Difference vs Disorder Book Preview - Bilinguistics
Transcript of Difference vs Disorder Book Preview - Bilinguistics
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Languages
and Dialects
Spanish
French
Mandarin
Vietnamese
Arabic
Farsi
Russian
Hebrew
German
African-‐
American
English
FOREWORD The population of the United States is
incredibly diverse. It is estimated that more than
one in five school-‐age children speak a language
other than English at home. The population of
English language learners is projected to continue
growing (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). When we
compare the make-‐up of educators in the United
States to demographic information, we see the
need for easily accessible information about other
languages and cultures.
This book stemmed from the needs of a
group of speech-‐language pathologists evaluating
the speech and language skills of children from
many different language and cultural backgrounds.
The framework we use to distinguish language
differences from language disorders is useful for all
educators. Use of this framework will result in
improved instructional targets for culturally and
linguistically diverse students in the general
education classroom and more appropriate
referrals for special education evaluations.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This endeavor has been the product of the cumulative efforts of many
people. It includes the research of professionals who have studied these languages
and dialects, as well as perspectives and input from native speakers of each
language. At Bilinguistics we are very excited and eager to share the fruits of our
labor with you, and we hope it will serve as a worthwhile resource. Special thanks
for their efforts in writing these chapters go to Alisa Baron, Farinam Pletka, Marie
Wirka, Phuong Lien-‐Palafox, Anna Ubels, Ladaun Jackson, Emmy Kolanko, and Alyson
Hendry. We also want to thank all of the native and near-‐native speakers whose
knowledge and experiences provide personal and cultural perspectives that enrich
the information in this book.
Best Regards,
The Bilinguistics Team
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INTRODUCTION Difference vs. Disorder provides educators with information about many
different languages. We identified the most common home languages in the United
States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009) and have explored their many linguistic
differences in relation to English. We have included Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese,
Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Farsi, German, French and Hebrew. There is also a
section on African American English, which is a dialect of American English.
Both linguistic and cultural knowledge are critical when working with families
and children from different language backgrounds (Goldstein, 2012). Linguistic
information is further divided into the sound system and the language system. All of
these areas need to be taken into account when determining whether the errors of
an English language learner are typical errors or whether they are indicative of a
language learning disorder. Our framework for analyzing errors provides parents,
teachers, and other educators with an effective process for making this distinction.
It is a very simple framework—if sounds/structures exist in both languages, they
should not be affected in second language production. If sounds/structures do not
exist in both languages, we expect influences from one language to another. The
goal then is to understand the different sound systems and structures of a language
in order to identify which errors are of true concern.
THE SOUND SYSTEMS OF LANGUAGES
When we consider the sound system of two languages, we examine which
sounds exist in both languages and which ones are unique to one language or the
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other. This information helps us evaluate speech production errors and determine
whether they could be due to differences in the sound systems of the two
languages. We also consider phonotactic constraints, which refers to allowable
sound combinations in a particular language (Dell, Reed, Adams, & Meyer, 2000).
For example, in English the sounds /np/ cannot occur together at the beginning of a
word. When we combine the information about which phonemes are available in
each language and in what patterns or word positions they can occur, we can
evaluate whether errors are expected or not. For example, the unvoiced “th” sound
of English does not exist in most dialects in Spanish. Thus, when a Spanish speaker
learning English encounters this sound, which is not in his or her sound repertoire,
he or she will most often produce the closest sound that does exist in that
repertoire. For Spanish-‐speaking bilinguals in this case, that would be [t]. The use of
Venn diagrams allows for an easy visual representation of sounds that might be
problematic for an English language learner across a number of native languages.
The Venn diagrams include information about the consonants and vowels in
English and another language (L1). They show the sounds that are unique to L1 on
the one side, the sounds that are unique to English (L2) on the other, and the sounds
that are common to both languages in the middle. We can use this information to
help determine whether we can expect errors on certain sounds. We would not be
concerned about a child who is only making errors on sounds that are unique to
English. We would be concerned about a child who is making errors on shared
sounds and the unique sounds of their native language. That said, we also have to
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take into account the normal developmental sequence of the sounds. Those that
are unique to one language or the other also tend to be later occurring sounds.
LANGUAGE STRUCTURES
Aspects of the language systems that help differentiate normal and atypical
productions include word order, verb systems, and morphological markers, among
other features. When systems or structures differ across languages, we often see
English language learners transfer the structure of their first language to English. For
example, in English we put adjectives in front of nouns (the blue chair), whereas in
Spanish adjectives follow nouns (la silla azul). Thus, an error we might expect to see
from an English language learner whose native language is Spanish might be “the
chair blue.” In this book, we also explore other areas of language structure (i.e.,
morphosyntax), such as sentence structure, plurals, past tense, future tense,
possessive forms, and much more. We have chosen to focus our contrastive analysis
on differences in the area of form because these differences are what typically drive
the cross-‐linguistic errors that we encounter in the assessment process.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Culture also plays an important role in understanding language differences
versus disorders, especially with respect to pragmatic language skills. There is
significant variation both between and within different cultural groups. Exploration
of specific cultural patterns can often be misconstrued as stereotyping. In light of
this, we take a general approach to our discussion of cultural variation by
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highlighting areas in which cultures may vary rather than specific differences
between cultures. A list of cultural variations is provided in Appendix B. Further, we
aim to put different experiences of learning two languages into a cultural context
through our Home Corner section. In this way, we hope to increase understanding of
the experience of being bilingual and reduce potential bias in understanding the
needs and communication patterns of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
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HOW IT WORKS Each individual language chapter contains information about speech sounds,
sound patterns, and linguistic structures. All of this information is designed to
answer the most common question we all have – Are the observed speech and
language patterns indicative of learning English as a second language or is
something more going on?
First, we provide general information about the language, such as where it is
spoken and its prevalence. Then, we include norms for speech acquisition and a
contrastive analysis with English speech sounds using Venn diagrams. These
diagrams allow you to literally see the differences between the two languages! We
follow the same format to look at differences in language structure. We provide
developmental norms for language skills, as well as the shared and unique features
of syntax and morphology in comparison with English. These tables will allow you to
explain why the differences between the two languages can result in what appear to
be “errors” in English. Finally, we leave you with a personal touch from native
speakers of each language so that you can consider this information within a rich
cultural framework.
For easy reference, there is an IPA chart located in Appendix A at the end of
this book. We have also provided developmental information about English sound
acquisition, language milestones, and suppression of phonological processes in
Appendix B to facilitate comparison between languages. And there you have it –
Difference vs. Disorder in a nutshell!
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Now . . . let’s get started!!
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD .................................................................................................................. 1
Languages and Dialects ................................................................................................ 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 3
THE SOUND SYSTEMS OF LANGUAGES ..................................................................... 3
LANGUAGE STRUCTURES .......................................................................................... 5
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ........................................................................................... 5
HOW IT WORKS .......................................................................................................... 7
CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... 9
SPANISH .................................................................................................................... 14
GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 14
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 14
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES ................................. 14
Venn Contrast: Spanish & English Consonant Phonemes .............................. 15
Venn Contrast: Spanish & English Vowel Phonemes ...................................... 15
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 16
GOLDMAN-‐FRISTOE TEST OF ARTICULATION (GFTA-‐2) OVERLAY ........................... 17
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 17
SPECIAL NOTE: VOCABULARY .................................................................................. 20
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................ 20
SPECIAL NOTE: PREPOSITIONS ................................................................................ 21
HOME CORNER ....................................................................................................... 22
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 23
FRENCH ...................................................................................................................... 24
GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 24
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 24
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ............................................................... 24
Venn Contrast: French & English Consonant Phonemes ................................ 25
Venn Contrast: French & English Vowel Phonemes ....................................... 25
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 26
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 27
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CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ........................ 27
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 28
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 30
AFRICAN-‐AMERICAN ENGLISH ............................................................................... 31
GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 31
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE ...................................... 32
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ..................................................................... 32
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 33
SPECIAL NOTE: VOCABULARY .................................................................................. 34
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................. 34
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 37
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 39
VIETNAMESE ............................................................................................................. 41
GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 41
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 41
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ..................................................................... 42
Venn Contrast: Vietnamese & English Consonant Phonemes ........................ 42
Venn Contrast: Vietnamese & English Vowel Phonemes ............................... 42
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 43
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 44
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................ 44
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 46
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 47
MANDARIN ............................................................................................................... 48
GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 48
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 48
SPECIAL NOTE: TONAL LANGUAGES ........................................................................ 48
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ..................................................................... 49
Venn Contrast: Mandarin & English Consonant Phonemes ........................... 49
Venn Contrast: Mandarin & English Vowel Phonemes .................................. 50
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 50
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 51
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ........................ 51
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HOME CORNER ....................................................................................................... 52
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 53
RUSSIAN .................................................................................................................... 55
GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 55
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 55
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES ................................. 56
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ............................................................... 56
Venn Contrast: Russian & English Consonants Phonemes ............................. 56
Venn Contrast: Russian & English Vowel Phonemes ...................................... 57
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 57
SPECIAL NOTE: PALATIZATION ................................................................................ 57
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 58
SPECIAL NOTE: CASE ............................................................................................... 59
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................ 60
SPECIAL NOTE: PREPOSITIONS ................................................................................ 60
HOME CORNER ....................................................................................................... 61
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 62
HEBREW .................................................................................................................... 63
GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 63
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 64
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ..................................................................... 64
Venn Contrast: Hebrew & English Consonant Phonemes .............................. 64
Venn Contrast: Hebrew & English Vowel Phonemes ...................................... 65
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 65
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 65
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................ 66
HOME CORNER ....................................................................................................... 66
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 67
GERMAN .................................................................................................................... 68
GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 68
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 68
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES ................................. 68
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CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ............................................................... 69
Venn Contrast: German & English Consonant Phonemes .............................. 69
Venn Contrast: German & English Vowel Phonemes ...................................... 69
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 70
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 70
SPECIAL NOTE: SEMANTICS ..................................................................................... 70
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................ 71
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 71
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 72
ARABIC ...................................................................................................................... 73
GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 73
SPECIAL NOTE: “STANDARD” ARABIC ...................................................................... 73
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 74
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ............................................................... 74
Venn Contrast: Arabic & English Consonant Phonemes ................................. 74
Venn Contrast: Arabic & English Vowel Phonemes ........................................ 75
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 75
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 76
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX .................................. 76
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 78
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 79
FARSI .......................................................................................................................... 80
GENERAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................... 80
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH ............................................................ 80
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ............................................................... 80
Venn Contrast: Farsi & English Consonant Phonemes ................................... 81
Venn Contrast: Farsi & English Vowel Phonemes ........................................... 81
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 81
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ....................................................... 82
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ........................... 82
HOME CORNER ........................................................................................................ 83
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 85
CZECH ......................................................................................................................... 87
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GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 87
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 87
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH ..................................................................... 87
Venn Contrast: Farsi & English Consonant Phonemes ................................... 87
Venn Contrast: Farsi & English Vowel Phonemes ........................................... 88
PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS ......................................................................... 88
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 89
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX ................................... 89
HOME CORNER ....................................................................................................... 90
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 91
QUICK TIPS FOR ASSESSING IN ANY LANGUAGE ................................................. 92
APPENDIX A: IPA CHART ......................................................................................... 95
APPENDIX B: ENGLISH DEVELOPMENTAL CHARTS .............................................. 96
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH .................................................................. 96
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES ................................. 96
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE ............................................................ 96
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SPANISH
GENERAL INFORMATION
• Number of speakers: 37 million speakers above the age of 5 in the United States
(2010 US Census) and 405, 638, 110 speakers worldwide.
• Writing system: Roman script, 27 letters and 2 digraphs (“ch”, “ll”)
• Language Family: Indo-‐European -‐-‐Italic-‐-‐Romance
• Official language in: Spain, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Costa
Rica, Panama, Equatorial Guinea, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Chile, Argentina,
Dominican Republic
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR SPEECH
Age Sounds
3 /m, b, p/
4 /k, l, w, y, t, f, n/
5 /r, g, d, ɲ, ʧ/
6 /x, s/
7 /r/
Note: This information is based on Jimenez 1987, Acevedo 1993 and indicates the
age at which 90% mastery is expected.
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES Age of
Suppression
Phonological process
3 Final Consonant Deletion, Medial Consonant Deletion, Weak Syllable
Deletion, Initial Consonant Deletion, Fronting, Assimilation, Backing
5 Gliding, Cluster Reduction, Stopping, Liquid Simplification, Flap/Trill
Deviation
Source: Bedore et al., 2007; Fabiano and Goldstein, 2010; Goldstein and Iglesias,
2006
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CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR SPEECH
Venn Contrast: Spanish & English Consonant Phonemes
Venn Contrast: Spanish & English Vowel Phonemes
/ɲ/
/ɾ/
/R/
/x/
/ð/ /dʒ/
/h/ /ŋ/
/θ/
/r/ /ʃ/
/v/ /w/
/z/ /ʒ/
/æ/ /ɔ/ /ʊ/
/u/ /ʌ/ /ɛ/
/ɪ/ /ə/
/b/ /d/ /g/
/p/ /t/ /k/
/m/ /n/ /s/
/tʃ/ /j/ /l/
/f/
/a/
/e/
/i/
/o/
/u/
Spanish English
Spanish English
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PHONOLOGY AND PHONOTACTICS
Second Language Influenced Error
Pattern:
Example:
Voiceless th (θ) replaced with /t/ or /s/
in all positions
thumb – tum
mouth – mous
Voiced th (θ) replaced with /d/ in all
positions
they – dey
/z/ replaced with /s/ in all positions. buzz – bus
sh replaced with ch or vice-‐versa in all
positions
shoe – choe
chicken – shicken
watches –washes
/v/ replaced with /b/ in all positions very – bery
j replaced with /j/ or vice-‐versa in initial
position
jello – yellow
/r/ distorted in all positions, often
resembling a trilled /r/ in initial position.
/r/ distortion
Final consonants often devoiced or
omitted.
* In Spanish, only 5 consonant sounds
appear at the end of words (r, s, l, n, d),
whereas in English, many more
consonants are allowed in this position,
including consonant clusters, such as
/kst/ in “mixed” and /ŋz/ in “meetings.”
dog – doc
mixed – miss
Omission or distortion of final consonant
clusters.
* Spanish syllables are mostly CV and
clusters usually only have 2 consonants.
In English, syllable shapes are more
varied and clusters can have up to three
consonants, such as /str/ in “strong”.
didn’t – din
Addition of schwa vowel (ə) before /s/ or
omission of /s/ in initial consonant
clusters
* In Spanish, words cannot start with an
/s/ cluster, but in English, they can.
study – estudy
spoon – poon
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Short English vowels that don’t occur in
Spanish may be substituted with a long
vowel equivalent
witch – weach
sit-‐ seat
Stops in word-‐initial position are
unaspirated
pig – big
GOLDMAN-‐FRISTOE TEST OF ARTICULATION (GFTA-‐2) OVERLAY
The resource below clearly indicates which sounds in English words on the GFTA-‐2
may show up as potential errors due to the influence of Spanish. It can be printed
on a transparency sheet and laid over the test protocol so that Spanish-‐speakers’
results can be considered in light of their speech production differences.
http://bilinguistics.com/wp-‐content/uploads/2013/04/Goldman-‐Fristoe-‐Overlay-‐
for-‐Spanish-‐Influenced-‐Sounds.pdf
DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS FOR LANGUAGE
Birth to 5 months
Reacts to loud noises birth to 3 months
Vocalizes discomfort, pleasure 4-‐6 months
Moves eyes toward direction of
sound
4 to 5 months
6 to 12 months
Understands "no" 6-‐11months
Babbles ("ma-‐ma-‐ma") 6-‐11 months
Uses gestures 7-‐12months
Recognizes familiar objects when
named
7-‐12months
Says 1-‐2 words 12 months
1-‐2 years
Follows simple commands 12-‐15months
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Begins to respond to questions with
gestures/ pointing
12-‐17 months
Engages symbolic play 18 months
Begins to combine 2 words ("more
milk/ mas leche")
1-‐2years
Begins to make environmental noises
( animal/car sounds)
1-‐2 years
Points to named items in
book/picture
1-‐2years
2-‐3 years
Responds to Yes/No questions 2-‐3 years
Combines 2-‐3 words to comment,
inquire
2-‐3year
Uses the present progressive verb
form
2-‐3years
Begins to use the plural form 2-‐3years
Variety of consonants used in speech
increases ( t,d,k,g)
2-‐3 years
Speech is understood by familiar
listeners most of the time
2-‐3 years
Regular past tense/simple preterite 2-‐3 years
*Articles: Indefinite /definite articles 2-‐3 years
Follows 2-‐step directives 2-‐3years
Article gender established 3 years
3-‐4 years
Engages in episodic play 3 years
Uses possessives 3-‐4 years
Irregular past tense/Imperfect
Preterit
3-‐4 years
Uses negatives 3-‐4 years
Answer simple WH-‐?s 3-‐4 years
Generally speaks easily without effort
in initiating sounds
3-‐4 years
Speech is generally understood by all 3-‐4 years
Begins to describe the use of objects 3-‐4 years
Shares personal experiences ( school,
friend’s house)-‐short personal
narratives
3-‐ 4 years
Combines 4+ words 3-‐4 years
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4-‐5 years
Tells a story related to a topic 4-‐5 years
Produces most consonant sounds
present in language
4-‐5 years
Uses the same grammar as
family/home environment
4-‐5 years
Follows 3-‐step directions 4-‐5 years
Use of adjective and descriptors in
sentences
4-‐5 years
6-‐7 years
Narratives have a central point,
climax, and resolution
5-‐7 years
Mastery of most consonants 6-‐7 years
Tell and re-‐tell stories in a logical
order using complete sentences
6-‐7 years
7-‐9 years
Uses more complex sentence
structures
7-‐8years
When not understood can reclarify
and explain their ideas
7-‐8 years
Knoweldge of early synonyms, begin
understanding that some words have
multiple meanings
7-‐9 years
Narratives have complete episodes,
reaction of characters, conflict,
resolution
7-‐9 years
Expressive Vocabulary
Development
English Spanish
2-‐5 words 12mo 12mo
4-‐6 words 15mo 15mo
20-‐50 words 18mo 18mo
~1000 words 36mo 36mo
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SPECIAL NOTE: VOCABULARY
The vocabulary choices of Spanish-‐English bilinguals acquiring the English language
can provide helpful information when determining difference versus disorder.
When typically developing bilingual children do not have the precise word for what
they want to say, they often use words that are close in meaning to the target. In
contrast, bilingual children with language impairment use nonspecific vocabulary
(“this,” “thing”) as often as (Kester, 2004) more often than typically developing
bilingual children. For example:
Target word Semantically-‐related substitution Nonspecific substitution
deer moose thing
frog turtle that
chipmunk rat this
beehive cone house of the bees thing
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE: MORPHOSYNTAX
Note: Sentences marked with an asterisk (*) are ungrammatical.
Feature Spanish English Possible misuses in L2
(English)
Word order Flexible Strict Subject
Verb Object
order
The ball he threw.*/ He
threw the ball.
Possessives noun+of+person ’s The car of my mom*/
My mom’s car.
Adjectives Adjective follows
noun
Adjective
precedes noun
The ball big*/ The big
ball.
Verb inflection 5-‐6 forms,
determined by
subject:
Yo como Tú comes Él/Ella/Ud. come Nosotros comemos Vosotros coméis Ellos comen
2 forms:
I eat
You eat
He eats
We eat
You all eat
They eat
Omission of 3rd person
“s”:
She talk to me.* / She
talks to me.
Use of subject Pro-‐drop Pronoun is Looks for the frog* / He
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pronouns always required looks for the frog.
Regular past
tense
5-‐6 forms,
determined by
subject
One form (-‐ed) Unmarked present for
past: She walk to the
store* / She walked to
the store.
Double object
pronoun
Can be used Cannot be used I saw him the man*/ I
saw the man
Double
negative
Can be used Cannot be used I don’t want to do
nothing*/ I don’t want
to do anything.
Question
formation
Questions marked
by inflection,
question words, or
“do”
Word order
inversion or
addition of “do”
You give me a sticker?*/
Will you give me a
sticker?
What you think?*/
What do you think?
We can go?* / Can we
go?
Multi-‐purpose
verbs
Verbs with multiple
meanings that do
not always
correspond
Verbs with
multiple
meanings that
do not always
correspond
I have 4 years*/ I am
four years old.
Do you have hunger?*/
Are you hungry?
SPECIAL NOTE: PREPOSITIONS
Due to the frequency of preposition errors produced by Spanish speakers acquiring
English, a few specific examples are provided below to assist in identifying second
language influenced errors.
Spanish English Possible misuses of prepositions in L2
(English)
En In/on Put the food in the plate.*
Put the food on the bowl.*
Pensar en/pensar de To think about or think
of
I think on him everyday.*
You can do it if you think of it.*
Enojarse con To get mad at Get mad with.*
Soñar con To dream of I dreamt with you last night*
Decidir de To decide on Have you decided of what you want?*
Casarse con To marry or be married Is he married with her?*
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3 Bilinguistics, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Difference vs. Disorder
22
to
Estar enamorado de To be in love with Is he in love of her?*
Consistir en To consist of What does your plan consist in?*
Buscar To look for I’m looking my toy.*
Depender de To depend on It depends of what you want.*
Source: Kester & Gorman (2004).
HOME CORNER
As a bilingual speech language pathologist, I am grateful for my upbringing in
a south Texas border town with a balanced blend of Mexican and American cultures.
However, as a child I did not understand the value of knowing and understanding
two cultures. Growing up, it was considered typical to speak English or Spanish
depending on the situation or person. In more formal settings, such as school, I
spoke only in English; however, with my family or in the community I was able to
speak whatever language I felt was appropriate.
I remember having conversations with friends in both languages. At the time
not knowing the term for what we were doing, code-‐switching, but, in our case it
was not because of a lack of vocabulary in one language or the other. We did it to
emphasize certain words or for humor. And to us, it was just…normal.
I took being bilingual for granted, always assuming that it would not be
useful in my career, as the language of my formal education was in English. It was
not until I moved away for college that I realized that being bilingual was needed in
places that did not have such a seamless blend of cultures. It opened my eyes to the
fact that I could help people, children and parents, who spoke Spanish like me. I
became proud of my culture, instead of taking it for granted. When I assess bilingual
children or have therapy sessions in Spanish, I can use the knowledge of my
Copyright © 2014 Bilinguistics, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Difference vs. Disorder
23
upbringing AND my formal education to make judgments and decisions regarding
language differences and disorders.
Patricia Villareal, M.S. CCC-‐SLP
Bilingual Speech-‐Language Pathologist
REFERENCES
Acevedo, M. (1993). Development of Spanish consonants in pre-‐school children.
Journal of Communication Disorders, 15, 9–15.
Bedore, L. M., Peña, E. D., & Stubbe Kester, E. (2007). Cross language performance
on semantic tasks: Lessons from a test development project. Manuscript in
preparation.
Fabiano-‐Smith, L. & Goldstein, B. (2010). Phonological acquisition in bilingual
Spanish-‐English speaking children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 53. 1-‐19.
Goldstein, B., and Iglesias, A. (2006). Issues of cultural and linguistic diversity. In R.
Paul and P. Cascella (Eds.). Introduction to clinical methods in
communication disorders (2nd ed., pp. 261-‐280). Baltimore: Paul H.
Brookes.
Jimenez, B. C. (1987). Acquisition of Spanish consonants in children aged 3-‐5 years, 7
months. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 18, 357–363.
Kester, E. S. & Gorman, B. K. (2004). Typical Semantics and Syntax in the English
Language Learner. Austin: Bilinguistics.
MacWhinney, B. (1997). Second Language Acquisition and the Competition Model.
In A.M.B. de Groot and J. F. Kroll (Eds.). Tutorials in Bilingualism:
Psycholinguistic Perspectives. Mayway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
MacWhinney, B. & Bates, E. (Eds.). (1989). The crosslinguistic study of sentence
processing. New York: Cambridge University Press.