago, M. B., & Pesco, D. (2006). The effect of majority language exposure on minority language skills: The case of Inuktitut. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 91, 578–596. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Allman, B. (2005). Vocabulary size and accuracy of monolingual and bilingual preschool children. In J. Cohen, K. T. McAlister, K. Rolstad, & J. MacSwan (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism (pp. 58–77). Somerville: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anstatt, T. (2011). Russisch in der zweiten Generation: Zur Sprachsituation von Jugendlichen aus russischsprachigen Familien in Deutschland. In L. M. Eichinger, A. Plewnia, & M. Steinle (Eds.), Sprache und Integration: Über Mehrsprachigkeit und Migration (pp. 101–128). Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Argyri, E., & Sorace, A. (2007). Crosslinguistic influence and language dominance in older bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 101, 79–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aukrust, V. G. (2007). Young children acquiring second language vocabulary in preschool group-time: Does amount, diversity, and discourse complexity of teacher talk matter? Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 221, 17–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ben-Zeev, S. (1977). The influence of bilingualism on cognitive strategy and cognitive development. Child Development, 481, 1008–1018. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Luk, G., Peets, K. F., & Yang, S. (2010). Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(4), 525–531. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clasmeier, C., Anstatt, T., Ernst, J., & Belke, E. (2016). Are Schalter and šapka good competitors? Searching for stimuli for an investigation of the Russian-German bilingual mental lexicon. Slavic Languages in Psycholinguistics. Chances and Challenges for Empirical and Experimental Research (pp. 191–224). Tübingen:Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, V. J. (1992). Evidence for multicompetence. Language Learning, 42(4), 557–591. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Houwer, A., Bornstein, M. H., & Putnick, D. L. (2014). A bilingual – monolingual comparison of young children’s vocabulary size: Evidence from comprehension and production. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(6), 1–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doyle, A., Champagne, M., & Segalowitz, N. (1978). Some issues in the assessment of linguistic consequences of early bilingualism. In M. Paradis (Ed.), Aspects of Bilingualism (pp. 13–20). Columbia, SC: Hornbeam Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4) (4). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Europarat für interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit. (2001). Gemeinsamer europäischer Referenzrahmen für Sprachen: lernen, lehren, beurteilen. Berlin: Langenscheidt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Franceschini, R. (2011). Multilingualism and multicompetence: A conceptual view. The Modern Language Journal, 95(3), 344–355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. Mueller. (2013). Assessment of bilinguals: Innovative solutions. In V. C. Mueller Gathercole (Ed.), Solutions for the Assessment of Bilinguals (pp. 1–9), Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. Mueller, & Thomas, E. M. (2009). Bilingual first-language development: Dominant language takeover, threatened minority language take-up. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(2), 213–237. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibson, T. A., Oller, K. D., Jamulowicz, L., & Ethington, C. A. (2012). The receptive – expressive gap in the vocabulary of young second-language learners: Robustness and possible mechanisms. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15(1), 102–116. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glück, C. W. (2011). WWT 6–10. Wortschatz- und Wortfindungstest für 6- bis 10-Jährige. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. (1989). Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. Brain and Language, 361, 3–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). The Complementarity Principle and its impact on processing, acquisition, and dominance. In J. Treffers-Daller & C. Silva-Corvalán (Eds.), Language dominance in bilinguals. Issues of measurement and operationalization (pp. 66–84). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Señor, M., & Parra, M. (2012). Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 39(1), 1–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jessner, U. (2017). Multicompetence approaches to language proficiency development in multilingual education. Bilingual and Multilingual Education, 161–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Wei. (2011). Multilinguality, multimodality, and multicompetence: Codeswitching and modeswitching by minority ethnic children in complementary schools. The Modern Language Journal, 95(3), 370–384. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meisel, J. M. (2011). Bilingual language acquisition and theories of diachronic change: Bilingualism as cause and effect of grammatical change. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14(2), 121–145. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montanari, E. G., Graßer, B., Tschudinovski, L., & Abel, R. (2018). Diversität in der Wortschatzentwicklung bilingualer Schülerinnen und Schüler. In J. Ricart Brede, D. Maak, & E. Pliska (Eds.), Deutsch als Zweitsprache und Mehrsprachigkeit – vielfältige Perspektiven. Stuttgart: Klett Fillibach.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2016). The acquisition of heritage languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niedersachsen. (2017). Kerncurriculum für die Grundschule Schuljahrgänge 1–4 Deutsch. Hannover: Niedersächsisches Kultusministerium.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Otheguy, R., García, O., & Reid, W. (2015). Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review, 6(3), 281–307. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, J., & Nicoladis, E. (2007). The influence of dominance and sociolinguistic context on bilingual preschooler’s language choice. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(3), 277–296. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, J., Nicoladis, E., Crago, M. B., & Genesee, F. (2011). Bilingual children’s acquisition of the past tense: A usage-based approach. Journal of Child Language, 381, 554–578. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pearson, B., Fernández, S. C., & Oller, K. D. (1993). Lexical development in bilingual infants and toddlers: Comparison to monolingual norms. Language Learning, 43(1), 93–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pearson, B. Z., Fernández, S. C., Lewedeg, V., & Oller, D. K. (1997). The relation of input factors to lexical learning by bilingual infants. Applied Psycholinguistics, 181, 41–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ribot, K. M., Hoff, E., & Burridge, A. (2017). Language use contributes to expressive language growth: Evidence from bilingual children. Child Development, 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosenblum, T., & Pinker, S. A. (1983). Word magic revisited: Monolingual and bilingual children’s understanding of the world-object relationship. Child Development, 541, 587–599. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schlyter, S., & Håkansson, G. (1994). Word order in Swedish as the first language, second language and weaker language. Scandinavian Working Papers on Bilingualism, 91, 49–67.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, S. L. (Ed.). (2008). The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97): An evaluation of content and criterion validity for 15 European countries. Mannheim: GESIS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thordardottir, E., Rothenberg, A., Rivard, M. -E., & Naves, R. (2006). Bilingual assessment: Can overall proficiency be estimated from separate measurement of two languages? Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders, 41, 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tracy, R., & Gawlitzek-Maiwald, I. (2000). Bilingualismus in der frühen Kindheit. In H. Grimm (Ed.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie (Vol. 31, pp. 495–535). Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J., & Silva-Corvalán, C. (2015). Language dominance in bilinguals: Issues of measurement and operationalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J., Ozsoy, A. S., & van Hout, R. (2007). (In)Complete acquisition of Turkish among Turkish German bilinguals in Germany and Turkey: An analysis of complex embeddings in narratives. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(3), 248–276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Uchikoshi, Y. (2006). English vocabulary development in bilingual kindergarteners: What are the best predictors? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9(1), 33–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Umbel, V. M., Fernández, M. C., & Oller, D. K. (1992). Measuring bilingual children’s receptive vocabularies. Child Development, 631, 1012–1020. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Unsworth, S. (Ed.) (2014). Amount of exposure as a proxy for dominance in bilingual language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (13)

Cited by 13 other publications

Ehl, Birgit & Stephanie Rupp
2025. Semantisch-lexikalische Störungen bei Mehrsprachigkeit. In Semantisch-lexikalische Störungen bei Kindern [Praxiswissen Logopädie, ], ► pp. 285 ff. DOI logo
Hennecke, Inga, Tatiana Perevozchikova & Evelyn Wiesinger
2025. Multiword units in multilingual speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism 29:2 ► pp. 329 ff. DOI logo
Piccione, Mariapaola, Maria Francesca Ferin, Noemi Furlani, Miriam Geiß, Theodoros Marinis & Tanja Kupisch
2024. On the Role of Informal vs. Formal Context of Language Experience in Italian–German Primary School Children. Languages 9:2 ► pp. 63 ff. DOI logo
Arntzen, Ragnar & Bjørn H. Kvifte
2023. Ordforråd og ordforrådsutvikling hos norskfødte tospråklige barn. Nordand 18:1 ► pp. 17 ff. DOI logo
Fridman, Clara & Natalia Meir
2023. Lexical production and innovation in child and adult Russian Heritage speakers dominant in English and Hebrew. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 26:5 ► pp. 880 ff. DOI logo
Bohnacker, Ute, Josefin Lindgren & Buket Öztekin
2022. Storytelling in bilingual Turkish-Swedish children. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 12:4 ► pp. 413 ff. DOI logo
Hein, Karin & Christina Kauschke
2022. Word form processing at school age: Evidence for similarities between bilingual and monolingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 25:2 ► pp. 283 ff. DOI logo
Kupisch, Tanja, Miriam Geiss, Natalia Mitrofanova & Marit Westergaard
2022. Structural and phonological cues for gender assignment in monolingual and bilingual children acquiring German. Experiments with real and nonce words. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 7:1 DOI logo
Kupisch, Tanja
2021. Heritage Languages in Europe. In The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics, ► pp. 45 ff. DOI logo
Reez, Carina & Christine Czinglar
2021. Input und rezeptiver Wortschatz im Deutschen als Zweitsprache bei geflüchteten Jugendlichen in parallel geführten Intensivklassen an einer beruflichen Schule. Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache 48:6 ► pp. 598 ff. DOI logo
Lindgren, Josefin & Ute Bohnacker
2020. Vocabulary development in closely-related languages. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 10:5 ► pp. 587 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2021. Heritage Languages around the World. In The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics, ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. What a Bilingual's Languages Are Used For. In The Mysteries of Bilingualism, ► pp. 102 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue