Дисертації з теми "Infant bilingualism"

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.

Newborns are able to perceive sound of many languages. However, throughout their first year of life, both biological maturation and language exposure attune infants’ perceptual systems to the characteristics of their native phonetic repertoire(s). After perceptual reorganization such initial sensitivities are either lost, maintained or sharpened. In order to assess how much and what kind of exposure drives phoneme acquisition, we compared monolingual and bilingual infants from 7 to 18 months on discrimination of nonnative contrasts and on consonant production. First, our results show that bilingual infants maintain the capacity to discriminate nonnative consonants for 6 additional months compared to monolinguals. Second, enhanced discrimination correlates with higher babbling rates and more accurate consonant productions in bilinguals. Third, the degree of bilingualism predicts these results at specific stages in development. Our findings open a new set of interpretations regarding the role of linguistic experience, attention and maturation in perceptual reorganization.
Los bebés recién nacidos son capaces de percibir sonidos de muchos idiomas. No obstante, durante su primer año de vida el desarrollo biológico y la experiencia lingüística moldean sus sistemas perceptivos adaptándolos a las características de su repertorio fonético nativo. Pasada la reorganización perceptiva, sus capacidades iniciales se pierden, se mantienen o se afinan. Con tal de averiguar qué cantidad y qué tipo de experiencia es necesaria para la adquisición fonética, comparamos la discriminación y producción de consonantes no nativas en bebés monolingües y bilingües desde los 7 hasta los 18 meses. En primer lugar, nuestros resultados muestran que los bebés bilingües mantienen la capacidad de discriminar consonantes no nativas 6 meses más que los bebés monolingües. En segundo lugar, solo en los bebés bilingües, la mayor discriminación correlaciona con más balbuceo y con más precisión al producir consonantes nativas. En tercer lugar, el grado de bilingüismo predice los resultados en etapas específicas del desarrollo. Nuestra aportación abre un nuevo abanico de interpretaciones acerca de qué papel juegan experiencia, atención y maduración en el proceso de reorganización perceptiva.

Este trabajo ha tenido como objeto hacer una investigación sobre la percepción que tienen los padres en relación con el desarrollo del bilingüismo de sus hijos, y que en un plazo determinado podrían considerarse como ventajas o desventajas. Las apreciaciones podrán ser corroboradas cuando llegue el momento en que las personas que lo experimentaron, apliquen dichos conocimientos. Con una metodología cualitativa se entrevistaron a cinco padres que voluntariamente aceptaron formar parte de la investigación. Luego de haber recibido los informes de las entrevistas se procedió a contrastarlas con la teoría propuesta por algunos autores que han profundizado en el estudio del bilingüismo infantil y de manera especial en Suecia. Las respuestas de los padres fueron muy variadas y en algunos casos muy similares, lo cual llevó a desarrollar una discusión final y posteriormente a una conclusión general.
The purpose of this research paper was to investigate the perception that parents have in relation to the development of their children's bilingualism, and that in a given period of time could be considered as advantages or disadvantages. Appraisals can be corroborated when the people who experienced it apply that knowledge. With a qualitative methodology five parents who voluntarily agreed to be part of the research were interviewed. After having received the reports of the interviews, these were contrasted with the theory proposed by some authors who have deepened in the study of children's bilingualism, especially in Sweden. The responses of the parents were very varied and in some cases very similar, which led to the development of a final discussion and then a general conclusion.

A partir de revisão de literatura sobre as influências do Bilingüismo precoce sobre o desenvolvimento infantil, foram selecionados os seguintes temas a serem analisados à luz da teoria da equilibração, de Jean Piaget: (1) antecipação da percepção da relatividade entre signo e referente no real, (2) intensificação do controle inibitório e (3) antecipação da entrada no pensamento operatório. O objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar que a teoria da equilibração, um modelo explicativo para a construção dos sistemas cognitivos, permite a compreensão tanto das vantagens no desenvolvimento cognitivo relacionadas ao Bilingüismo Aditivo, quanto de possíveis desvantagens relacionadas ao Bilingüismo Subtrativo. No primeiro caso, o ambiente bilíngüe representaria um grande número de negações primárias no campo das línguas, o que funcionaria como um ponto de partida para que o sujeito construísse reequilibrações, ampliando e, ao mesmo tempo, conservando seu sistema cognitivo no campo da linguagem verbal. O segundo caso (Bilingüismo Subtrativo) é interpretado a partir da perspectiva piagetiana, segundo a qual o valor atribuído à meta é fundamental para que um desequilíbrio configure-se como ponto de partida para reequilibrações do sujeito, estas sim, fontes reais de progresso: neste estudo, tanto a aquisição das duas línguas quanto as vantagens cognitivas, interpretadas como fruto do funcionamento da equilibração dos sistemas de conhecimento do mundo. O contexto subtrativo implica a desvalorização da língua e cultura de origem. Para esta análise, propõe-se uma aproximação entre o conceito de valorização afetiva de Piaget e o valor utilizado como critério no modelo de estratégias de aculturação de Berry, com a ressalva de que, consonante com a perspectiva piagetiana, a valorização a que nos referimos é aquela feita pelo sujeito, não necessariamente igual à do ambiente em que vive. Portanto, conclui-se que as interações bilíngües podem representar uma intensificação da demanda do ambiente por reequilibrações no campo da linguagem verbal, intensificando o trabalho de elaboração dos caracteres negativos e, com isso, antecipando o desenvolvimento cognitivo em alguns aspectos. Tais conseqüências também podem ser expressas em termos de um aumento de condutas e , que implicam a ampliação e conservação simultâneas da estrutura cognitiva. Porém, tais resultados dependem de situações contingenciais, por exemplo, ligadas ao valor atribuído pelo indivíduo à meta a ser superada, ou, em outras palavras, ao desequilíbrio a ser compensado. Em casos de valorização negativa, as vantagens cognitivas podem não acontecer. Com o intuito de ilustrar possíveis estudos práticos a partir desta tese teórica, é apresentada uma proposta de pesquisa empírica que relaciona o desempenho em diferentes provas piagetianas - analisadas à luz da teoria da equilibração - às estratégias de aculturação, obtidas via entrevista com a criança e questionário para os pais.
After carrying out a review of the literature on the influence of Early Bilingualism on child development, the following issues were selected in order to be analyzed in the light of Jean Piagets equilibration theory: (1) the anticipation of the perception of relativity between sign and actual referent, (2) intensification of inhibitory control, and (3) anticipation of the access to operative thinking. This research was carried out to demonstrate that the equilibration theory an exploratory model for the construction of cognitive systems allows us to understand both the advantages of the cognitive development related to Additive Bilingualism and the possible disadvantages related to Subtractive Bilingualism. In the former, the bilingual environment would represent a large number of primary negations in the field of languages, what would provide a starting point for the construction of re-equilibration by the subject, simultaneously widening and preserving his/her cognitive system in the field of verbal language. The latter (Subtractive Bilingualism) is viewed in the light of Piagets theory, according to which the value assigned to ones aim is fundamental for the lack of equilibrium to take the shape of a starting point for the subjects re-equilibrations, which are indeed the real sources of progress in this study, both the acquisition of the two languages and the cognitive advantages, viewed as a result of the operation of the equilibration of the systems of knowledge of the world. The subtractive context implies the depreciation of the subjects source language and culture. For the analysis at issue, one proposes an approximation between the concept of affective appreciation developed by Piaget and value taken as a criterion in the model of acculturation strategies devised by Berry, with the exception that, consistent with the view held by Piaget, the appreciation referred to is the one shown by the subject, not necessarily similar to the appreciation of the environment where he/she lives. Therefore, one is led to conclude that bilingual interactions may involve an increase in environmental demands for re-equilibration in the field of verbal language, increasing the development of negative traits and, with that, anticipating the cognitive development in some of its features. Such consequences may also be described in terms of an increase in the b and d conduct types, which imply a simultaneous widening and preservation of the cognitive structure. Such results, however, depend on contigent situations such as the value assigned by the subject to the aim to be excelled, or, in other words, to the lack of equilibrium to be compensated. In cases of negative appreciation, cognitive advantages may not happen. In order to illustrate the possible practical researches founded on such theoretical basis, one provides an empirical research proposal which relates performance in different Piagetian tests viewed in the light of the equilibration theory to acculturation strategies, by means of interviews held with children and questionnaires responded by parents.

This thesis explores the impact of the Korean War on the evolution of the role of the French language in the Canadian military between 1946 and 1954. It explains how the Korean War acted as both a catalyst for a more accommodating stance towards the French language in the Canadian Armed Forces, and an immediate impediment to the implementation of such changes. Particularly, this thesis explores the conflict that emerged between various officials in the Department of National Defence concerning the place that should be made for the French language, and how best to recruit more French Canadians. It shows that there was serious disagreement between the Minister of National Defence, Brooke Claxton, who wanted more bilingualism in the Canadian military, and the Chief of General Staff, General Guy G. Simonds, who resisted further concessions to francophones. Moreover, this thesis reveals the extent to which there was goodwill within the Canadian Armed Forces on the part of both anglophones and francophones on the frontline in Korea. This constituted the basis on which the Department of National Defence was able to begin the process of implementing a more bilingual system. In this respect, this thesis shows the Canadian military to have been ahead of the federal Civil Service.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The oral language acquisition of children exposed to two or more languages in addition to a clinical demand is justified as a problem of scientific research. Objective: To comparatively analyze the phonological performance of Brazilian children aged 3; 3-6; 0 years, attending monolingual or bilingual schools. Method: A quantitative research developed through exploratory study. Casuistry: 120 Brazilian children, children of father and mother Brazilian Portuguese speakers who attend bilingual school (Research group / GP) and 51 children who attend school also Brazilian monolingual (control group / GC). Procedure: The subjects of GP and GC were evaluated individually by the researcher through the instrument to assess the ABFW Phonology Test (Wertzner, 2000). Criteria for interpretation of results: We performed a descriptive analysis of the data by means of absolute and relative frequencies, measures of central tendency (mean and median) and dispersion (standard deviation, minimum and maximum). For the age variable, we used the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. To analyze the association between the independent variables and the qualitative dichotomous outcome children without phonological impairment and phonological dysfunction, we used the chi-square test. Results and discussion: the majority of subjects in this study (83.6%) had no change phonological and when they were present, only the gender variable was not associated with the presence of phonological change. Regarding age, also showed an association with phonological disorders. It can be said that bilinguals were less likely to phonological disorders when compared to monolinguals, regardless of variations in their median age. Conclusion: In this population, the simultaneous acquisition of two languages by Brazilian children inserted into linguistic environment coincident with their mother tongue, did not impair the acquisition of phonological Portuguese
A aquisição de linguagem oral de crianças expostas a duas ou mais línguas, além de uma demanda clínica, justifica-se como problema de investigação científica. Objetivo: analisar comparativamente o desempenho fonológico de crianças brasileiras, na faixa etária de 3;3 a 6;0 anos, que frequentam escolas bilíngues ou monolíngues. Método: Pesquisa de natureza quantitativa desenvolvida por meio de estudo exploratório. Casuística: 120 crianças brasileiras, filhas de pai e mãe brasileiros falantes da língua portuguesa que frequentam escola bilíngue (Grupo pesquisa/GP) e 51 crianças também brasileiras que frequentam escola monolíngue (Grupo controle/GC). Procedimento: Os sujeitos do GP e GC foram avaliados individualmente pela pesquisadora por meio do instrumento para avaliação da Fonologia do Teste ABFW (Wertzner, 2000). Critérios de interpretação dos resultados: Foi realizada a análise descritiva dos dados por meio de frequências absolutas e relativas, medidas de tendência central (média e mediana) e dispersão (desvio-padrão, mínimo e máximo). Para variável idade, utilizou- se o teste não paramétrico Mann-Whitney. Para a análise da associação entre as variáveis independentes qualitativas e o desfecho dicotômico crianças sem disfunção fonológica e com disfunção fonológica, utilizou-se o teste do qui-quadrado. Resultados e discussão: a maioria dos sujeitos desta pesquisa (83,6%) não apresentou alterações fonológicas e, quando estas estiveram presentes, somente a variável sexo não se mostrou associada a presença da alteração fonológica. Quanto à idade, também observou-se associação com alterações fonológicas. Foi possível afirmar que os bilíngues apresentaram menor probabilidade de alterações fonológicas quando comparados aos monolíngues, independentemente das variações nas respectivas medianas de idade. Conclusão: Na população estudada, a aquisição simultânea de duas línguas por crianças brasileiras inseridas em ambiente linguístico coincidente com a sua língua materna, não prejudicou a aquisição fonológica do português

The present dissertation set out to investigate how the linguistic environment affects speech perception. Three sets of studies have explored effects of bilingualism on word recognition in adults and infants and the impact of first language linguistic knowledge on rule learning in adults. In the present work, we have found evidence in three auditory priming studies that bilingual adults, in contrast to monolinguals have developed mechanisms to effectively overcome interference from irrelevant information in the speech signal. Preliminary results on toddlers indicate no differences in the recognition of mispronounced words between bilinguals and monolinguals. Additionally, knowledge about rules in the first language was shown to have an impact on general rule learning abilities, while we did not detect an influence of bilingualism in this process. In summary, we have found evidence for an impact of the linguistic environment on the processing of indexical variability in word recognition as well as on rule learning. Bilinguals seem to have adapted to increased variability in their daily speech environment. In addition, rule extraction from unknown language input was unaffected by those adaptations but influenced by linguistic knowledge.
El principal objetivo de este trabajo fue investigar cómo el entorno lingüístico afecta la percepción del habla. Con esta finalidad se exploraron los efectos del bilingüismo en el reconocimiento de palabras y el efecto de la lengua materna en el aprendizaje de reglas. Para ver los efectos del bilingüismo en el reconocimiento de palabras se realizaron tres estudios en adultos explorando el efecto de facilitación por repetición, que mostraron que las personas bilingües han desarrollado mecanismos que les permiten minimizar las interferencias que ejerce la información irrelevante en la señal del habla. Por otro lado, se realizó un estudio con niños pequeños cutos resultados sugieren que no hay diferencias en el reconocimiento de palabras mal pronunciadas entre niños pequeños bilingües y monolingües. Respecto al efecto del conocimiento lingüístico de la lengua materna en el aprendizaje de reglas, se mostró que tiene un impacto en las habilidades generales para el aprendizaje de reglas aunque no se ha detectó una influencia del bilingüismo en dicho proceso. En resumen, se ha mostrado que el bilingüismo minimiza los efectos negativos de la variabilidad en el reconocimiento de palabras. Los bilingües parecen haberse adaptado a una mayor variabilidad en su entorno de habla cotidiana. Por el otro lado, se ha visto que la capacidad para extraer reglas de una lengua desconocida no está afectada por estas adaptaciones si no que está influenciada por los conocimientos lingüísticos en la lengua materna.

Chicano children’s literature was born in the wake of the so-called El Movimiento, the Chicano Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and especially the 1970s. In the 1990s, as a part of the rising trend of Multiculturalism and as a cultural product and a reflection of power relations, Chicano children’s literature strove to provide an authentic and accurate representation of Chicano identity. The representation of Mexican-Americans in children’s literature until then had been based on cultural homogeneity, historical distortion, and stereotypes, the distinctive elements which are at the core of the construction of the ‘Other’ and that serve to create and maintain structures of power grounded in fixed identities, opposed binaries and inequalities. In Borderlands / La Frontera. The New Mestiza, Chicana author, Gloria Anzaldúa, rethinks the term ‘identity’, or rather ‘consciousness’, from an inclusive, queer perspective which is not based on opposed dualities. The ideas the author develops in her work on the Mestiza identity echo in her books for children Friends from the Other Side / Amigos del Otro Lado and Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y La Llorona. Prietita, “little dark one”, is Anzaldúa’s alter ego in her children’s books, her little child- self, “tender, open and vulnerable” (Anzaldúa 2000: 63), who signals her mestizo identity: Mexican American and Indian. Anzaldúa’s second bilingual picturebook, Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y la Llorona, is illustrated by Maya Gonzalez, who portrays Prietita as a young girl of distinctively Mexican features (dark skin and long black hair). As author and illustrator of her bilingual picture books, contemporary Chicana author Maya Gonzalez gives voice and celebrates the self through what she calls ‘the power of reflection’, moving beyond ‘authentic’ or ‘accurate’ representations of Chicano identity. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyse Gonzalez’s picturebooks, starting by focusing on the Nature Trilogy, in which the author highlights our connection to nature (My Colors, My World / Mis colores, mi mundo, I Know the River Loves Me / Yo sé que el río me ama, and Call Me Tree / Llámame árbol), to later explore her most recent projects published by her own independent press, among them The Gender Wheel, “a nature-based, inclusive, body positive story of gender”. I also pay attention to the visual poetry she has created together with Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón in a series of picturebooks published between 1997 and 2017. The research questions I address in my study are the following: 1. How has the representation of Chicanx identity in children’s literature reflected ethnic and class power relations throughout Mexican-American history? 2. What elements does Maya Gonzalez make use of visually and verbally for her projects to subvert power relations in terms of aetonormativity, ethnicity and gender? 3. How is contemporary Chicanx children’s literature being received within the United States context? 4. How are educational programs in the US context integrating these picturebooks, if they are doing so? 5. How are Maya Gonzalez’s presentations at seminars and workshops helping bring about social change in Chicanx and non-Chicanx children’s identities? In order to analyse the way(s) in which words and images interact, my focus will be on the dual code, visual and verbal, which is characteristic of picturebooks. I examine the elements Gonzalez makes use of, both as an illustrator and as a writer, to give voice and to represent identity, and how her projects create spaces of inclusiveness and agency, celebrate diversity, and become a source of reflection for all children, Chicanx and non- Chicanx. I frame my study within a critical multicultural approach in order to explore the subversion of power relations in terms of aetonormativity, ethnicity and gender when representing identities in picturebooks for young readers. A critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature (Botelho and Kabakow 2009) allows me to focus on the ideology and power relations at work in children’s literature, so as to bear a critical perspective on Multiculturalism. Although it is not the main purpose of this work, I include two fieldwork studies on the reception of contemporary picturebooks authored by Chicanx authors in order to explore the reception of these works in the US context, both in the publishing industry, and in the educational field, as well as in order to complement the analysis of the representations of Chicanx identity through word and image.
En el capítulo dedicado a los niños latinos y la educación pública en Estados Unidos en Celebrating Cuentos de Naidoo, Ream y Vazquez reflexionan en torno a la noción de “testimonio crítico” y la literatura como medio “(1) para estimular la resistencia entre los jóvenes hispanos a los estragos causados por el trauma que perpetúan su sentido de la ‘otredad’, y (2) para traducir las ofensas del pasado en posibilidades del presente” (13). ¿Cómo puede la literatura estimular la resistencia entre los jóvenes latinos para traducir las ofensas del pasado en posibilidades del presente? Mediante la creación de espacios narrativos “impulsados por la empatía y el entendimiento, en lugar de por presunciones derivadas de los estereotipos, el miedo y la ignorancia” (14). Esto es lo que Anzaldúa hace para proporcionar a los niños chicanos una representación de su cultura y de su identidad en sus dos libros infantiles. En la década de los sesenta, mientras trabajaba como profesora de primaria, la autora chicana se dio cuenta de que los niños migrantes y bilingües necesitaban ver su cultura en los libros que leían. Tal y como exploré en el marco teórico de este studio (sección 2.1.3), en Borderlands / La Frontera. The New Mestiza (1987) Anzaldúa repiensa el término ‘identidad’ desde una perspectiva inclusiva que no se basa en dualidades. Para la autora chicana, la conciencia de la nueva mestiza debe trascender la mezcla de razas (raza) para convertirse en una ‘intersección’. De la misma manera, la frontera no se refiere únicamente a la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos, sino más bien a una frontera metafórica e indeterminada, entendida aquí como un ‘Tercer Espacio’, un lugar de contacto, de fusión, un puente que pone en contacto a las diferencias. Se considera que la nueva mestiza sirve como mediadora, como un puente que une personas de diferentes colores, clases, razas y periodos de tiempo, que enseña a los ‘recién llegados’, a las futuras generaciones, de forma que sus cambios internos devienen cambios en la sociedad. Las ideas que la autora desarrolla en Borderlands / La Frontera tienen eco en sus libros para niños Friends from the Other Side / Amigos del Otro Lado (1993)1 y Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y la Llorona (1995). Tras años sufriendo los efectos de la colonización en su propio país, para Anzaldúa era esencial representar la identidad chicana de manera positiva y así, transformar el mundo construido por el colonialismo

The present dissertation aims at analyzing the interplay between initial acoustic biases and language exposure during acquisition of language in the first year of life. This is a critical period in development because it is when phonetic categories are attuned to the native language. This goal is addressed by integrating the results from two developmental studies. The first study explores the presence of asymmetries in vowel perception in infants from 4 to 12 months of age, as a function of the acoustic salience and distributional properties in the test language. The second study investigates the previous contrasting results on vowel perception in 8-month-old infants growing in bilingual environments, and in particular and their relationship with task demands and the properties of the bilingual input. The results emerging from these studies point to two developmental trends. On one hand, asymmetries in vowel perception are modulated by acoustic biases before and during perceptual reorganization, and by distributional cues after perceptual reorganization. On the other hand, discrimination abilities of 8-month-old bilinguals parallel those of monolinguals when tested with an Anticipatory Eye Movement procedure, highlighting the importance of task demands in determining infants' performance.
L'objectiu d'aquesta tesis és analitzar la dinàmica que s'estableix entre els biaixos acústics i l'experiència amb el llenguatge durant el primer any de vida. Aquest és un període decisiu durant el qual les categories fonètiques s'ajusten a les propietats de la llengua materna. Aquest objectiu s'assoleix integrant els resultats de dos estudis. En el primer estudi s'explora la presència d'asimetries en la percepció de les vocals en bebès de 4 a 12 mesos d'edat, en funció de la saliència acústica i les propietats distribucionals de la llengua. El segon estudi investiga els resultats contradictoris obtinguts amb bebès de 8 mesos d'edat bilingües, i la seva relació amb les demandes de la tasca i les propietats de l'input bilingüe. Els resultats d'aquests estudis indiquen dos tendències al desenvolupament. Per una banda, que les asimetries en la percepció de les vocals són modulades per biaixos acústics abans i durant la reorganització perceptiva i per les propietats distribucionals després de la reorganització perceptiva; per l'altra banda, els resultats mostren que les habilitats de discriminació dels bilingües de 8 mesos d'edat són corresponents a les dels monolingües quan es fa servir un procediment d'anticipació de la mirada, posant en rellevància la importància de les demandes de la tasca en determinar el rendiment dels bebès.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
O objetivo desta pesquisa é refletir sobre a questão da subjetividade infantil no uso e na omissão do sujeito pronominal de 1ª e 2ª pessoas no discurso oral de duas crianças brasileiras bilíngues falantes de PB e de espanhol e de seus respectivos interlocutores. Partimos de uma perspectiva dialógico-discursiva (DEL RÉ et al, 2014 a e b) que considera a criança como um sujeito que se constitui em seu discurso na relação com o outro, sendo os movimentos de sentido o resultado dos encadeamentos enunciativos. Postulamos que os sentidos atribuídos ao uso ou à omissão dos sujeitos pronominais nas situações de interação criança-interlocutor estão vinculados aos gêneros discursivos (BAKHTIN, 1997) e aos formatos (BRUNER, 1984, 1983, 1981), que possibilitam a entrada da criança na e pela linguagem. A tendência ao uso do pronome sujeito, resultado de uma mudança linguística pela qual vem passando o português brasileiro (PB) tem, segundo alguns autores, distanciado essa língua das línguas de sujeito nulo, como o espanhol, cuja tendência é a omissão do pronome sujeito. Essa diferença entre o PB e o espanhol nos instiga a investigar como crianças bilíngues falantes dessas línguas fazem uso ou não dos pronomes sujeito, haja vista que a maior parte das perspectivas teóricas sobre o tema são diferentes da adotada no presente trabalho e não apresentam dados de crianças bilíngues PB/espanhol. Os corpora se constituem de dados orais de uma criança brasileira de 5 (cinco) anos de idade que adquire/aprende o espanhol em um colégio bilíngue PB-espanhol e de uma criança brasileira de 6 anos, filha de pai argentino e de mãe brasileira. Ambos os dados foram coletados a partir de atividades planejadas e propostas pelo interlocutor (observadora-participante) para estimular o uso do espanhol pelas crianças, língua menos frequente no seio familiar no momento em que foram gravadas. Os dados foram transcritos no programa CLAN, formato CHAT (MACWHINNEY, 2000) e analisados tendo como base categorias que foram (re)elaboradas após uma minuciosa observação dos dados. Essas análises foram realizadas inicialmente no Microsoft EXCEL, a partir da qual classificamos o uso e a omissão do sujeito pronominal segundo os tipos de situações de interação entre a criança e interlocutor, em um primeiro momento, para em seguida procedermos uma análise linguístico-discursiva mais abrangente. Os resultados evidenciam a importância dos formatos dos jogos e das brincadeiras que se integram a um gênero pedagógico – nas situações de interação lúdicas - para a entrada das crianças no espanhol. Mostra-nos, paralelamente às situações de diálogo espontâneo, que a relação que cada criança estabelece com o jogo que lhe é proposto se modifica ao longo das interações com a observadora-participante, permitindo-nos refletir sobre a subjetividade em constituição nessas crianças por meio das línguas das quais são falantes e, de modo mais amplo, possibilitam-nos igualmente ponderar sobre o processo de aquisição/aprendizagem do espanhol pelo qual passam.
This research aims to consider the issue of the subjectivity in in the subject pronouns of 1st and 2nd persons, taking into account their use and omission in the oral discourse of two Brazilian bilingual children and their interlocutors. We lead the research according to a dialogical and discursive point of view (DEL RÉ et al, 2014 a e b) in which the constitution of the child as a subject comes from the relationship with the other and the meanings are resulted from the sequencing of the utterances. We consider that the meanings of the use and omission of the subject pronouns in the situations of interaction child-interlocutor are linked to the speech genre (BAKHTIN, 1997) and the formats (BRUNER, 1984, 1983, 1981) that enable the entrance of the child into and by the language. The tendency to use the subject pronoun which is the result of a linguistic change Brazilian Portuguese (BP) is going through, has, according to the experts, departed this language from to the other pro-drop languages, as Spanish, in which the tendency is the omission of the subject pronoun. This difference between BP and Spanish motivates us to investigate how bilingual children who speak these languages use or omit the subject pronouns since the majority of the theoretical perspectives about the topic are different from ours and do not display BP/Spanish bilingual children data. Our corpora is a compound of oral data of one Brazilian child aged five who acquires/learns Spanish in a BP-Spanish bilingual school and of one Brazilian bilingual child aged six, daughter of an Argentinian father and a Brazilian mother. Both data were collected through activities planned and executed by the interlocutor to foster the use of the Spanish language by the children, the non-dominant language in their home. The data were transcribed in the CLAN Program, CHAT format (MACWHINNEY, 2000) and were analyzed by a table of categories that was elaborated after a detailed data observation. These analyses were developed using the Microsoft EXCEL through which we classified the use and the omission of the subject pronoun according to the types of situations between the children and the interlocutor, in first place and, after, we proceeded to a broader linguistic and discursive analyses. The results show the importance of the game formats that are integrated to a pedagogical genre – in the situations of ludic interaction – to the entrance of the children in the Spanish language. They also show, parallel to the open conversations, that the relationship that each child establishes with the game that is proposed to him changes over the interactions with the observer. This allows us to consider the subjectivity in constitution in these children by the languages they speak and, in a broader sense, the acquisition/learning of Spanish process of them.
Esta investigación tiene por objetivo reflexionar sobre la cuestión de la subjetividad infantil en el uso y en la omisión del sujeto pronominal de 1ª y 2ª personas en el discurso oral de dos niños brasileños hablantes de portugués brasileño y de español, y de sus respectivos interlocutores. Partimos de una perspectiva dialógico-discursiva (DEL RÉ et al 2014 et al, 2014 a y b) en la que se considera al niño como un sujeto que se constituye en su discurso en la relación con el otro, siendo los movimientos de sentido el resultado de los encadenamientos enunciativos. Consideramos que los sentidos que se atribuyen al uso o a la omisión de los sujetos pronominales en las situaciones de interacción niño-interlocutor se vinculan a los géneros discursivos (BAJTÍN, 1997) y a los formatos (BRUNER, 1984, 1983, 1981), que posibilitan la entrada del niño en el y por el lenguaje. La tendencia al uso del pronombre sujeto, resultado de un cambio lingüístico por el cual está pasando el portugués brasileño (PB) ha alejado, según algunos autores, esa lengua de las lenguas de sujeto nulo, como el español, cuya tendencia es la omisión del pronombre sujeto. Esa diferencia entre el PB y el español nos instiga a investigar cómo los niños bilingües hablantes de esas dos lenguas emplean o no los pronombres sujeto, ya que la mayor parte de las perspectivas teóricas sobre el tema son distintas de la adoptada en la presente investigación y no incluyen datos de niños bilingües PB/español. Los corpora se constituyen de datos orales de un niño brasileño de 5 (cinco) años de edad que adquiere/aprende el español en un colegio bilingüe PB/español y de una niña brasileña de 6 (seis) años, hija de padre argentino y de madre brasileña. Los datos han sido colectados a partir de actividades planificadas y propuestas por el interlocutor (observadoraparticipante) para estimular el uso del español por los niños, lengua menos presente en el seno familiar en el momento en que han sido grabados. Los datos han sido transcritos en el programa CLAN, formato CHAT (MACWHINNEY, 2000) y analizados a través de una base de categorías (re)elaboradas tras una minuciosa observación de los datos. Los análisis fueron realizados inicialmente en Microsoft EXCEL, a partir del cual clasificamos el uso y la omisión del sujeto pronominal según los tipos de situaciones de interacción entre el niño y el interlocutor, en un primer momento, para, en seguida, el desarrollo de un análisis lingüísticodiscursivo más amplio. Los resultados evidencian la importancia de los formatos de los juegos que se integran a un género pedagógico – en las situaciones de interacción lúdica – para la entrada de los niños en el español. Nos muestra, paralelamente a las situaciones de diálogo espontáneo, que la relación que cada niño establece con el juego que se le propone cambia a lo largo de las interacciones con la observadora-participante, lo que nos permite reflexionar sobre la subjetividad en constitución en esos niños a través de las lenguas que hablan y, de modo más amplio, nos permiten igualmente ponderar el proceso de adquisición/aprendizaje del español por el que pasan.
CNPq: 141542/2013-6

Le but de cette thèse a été d'explorer certains des mécanismes relatifs à la perception de la prosodie linguistique. Cet intérêt provient du fait que la prosodie, qui est portée dans le signal acoustique par les indices d'intensité, durée et pitch, pourrait guider les nourrissons dans l'apprentissage des mots et de leur ordre dans les phrases. Nous avons donc étudié un mécanisme qui pourrait sous-tendre ces capacités prosodiques précoces : la loi iambo-trochaïque (iambic-trochaic law : ITL). L'ITL (Woodrow, 1909; Hayes, 1995; Nespor et al., 2008) est un des principes d'organisation de la perception auditive qui a été proposé comme ayant un rôle important non seulement dans la perception chez l'adulte, mais aussi pendant l'acquisition du langage chez le nourrisson. L'ITL postule une préférence générale pour le regroupement des éléments sonores (syllabes, notes musicales...) en paires, en fonction des variations d'intensité, de tonalité (pitch) ou de durée de ces éléments : les sons forts ou aigus marquent le début de groupes de pattern trochaïque (fort-faible ou aigu-grave), alors que les sons longs marquent la fin de groupes de pattern iambique (court-long). Toutefois, les langues diffèrent dans leur façon d'utiliser ces indices acoustiques pour marquer la proéminence prosodique dans les mots et dans les syntagmes. Par exemple, le français ne possède pas d'accent lexical mais un accent au niveau du syntagme où la dernière syllabe est allongée, ce qui crée un contraste court-long (pattern iambique basé sur la durée). A l'inverse, en anglais ou en allemand, l'accent lexical est en général sur la première syllabe, qui est plus forte et/ou plus aigüe, ce qui induit un pattern trochaïque basé sur l'intensité ou le pitch. L'environnement linguistique pourrait donc interagir avec l'ITL. Cette thèse s'articule en deux axes. D'une part, dans une tâche de segmentation / reconnaissance de paires de syllabes, nos données montrent que des sensibilités à l'ITL sont présentes chez l'adulte (Exp. 1) et le nourrisson de 7,5 mois (Exp. 2), français et allemands. De faibles différences cross-linguistiques entre les deux groupes sont retrouvées pour le groupement basé sur l'intensité. D'autre part, à l'aide de la NIRS (Near InfraRed Spectroscopy), nous avons mesuré les réponses d'activité cérébrale chez des nouveau-nés et mis en évidence que des sensibilités à l'ITL sont présentes à la naissance et déjà influencées par la langue entendue in utero (Exp. 3-6). Pour finir, nous avons exploré de quelle manière l'environnement linguistique influence les compétences de discrimination de patterns rythmiques d'accentuation des mots chez des nourrissons de 10 mois (Exp. 7). Nos résultats révèlent que des nourrissons bilingues apprenant le français et une langue avec un accent lexical variable sont capables de discriminer des patterns d'accentuation contrairement aux monolingues français. Pris ensemble, nos résultats contribuent à la compréhension de l'origine développementale de l'ITL, de sa modulation par l'environnement linguistique et du développement langue-spécifique du traitement et des préférences rythmiques
The goal of this doctoral dissertation was to explore the mechanisms underlying linguistic prosodic perception. Prosody is carried in the speech signal by a number of acoustic cues, including duration, intensity and pitch. Importantly for language acquisition, prosody could help infants learn words and word order in their native language. Therefore, we studied a mechanism that could support these early prosodic abilities: the iambic/trochaic law (ITL). The ITL (Woodrow, 1909; Hayes, 1995; Nespor et al., 2008) is a mechanism that organizes auditory perception and was proposed to have an important role not only in adult speech perception but also in language acquisition in infancy. The ITL states that sounds (e.g., syllables, musical notes, etc.) contrasting in intensity/pitch form pairs with initial prominence, i.e., a trochaic pattern (strong-weak or high-low), and those contrasting in duration form pairs with final prominence, i.e., an iambic pattern (short-long). However, languages differ in how these acoustic cues mark prosodic prominence both at the level of words and of phonological phrases. For example, French has no lexical stress but has phrase-final stress, the last syllable of the phrase being lengthened, creating a short-long pattern (duration-based iambic pattern). Conversely, in English or in German, lexical stress is usually on the first syllable, which has higher intensity and/or pitch (intensity- or pitch-based trochaic pattern). Listeners' language background is therefore likely to interact with the ITL bias. This thesis is divided into two main parts. First, in a segmentation / syllable pair recognition task, we found that sensitivity to the ITL was present in French and German adults (Exp. 1) and 7.5-month-old infants (Exp. 2). We found weak cross-linguistic differences between the two language groups for the intensity grouping in adults and infants. Secondly, using NIRS (Near InfraRed Spectroscopy), we measured cortical responses in newborns and demonstrated that sensitivity to the ITL was present at birth and were already influenced by the language the infants heard in utero (Exp. 3-6). Finally, we observed how language background influences the ability to discriminate lexical stress patterns in 10-month-olds (Exp. 7). Our findings show that bilingual infants simultaneously learning French and a language with variable lexical stress were able to discriminate stress patterns whereas monolingual French infants could not. Taken together, our results contribute to a better understanding of the developmental origin of the ITL, its modulation by linguistic experience, and language-specific processing and rhythmic preferences

INTRODUÇÃO: O desenvolvimento das habilidades auditivas sofre influência dos estímulos sonoros aos quais as crianças são expostas. Filhos ouvintes de pais surdos (CODAs - Children of Deaf Adults) geralmente não recebem os estímulos de fala da mesma forma que crianças filhas de ouvintes. Tendo em vista que as informações sonoras são importantes para o processo maturacional do sistema auditivo, torna-se pertinente a análise das habilidades auditivas de CODAs que foram pouco expostas à linguagem oral na primeira infância. OBJETIVO: Comparar o processamento auditivo de crianças filhas de surdos, que foram pouco expostas à língua oral no início de suas vidas, com o de crianças filhas de ouvintes. MÉTODO: Participaram deste estudo 60 crianças, na faixa etária entre 5 e 10 anos de idade, com avaliação audiológica básica (audiometria, logoaudiometria e imitanciometria) dentro dos limites de normalidade, destras, sem histórico de doenças sistêmicas e/ou neurológicas que pudessem afetar o sistema nervoso central e sem aprendizado prévio de música ou de segunda língua oral. Foram formados dois grupos semelhantes quanto a idade e sexo, sendo o Grupo Estudo (GE) composto por 30 crianças filhas de surdos sinalizadores, e o Grupo Controle (GC), por 30 crianças filhas de ouvintes. Os testes selecionados foram: Pediatric Speech Intelligibility em português, Dicótico de Dígitos, Padrão de Frequência, Gaps-In-Noise e também testes de Memória para Sons Instrumentais e Verbais. RESULTADOS: Houve diferença estatisticamente significante de desempenho entre os dois grupos, em todos os testes aplicados, com pior desempenho para o GE. Na análise de desempenho dos grupos por faixa etária, foi possível observar que a média de desempenho do GE ficou abaixo da apresentada pelo GC em todos os testes e em todas as idades avaliadas, sendo a diferença de desempenho entre os grupos maior em faixas etárias menores (5 e 6 anos). CONCLUSÕES: Pode-se concluir que a pouca exposição a estímulos linguísticos orais no início da infância, associada a fatores específicos da vivência de grande parte dos CODAs estudados, contribuiu para o baixo desempenho do GE nos testes. Assim, esses resultados indicam que estímulos sonoros ambientais, sobretudo os de linguagem oral, exercem importante influência no desenvolvimento das habilidades auditivas. Este estudo chama a atenção para a importância do acompanhamento auditivo de filhos ouvintes de pais surdos, assim como para a necessidade de exposição destas crianças aos sons linguísticos orais desde o início de suas vidas
INTRODUCTION: The development of auditory skills is influenced by the sound stimuli to which children are exposed. Hearing children of deaf adults (CODAs) do not usually receive speaking stimuli in the same way as those of hearing adults. Given that sound information is important to the maturation process of the auditory system, it is pertinent to analyze the auditory skills of hearing children of deaf signer adults that were little exposed to oral language in their infancy. OBJECTIVE: To compare the auditory processing of CODAs that were little exposed to oral language in their early infancy with that of children of hearing adults. METHOD: A total of 60 children aged 5-10 years participated in the present study. All participants received normal ratings in their basic audiometric evaluation (audiometry, speech audiometry and imitanciometry). They were right-handed, without a history of systemic and/or neurological diseases that might affect the central nervous system, and without previous musical or second spoken language training. Two groups similar in age and sex were established: the Study Group (SG) comprised 30 children of deaf signer adults and the Control Group (CG) comprised 30 children of hearing adults. The tests selected were Pediatric Speech Intelligibility, Dichotic Digits, Pitch Pattern, Gaps-In-Noise, and Memory for Instrumental Sounds and Verbal Sounds. RESULTS: The SG performed significantly worse than the CG for all tests. Moreover, an analysis of the performance of the groups per age range revealed that for all age ranges assessed, the SG performance average was below that of the CG average; the performance difference between the groups was greater in younger children (5- and 6-year olds). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that the low exposure to oral linguistic stimuli during infancy, associated with specific aspects of the experience of a large proportion of the CODAs studied, contributed to the low performance of the SG in the tests. These results indicate that ambient sound stimuli, especially those related to oral language, strongly influence auditory skills. This study highlights to the importance of the auditory follow-up of hearing CODAs, as well as to the need for exposing these children to oral linguistic sounds from a very early age

Family environment plays a crucial role in bilingual language socialization in early childhood. The bilingual family introduces the child not only to the languages-in-acquisition, but also to the preferred language use patterns. In recent years the discussion on how and when a bilingual child comes to use her two languages in contextually appropriate ways has become central to Bilingual First Language Acquisition (BFLA). While evidence for language differentiation and sensitivity to interlocutor’s preferred language is available in the two-word stage, few studies consider the language learning environment and its impact on bilingual development in the one-word stage and early combinatorial speech. This longitudinal case study reports on linguistic developments from birth to 2;0 in a child who was acquiring Slovak and English simultaneously in the home. The effects of the child’s language learning environment on linguistic development from the onset of speech were considered, focusing on lexical development, word combinations, emerging morpho-syntax, and pragmatic aspects such as language choice and mixing. The child’s two languages developed separately in a side-by-side fashion, as shown by use of translation equivalents and language specific morphological markers from the beginning. She used the two languages in contextually sensitive ways from the one-word stage, relying on several pragmatic language choice strategies. Mixing was productive and accounted only for a small proportion of productions. It was explained by sociolinguistic as well as psycholinguistic factors. Language differentiation thus emerged as grammatical as well as pragmatic differentiation at the end of the one word stage.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2013.

Infants growing up bilingual provide a unique window into how the language environment interacts with word learning and word comprehension mechanisms. The present studies used a preferential looking paradigm to investigate monolingual and bilingual 18-month-old infants’ responses to familiar and novel words. Monolinguals and bilinguals both responded to familiar words with increased attention to the target object. Both groups also showed the mutual exclusivity effect in response to a novel word, by increasing attention to an unfamiliar object. However, while monolinguals showed a linear pattern of increasing attention to the unfamiliar object over time, bilingual infants initially increased attention to the distracter and only later increased attention to the unfamiliar object. These results suggest that monolingual and bilinguals infants use a different processing strategy in demonstrating the mutual exclusivity effect, which may arise from differences in lexical knowledge and organization. The results support the view that differences in early linguistic experience can affect emerging word learning constraints.
Arts, Faculty of
Psychology, Department of
Graduate

Fourteen-month-old infants raised in a monolingual English environment confuse phonetically similar words in a word-object association task (Stager & Werker, 1997); however, older infants, who are more proficient at word learning, do not (Werker, Corcoran, Fennell, & Stager, 2000). This temporary confusion of phonetic detail occurs despite the fact that 14- month-old infants still have the ability to discriminate native language phonemes in speech perception tasks not involving word learning. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that 14- month-olds fail because linking words to objects is difficult at the beginning stages of word learning, leaving infants with insufficient attentional resources to listen closely to the words. Extending this hypothesis to infants raised in a bilingual environment generates two possibilities. (1) Bilingual infants will not show the temporary deficit at 14 months. As a function of growing up with two languages, they will have already developed a greater awareness of the sounds of words because more detail is needed to discriminate words in two languages. (2) Bilingual infants will perform at least as poorly as infants being raised with only English because of the cognitive load of learning two languages. Bilingual infants of 14 months were tested in the word-object association task using the phonetically similar labels 'bih' and 'dih' paired with two distinct and colourful moving objects. Following habituation, infants were tested on their ability to detect a 'switch' in the word-object pairing. Bilingual language exposure was assessed with a structured parental interview. The 16 infants included in the sample had been exposed to two languages from birth and had at least 30% exposure to one language and no more than 70% to the other. The results showed that, like the monolingual-learning infants of the same age, the 14-month-old bilingual-learning infants confused similar sounding words. These data are consistent with the cognitive load hypothesis, and argue against the proposition that early bilingual exposure facilitates metalinguistic awareness. Future research with slightly older bilingual word learners who have reached the age at which monolingual infants can successfully learn phonetically similar words will help to clarify if these bilingual infants maintain, or diverge from, a monolingual pattern of development.