Добірка наукової літератури з теми "Infant bilingualism"

AbstractThe purpose of the current study was to examine effects of bilingual language input on infant word segmentation and on talker generalization. In the present study, monolingually and bilingually exposed infants were compared on their abilities to recognize familiarized words in speech and to maintain generalizable representations of familiarized words. Words were first presented in the context of sentences to infants and then presented to infants in isolation during a test phase. During test, words were produced by a talker of the same gender and by a talker of the opposite gender. Results demonstrated that both bilingual and monolingual infants were able to recognize familiarized words to a comparable degree. Moreover, both bilingual and monolingual infants recognized words in spite of talker variation. Results demonstrated robust word recognition and talker generalization in monolingual and bilingual infants at 8 months of age.

Studying bilingualism is complicated. Baum and Titone's Keynote Article concludes with a discussion of three particularly thorny issues in bilingualism research: (a) bilinguals are not a homogeneous group, (b) bilingualism is not randomly assigned, and (c) the effects of bilingualism are often more complicated than simple advantages or disadvantages/delays. On this latter point, Baum and Titone consider how binary thinking about bilingualism as good or bad can limit the kinds of research questions that we ask. Here, I expand on this issue by showing how some apparent bilingual advantages and disadvantages can be illusory. I describe two examples of reasonable, justifiable, and prudent experimental designs that initially led to misleading conclusions about the effects of bilingualism on development. While both of these examples are drawn from research with bilingual infants, they nonetheless have implications for how we interpret the results of studies of bilingualism across the life span.

Aims and objectives: The objectives of the present research were to examine the cognitive consequences of trilingualism and explain them relative to the cognitive consequences of bilingualism. Approach: A comparison of cognitive abilities in trilinguals and bilinguals was conducted. In addition, we proposed a cognitive plasticity framework to account for cognitive differences and similarities between trilinguals and bilinguals. Data and analysis: Three aspects of cognition were analyzed: (1) cognitive reserve in older adults, as measured by age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment; (2) inhibitory control in children and younger adults, as measured by response times on behavioral Simon and flanker tasks; and (3) memory generalization in infants and toddlers, as measured by accuracy on behavioral deferred imitation tasks. Results were considered within a framework of cognitive plasticity, which took into account several factors that may affect plasticity including the age of learning a third language and the extent to which additional cognitive resources are needed to learn the third language. Findings: A mixed pattern of results was observed. In some cases, such as cognitive reserve in older adults, trilinguals showed larger advantages than did bilinguals. On other measures, for example inhibitory control in children and younger adults, trilinguals were found to exhibit the same advantages as bilinguals. In still other cases, such as memory generalization in infants and toddlers, trilinguals did not demonstrate the advantages seen in bilinguals. Originality: This study is the first comprehensive analysis of how learning a third language affects the cognitive abilities that are modified by bilingual experience, and the first to propose a cognitive plasticity framework that can explain and predict trilingual-bilingual differences. Significance: This research shows that the cognitive consequences of trilingualism are not simply an extension of bilingualism’s effects; rather, trilingualism has distinct consequences, with theoretical implications for our understanding of linguistic and cognitive processes and their plasticity, as well as applied-science implications for using second and third language learning in educational and rehabilitative contexts to foster successful cognitive development and aging.

This study examined how bilingualism in an atonal language, in addition to a tonal language, influences lexical and non-lexical tone perception and word learning during childhood. Forty children aged 5;3–7;2, bilingual either in English and Mandarin or English and another atonal language, were tested on Mandarin lexical tone discrimination, level-pitch sine-wave tone discrimination, and learning of novel words differing minimally in Mandarin lexical tone. Mandarin–English bilingual children discriminated between and learned novel words differing minimally in Mandarin lexical tone more accurately than their atonal–English bilingual peers. However, Mandarin–English and atonal–English bilingual children discriminated between level-pitch sine-wave tones with similar accuracy. Moreover, atonal–English bilingual children showed a tendency to perceive differing Mandarin lexical and level-pitch sine-wave tones as identical, whereas their Mandarin–English peers showed no such tendency. These results indicate that bilingualism in a tonal language in addition to an atonal language—but not bilingualism in two atonal languages—allows for continued sensitivity to lexical tone beyond infancy. Moreover, they suggest that although tonal–atonal bilingualism does not enhance sensitivity to differences in pitch between sine-wave tones beyond infancy any more effectively than atonal–atonal bilingualism, it protects against the development of biases to perceive differing lexical and non-lexical tones as identical. Together, the results indicate that, beyond infancy, tonal–atonal bilinguals process lexical tones using different cognitive mechanisms than atonal–atonal bilinguals, but that both groups process level-pitch non-lexical tone using the same cognitive mechanisms.

Most studies on Bilinguals First Language Acquisition (BFLA) are concerned with giving explanation for language mixing in young bilinguals. It is commonly stated that language mixing in children has to be interpreted as evidence for confusions in the bilingual’s language acquisition, in the sense that the two languages are not acquired separately but start out as a single system. In other words, it is in contrast to adults’ code-switching. In this article, early mixing in bilingual children is explored based on psycholinguistics view. This article will first discuss the language acquisition, then the theories and assumptions on bilingualism in early childhood, and last the early mixing in bilingual children. According to the review of related literature, it can be inferred that from psycholinguistics view, language mixing cannot indicate the bilingual children’s lack of ability to differentiate the two language system. Spontaneous translation employed by the bilingual children shows that bilingual awareness and language differentiation is possible at an early stage. Bilingual infants can do language mixing as an evidence of their meta-linguistic awareness and language differentiation. As language mixing may be a good indicator of bilingual fluency, we can say that children who become bilingual in their early childhood will reach their fluency in the two languages by doing language mixing according to the two languages they have acquired.

The purpose of this sociolinguistic case study is to analyze the language processes and speech patterns of code-switching of an Egyptian Arabic-English-speaking three-year-old girl named Sara. Sara, who is the daughter of the study's author, has been exposed to and has learned both languages simultaneously since she was nine months old. Family composition played an immense role in the language the parents used with their child and the language the child chose to speak. Sara's parents spoke to her in Arabic since she was born; thus, a one-language household model was used. At the age of nine months, Sara started to attend day care and was exposed to English for the first time. The integral role of the environmental influences of the English language were considered and examined with regard to Sara's language choices within the framework of family gatherings, community settings/activities, and recreation/leisure activities, and the positive influence of these contexts was assessed.Sara facilitated her natural communicative abilities by code-switching lexical items between Arabic and English and vice versa to complete her sentences. Lexical switches including nouns, verbs, and adjectives were the most susceptible to code-switching. In addition, nouns and adjectives were code-switched more than verbs because of the incongruence in verbs between Arabic and English. Sara code-switched depending on the languague abilities of the interlocutor. However, there was no association between Sara's code-switching and the topics of conversation. It was found that the proportion of intersentential code-switching decreased over time and that of intrasentential code-switching increased during the three-year study.

In order to find the referents of words, infants rely on constrains that guide their interpretations. Currently, little is known about how language environment influences referent identification. Comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals offer a unique window into this interaction. The aim of this dissertation is to explore how bilinguals and monolinguals acquire words for categories at different ages as well as their use of disambiguation strategies. Specifically, we asked whether bilinguals' early advantage in executive function, together with the need to learn in noisier contexts, may translate into different word learning strategies. In Experiments 1-4, we tested 8-, 15-, and 19-month-old infants with a fast categorization task. We also explored if recently acquired knowledge can be used to boost the learning of other information. In Experiments 5-6, we tested 18- and 19-month-old infants with a familiarization/preferential-looking task on their ability to acquire categories. We asked whether different linguistic experiences may lead bilinguals and monolinguals to form different category representations. Our findings suggest a much more complex picture of the influence of linguistic experience on referent identification than currently acknowledged.
Per tal de trobar els referents de les paraules, els infants confien en requeriments que guien les seves interpretacions. Actualment, se sap poc sobre com l'entorn lingüístic influencia la identificació de referents. La comparació de bilingües i monolingües ofereix una finestra única per explorar aquesta interacció. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és explorar com bilingües i monolingües adquireixen noms per categories a diferents edats així com l'ús que fan d'estratègies de desambiguació. Específicament, ens preguntem si l'avantatge primerenc en les funcions executives en bilingües junt amb la necessitat d'aprendre en contextos sorollosos, pot traduir-se en estratègies d'aprenentatge de paraules diferents. Als Experiments 1-4, van testejar infants de 8, 15 i 19 mesos amb una tasca de categorització ràpida. També vam explorar si coneixement recentment adquirit pot ser utilitzar per promoure l'aprenentatge d'altra informació. Als Experiments 5-6, vam testejar infants de 18 i 19 mesos amb una tasca de familiarització/mirada-preferencial en l'habilitat d'adquirir categories. Ens preguntem si diferències en l'experiència lingüística poden dur bilingües i monolingües a formar diferents representacions de categories. Els resultats suggereixen una fotografia més complexa sobre la influència de l'experiència lingüística en l'habilitat d'identificar referents del que actualment es reconeix.

To rise to the challenge of acquiring their native language, infants must deploy tools to support their learning. This thesis compared infants growing up in two very different language environments, monolingual and bilingual, to better understand these tools and how their development and use changes with the context of language acquisition. The first set of studies − Chapter 2 − showed that infants adapt very early-developing tools to the context of their prenatal experience. Newborns born to bilingual mothers directed their attention to both of their native languages, while monolinguals preferred listening to their single native language. However, prenatal bilingual experience did not result in language confusion, as language discrimination was robustly maintained in both monolinguals and bilinguals. Thus, learning mechanisms allow experience-based listening preferences, while enduring perceptual sensitivities support language discrimination even in challenging language environments. Chapter 3 investigated a fundamental word learning tool: the ability to associate word and object. Monolinguals and bilinguals showed an identical developmental trajectory, suggesting that, unlike some aspects of word learning, this associative ability is equivalent across different types of early language environments. Chapters 4 and 5 explored the development of a heuristic for learning novel words. Disambiguation is the strategy of associating a novel word with a novel object, rather than a familiar one. In Chapter 4, disambiguation was robustly demonstrated by 18-month-old monolinguals, but not by age-matched bilinguals and trilinguals. The results supported the “lexicon structure hypothesis”, that disambiguation develops with mounting evidence for a one-to-one mapping between words and their referents, as is typical for monolinguals. For bilinguals, translation equivalents (cross-language synonyms) represent a departure from one-to-one mapping. Chapter 5 directly tested the lexicon structure hypothesis, by comparing subgroups of bilinguals who knew few translation equivalents to bilinguals who knew many. Only the former group showed disambiguation, supporting the lexicon structure hypothesis. The series of studies presented in this thesis provides a window into language acquisition across all infants. Whether growing up monolingual or bilingual, infants harmonize their development and use of the tools of language acquisition to the particular challenges mounted by their language environment.

Infant word recognition is sometimes hindered by variability in the speech input. Previous research has shown that, at 9 months, monolinguals do not generalize wordforms across native- and accented-speakers (Schmale & Seidl, 2009). In the current study however, it was predicted that bilingual infants would be advantaged in accommodating for accented speech due to experience with phonetic variability across their two phonological systems. It was also predicted that this hypothesized ability would be restricted to accommodating for an accent derived from a familiar language (e.g., French-English bilinguals would accommodate for French-accented English but not Mandarin-accented English), since this type of variability would be consistent with the language sounds to which infants were regularly exposed. Study 1 set the experimental stage by identifying native and non-native speakers with similar voices, as perceived by a group of adults. This was done in order to restrict variability across speakers to differences in accent, rather than biological differences in voice (e.g., a higher or lower pitched voice). Following speaker selection, acoustic measurements of vowels and word stress placement were taken to compare native and non-native speakers and confirmed several expected deviations between native and accented speech. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that bilingual infants would be advantaged in accommodating for these deviations when the accent is derived from a familiar phonology. Using a headturn preference procedure (HPP), 9- and 13-month-old English-learning monolinguals and French-English learning bilingual infants were tested on their ability to recognize familiarized English wordforms across a native- and French-accented speaker. Bilinguals in both age groups succeeded in generalizing wordforms across speakers, however monolingual infants failed regardless of age. Study 3 tested whether bilinguals’ success would persist when the accented speaker’s first language was unfamiliar. Infants in this study failed as a group to generalize across native- and Mandarin-accented productions of English wordforms. However, bilinguals who received balanced exposure to their two languages performed better in accommodating for Mandarin accented speech than unbalanced bilinguals. This hints at a general ability to ignore irrelevant phonetic information, perhaps due to an advantage in cognitive control.

Orientador: Débora Mazza
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
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Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar como as crianças que vivem em contextos de migração, em geral, e de imigração pomerana, em particular produzem, reproduzem e difundem as práticas sociais de seus e de outros grupos étnicos e culturais, por meio das relações que estabelecem com seus pares e com profissionais da educação em dois Centros Municipais de Educação Infantil, no município de Santa Maria de Jetibá-ES/Brasil. É apresentado o contexto da pesquisa, analisando numa perspectiva histórica, os fluxos migratórios, rumo ao município. Dentre as metodologias usadas para coletar, analisar e interpretar as vozes dos sujeitos da pesquisa- crianças pequenas e suas famílias em contextos migratórios- destacam-se a etnografia e a história oral. Os dados coletados resultaram de observações diretas por meio de registros em diários de campo, relatos das crianças, depoimentos de profissionais e de membros das famílias, filmagem, fotografias, histórias. A perspectiva analítica adotada tomou como referência os clássicos da Sociologia que, nas décadas de 1930 e 1940, já afirmavam que as crianças produziam suas culturas infantis, assim como as contribuições contemporâneas da Sociologia da infância. Para compreender, ainda, como as crianças migrantes vão construindo suas identidades culturais em contextos diaspóricos, são trazidas as categorias de cultura popular, diáspora, identidade cultural, culturas híbridas, "estabelecidos" e "outsiders" e circularidade cultural. (HALL, 2003; GINZBURG, 2006; 2009; ELIAS, 2000). Os relatos orais e a observação permitiram: levantar as práticas sociais que marcaram a identidade cultural das crianças pomeranas. Posteriormente acompanhar as práticas das crianças pomeranas recém-chegadas, com vergonha de se vincularem a essa origem e das crianças de outros grupos por se sentirem "fora do lugar? e, elucidar os processos de aproximação e distanciamento a determinados padrões culturais considerados hegemônicos, que as atividades cotidianas praticadas pelas creches e pré-escolas ratificam. A pesquisa apontou que os Centros Municipais de Educação Infantil apresentam-se como Instituições "enraizadas", "fixas", "territorializadas", que tem como padrão uma identidade nacional referenciada a uma língua, um povo e um território. As práticas dessas Instituições de educação infantil são marcadas pela abordagem monocultural e monolingue que se esforça por apagar a diferença em nome da assimilação das culturas das crianças pomeranas e das crianças recém-chegadas a um padrão de cultura nacional, definido pela língua portuguesa, pela religião católica, pelo trabalho e valores urbano-industriais. A pesquisa revelou que as práticas familiares e grupais são marcadas por configurações pluriculturais, multilingues e pelo trabalho familiar referenciado fortemente pelo universo rural-agrícola. Os dados e análises que compõem esta pesquisa trazem a grande relevância que tem a pedagogia adotada, a qual pode contribuir para uma formação de meninos e meninas desde pequenos, num processo de valorização de diferentes culturas num mesmo contexto como um aspecto de altíssimo valor humano; apontam também como a escola pode ser um lugar do esvaziamento de praticas culturais grupais, prevalecendo apenas as da classe dominante. Por isso esta pesquisa traz em seus escritos, desafios para a construção de uma Pedagogia da infância, Intercultural e Multilingue que reclama a luta contra a discriminação e a promoção de uma educação emancipatória.
Resum: Deis tesis hat as objektiv, im ganse, wou dai kiner wat im kontext fom wandren leewe, forsche, un apart, im kontext fom pomerische inwandren; wou dai kiner eer social praxis producijre, wijrerproducijre un wou sai dai social praxis fon eer etnische un kultural grups forbraire, doir dai relation wat sai mit dai koleges un schaulleirers grunde, in twai Kinerschaule, in municip fon Santa Maria de Jetiba. Dar is dai kontext fon dai forschung bijbrocht, dai historisch perspektiv analysijrt, dai wanersbeweegunge na de municip. Uuner dai metodologis wat hijr benutst wart taum dai stime fon dai subjekte fon dai forschung-klainekiner un eer familche im kontext fon dai wandren analysijren un interpretijren, wart hijr dai etnografi un dai oral geschicht uutweese. Dai forschijdene informations wat hijr angeewt ware, sin uut direkte observatione kreege doir dagbuiker, berichte fon dai kiner, schaulleirers un mitglijrer fon dai familche, films, bijler, geschichte. Dai analysis wat hijr benutst wart, kumt uut dai klassische fon dai Sociologi wat in dem 1930e un 1940e jarseend al weese hawe, dat dai kiner eer kultur producijre daue, sowoul dai sriwte fon dai Sociologi fon dai Kindheit. Taum nog forstaen wou dai wanerskiner eer kulturale identiteite schafe, dar sin dai kategoris fon folkkultur, imigration, kultural identiteit, formischte kulture, outsiders un kulture wat sich foraandert daue, foirbrocht (HALL, 2003; GINZBURG, 2006; 2009; ELIAS, 2000). Dai oral berichte un dai observatione hawe dat moiglig makt: dai social praxis fon dai pomerische kiner wat eer kultural identiteite identifikijrt hawe. Naheer, na dai social praxis fon dai pomerische kiner wat in dai latste jare ankoome sin, gae, wat sich fon eer wortels schaame daue un dai kiner fon andrer grups wat sich ni in eer aigen stel befijne daue. Dai processe fon raner- un weggaen uutduure, in wek kultural norms wat hegemonisch in acht noome sin, wat dai aldagsarbeid fon dai kinerschaule bestae. Dai forschung wijst, dat dai Municipal-Centrums fon Kineredukation (Kinerschaule) sich as fastinstituitione wat sich wortels slae hawe un wat as norm ain national identiteit hawe up ain ainsig sprak, air folk un air territorrium. De schaulleirers fon deise kineredukation-instituitione eere arbeid is mit dai ainsprakig un ainkultural teori karakterisijrt, wat sich anstrengt taum dai uunerscheid uutloschen im name fon dai assimilation fon de pomerische kiner eer kultur un fon dai kiner wat in dai latste tijd ankoome sin, an ain ainsig national kultur, wat fon dai portugijsisch sprak, fon dai katolisch religion, fon dem arbeid un industrial-staarer gewoonheite definijrt is. Dai forschung wijst, up anerd dail, dat dai familche- un gemaindepraxis sin mit meirkultural un twaisprakig strukture un doir de familchearbeid, wat stark referens in dai landwirtschaf hat. Dai forschijdene informations un analysis wat deis forschung t.houpset, bringe dai grout relevans fon dai pedagogi wat hijr benutst wart, wat taum dat uutleiren fon jonges un maakes fon klain up mitarbeire koine, in ainem process wou weird geewt wart an forschijdene kulture in dem selwige kontext as air aspekt wou dai luur grout weird hawe; sai wijse uk wou dai schaul ain stel wou dai kultural praxis fon dai grups umer meir ane kant schoowe wart, un in dere stel bliwt dai kultur fon dai ruunerdrukend klass. Darweegen bringt deis tesis diskussione in eere sriwte taum ain Pedagogi fon dai Kindheit, interkultural un twaisprakig wat dai kamf geigen dai diskrimination fourdert, un dai promotion fon ain fraimakend edukation.
Abstract: This research aimed to investigate how children living in contexts of migration in general and immigration Pomeranian, in particular, produce, reproduce and spread their social practices and / or other ethnic and cultural relations through they establish with their peers and professional education in two Municipal Early Childhood Education Centers in the municipality of Santa Maria de Jetibá. It presented the research context, by considering historical migration flows towards the city. Among the methods used to collect, analyze and interpret the voices of research subjects - young children and their families in out-migration contexts to ethnography and oral history. The data collected resulted from direct observations through records in field diaries, reports of children, testimonies of professionals and family members, film, photographs, stories. The analytical perspective adopted took as a reference to the classics of sociology in the 1930 and 1940, has claimed that the children produced their children's cultures, as well as contributions from contemporary sociology of childhood. To understand, though, as migrant children are building their cultural identities in diasporic contexts, are brought into the categories of popular culture, diaspora, cultural identity, hybrid cultures, "established" and "outsiders" and cultural circularity. (Hall, 2003; Ginzburg, 2006, 2009, Elias, 2000). The oral accounts and observation allowed: to raise the social practices that marked the cultural identities of children Pomeranians. Thereafter follow the practices of children newly arrived Pomeranians, ashamed to be bound to this origin and children of other groups because they feel 'out of place' and - clarify the process of rapprochement and distance to certain cultural standards considered to be hegemonic, that everyday activities practiced by nurseries and preschools ratify. The survey showed that the Municipal Center for Early Education institutions present themselves as "rooted", "fixed", "spatial distribution", which defaults to a national identity referenced to a language, a people and a territory. The practices of early childhood institutions are marked by monolingual and monocultural approach that strives to erase the difference in the name of assimilation of the cultures of children Pomeranians and children newly arrived to a standard of national culture, defined by the Portuguese language, religion Catholic, labor and urban-industrial values. The survey revealed that the family practices and group settings are marked by multicultural, bilingual family and work heavily referenced the universe rural agricultural. The data and analysis that make this research brings the great importance of pedagogy is adopted, which may contribute to the formation of boys and girls in a process of appreciation of different cultures within the same context as an aspect of the highest human value, and also point school can be a place of cultural practices emptying group, only the prevailing ruling class. Therefore this research brings in his writings, challenges for the construction of a Childhood Pedagogy, Intercultural and MultiIingual that claims the strugle against discrimination and promoting of an emancipatory educacion.
Doutorado
Ciencias Sociais na Educação
Doutor em Educação

Learning language is a cornerstone in the cognitive development during the first year of life. A fundamental difference between infants growing up in monolingual versus bilingual environments is the necessity of the latter to discriminate between two language systems since very early in life. To be able to learn two different languages, bilingual infants will have to perceive the regularities of each of their two languages while keeping them separated. In this thesis we explore the differences between monolingual and bilingual infants in their early language discrimination abilities as well as the strategies that arise for each group as a consequence of their adaptation to their different linguistic environments. In chapter two, we examine the capacities of monolingual and bilingual 4-month-old infants to discriminate between their native/dominant language from foreign ones in the auditory domain. Our results show that, in this context, bilingual and monolingual infants present different brain signals, both in the temporal and the frequency domain, when listening to their native language. The results pinpoint that discriminating the native language represents a higher cognitive cost for bilingual than for monolingual infants when only auditory information is available. In chapter three we explore the abilities of monolingual and bilingual 8-month-old infants to discriminate between languages in the visual domain. Here we show to infants never exposed to sign languages videos of two different sign languages and we measure their discriminatory abilities using a habituation paradigm. The results show that at this age only bilingual infants can discriminate between the two sign languages. The results of a second control study points in the direction that bilinguals exploit the information coming from the face of the signer to make the distinction. Altogether, the studies presented in this thesis investigate a fundamental ability to learn language - specially in the case of bilingual environments - which is discriminating between different languages. Compared to a monolingual environment, being exposed to a bilingual environment is characterized by receiving more information (2 languages) but with less exposure to each of the languages (on average half of the time to each of them). We argue that the developmental brain is as prepared to learn one language from birth, as it is to learn two. However, to do so, monolingual and bilingual infants will develop particular strategies that will allow them to select the relevant information from the auditory and visual domains.
La adquisición del lenguaje es una pieza fundamental en el desarrollo cognitivo durante el primer año de vida. Una diferencia fundamental entre los bebés que crecen en ambientes monolingües y bilingües es que estos últimos necesitan discriminar entre dos sistemas lingüísticos desde muy temprano en la vida. Para poder aprender dos idiomas, los bebés bilingües tienen que percibir las regularidades de cada uno de sus idiomas y a la vez mantenerlos separados. En esta tesis exploramos las diferencias entre bebés monolingües y bilingües tanto en sus capacidades de discriminación tempranas, como en las estrategias que desarrolla cada grupo como consecuencia de la adaptación a su entorno lingüístico. En el segundo capítulo, examinamos la capacidad de los bebés bilingües y monolingües a los 4 meses de edad para discriminar entre la lengua nativa/dominante de otra extranjera en el dominio auditivo. Nuestros resultados muestran que, en este contexto, los bebés monolingües y bilingües presentan diferentes señales auditivas cuando escuchan su lengua nativa. Los resultados señalan que discriminar la lengua nativa representa un coste cognitivo mayor para los bebés bilingües que para los monolingües cuando sólo sólo disponen de información auditiva. En el capítulo 3, exploramos las habilidades de los bebés monolingües y bilingües a los 8 meses de edad para discriminar lenguas en el dominio visual. Aquí, mostramos a bebés que nunca han sido expuestos a lengua de signos, videos de dos lenguas de signos diferentes y medimos sus habilidades discriminatorias usando un paradigma de habituación. Los resultados muestran que a esta edad sólo los bebés bilingües son capaces de hacer la distinción y apuntan que para ello aprovechan la información proveniente de la cara de la signante.

Infants can live in a monolingual or a bilingual environment from birth. While being exposed to one or two language does not influence when infants achieve the main language milestones it may require different adaptations that are likely to depend on and influence, infants’ attention. In this dissertation we investigate how the language learning environment influences infants’ attention to social (face and voices) and non social contexts. Our results show that not only exposure to two languages, but also the properties of the linguistic input at home, differently shapes attention in different domains. Taken together, this work highlights the impact of language learning adaptations beyond the language domain and suggests that these adaptations are strongly related to the demands of the particular linguistic situation that infants face.
Els nadons poden viure en un entorn monolingüe o bilingüe des del seu naixement. L'exposició a una o dues llengües no influeix en quin moment els nens assoleixen les principals fites en l’aprenentatge del llenguatge. En canvi, estar exposat a una o dues llengües si que pot requerir l’ús de diferents adaptacions que probablement depenguin i influeixin en l’atenció dels nadons. En aquesta tesi doctoral s'investiga com l'entorn d'aprenentatge d'idiomes influeix en l’atenció dels nadons en contextos socials (cara i veus) i contextos no socials. Els resultats mostren que no només l'exposició a dos idiomes, sinó també les propietats de l’exposició lingüística a casa, afecta l'atenció en diferents dominis. En el seu conjunt, aquest treball posa de manifest l'impacte de les adaptacions d'aprenentatge lingüístic fora de l’aprenentatge de la llengua i suggereix que aquestes adaptacions estan fortament relacionades amb les exigències de la situació lingüística en particular a la que els nens s'enfronten.

Este trabalho investiga o ensino bilíngüe na educação infantil. Apoiado em pesquisas recentes sobre o bilingüismo, ele propõe uma reflexão sobre as características de uma pedagogia de projetos na educação infantil, a partir da análise de uma experiência com projetos didáticos realizada com crianças, com idades entre 3 e 4 anos, em uma pré-escola bilíngüe (português/inglês) em São Paulo. Este estudo apresenta, portanto, o resultado dessa experiência. Tanto a abordagem de projetos, notadamente na educação infantil, como a aquisição de uma segunda língua por crianças pequenas têm sido objetos de intensa pesquisa nos últimos anos. Entretanto, pesquisas em que o foco seria o trabalho com projetos, usado como uma estratégia para a aprendizagem em todas as áreas da educação infantil, utilizando uma segunda língua como meio de instrução, não têm surgido com freqüência, ainda que a incidência desses fatores em conjunto não seja rara. A análise parte de uma perspectiva sócio-cultural, notadamente da teoria de Vygotsky, recentemente utilizada como fonte de compreensão para o processo de aquisição de uma segunda língua. Observou-se que nesse processo as crianças são colocadas em situações que são práticas sociais de investigação, de busca de informações nas quais as novas aquisições lingüísticas são significativas. A abordagem de projetos didáticos na experiência relatada se constituiu numa estratégia facilitadora e, ao mesmo tempo, envolvente para as crianças, o que possibilitou uma aprendizagem significativa, onde as aquisições ocorreram de modo natural.
This research paper investigates the early childhood bilingual education. Supported by recent research in bilingualism, this study proposes a reflection on the project approach, through the analyses of an experience carried out in a preschool bilingual environment (English/Portuguese) in São Paulo, where the project approach was used with children between the age of 3 and 4. This study shows and reflects on the results of that experience Both the project approach and second language acquisition have been objects of research in recent years, mainly in early childhood education. However, not much research has happened with the focus on the use of project approach as a strategy to learning in all areas in early childhood education, using a second language as language of instruction, even though the occurrence of both factors is not rare. This paper discusses how the Vygotsky sociocultural theory of development has been recently applied to the study of second language acquisition. It has been observed that, in this process children face situations that are social practices of investigation - the pursuing of information - in which new language acquisition is meaningful. In this experience project approach served as a facilitating strategy which engaged children in meaningful learning, and where acquisition occurred in a natural way.

This chapter describes the development of the infant in the fourth month of life. As her baby begins to coo and communicate for the first time, the author discusses the development of language, from these first sounds to an infant’s first words. She provides an in-depth discussion of how babies break through the speech stream, identifying words in their native language for the first time. She goes on to describe why children might be particularly adept language-learners when compared to adults, including the topics of second-language acquisition and bilingualism.

Linguistic experience shapes speech perception from the earliest stages of development. Infants growing up in bilingual contexts are exposed to a more complex linguistic input from which they will gradually build language-specific phonetic and phonological categories, eventually characterizing words in their early lexicons. Input languages can show different levels of proximity relative to their rhythmic, phonetic, phonological, or lexical properties. Does language proximity affect early speech perception processes, from language differentiation to perceptual narrowing and phonological representation of words in the bilinguals’ vocabulary? Data from infants growing up in Catalan-Spanish contexts, acquiring a close pair of Romance languages, are reviewed and contrasted with data from infants exposed to more distant language pairs. It is argued that language proximity can determine specific adjustments in bilinguals’ early phonetic perception and phonological encoding of words. Language proximity factors can account for differences among bilingual infants’ trajectories previously reported in the literature.