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. 2014 Mar;35(2):225-241.
doi: 10.1017/S0142716412000379.

Older Sibling Influences on the Language Environment and Language Development of Toddlers in Bilingual Homes

Kelly Bridges  1 , Erika Hoff  2
Affiliations

Older Sibling Influences on the Language Environment and Language Development of Toddlers in Bilingual Homes

Kelly Bridges et al. Appl Psycholinguist. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Two separate studies examined older siblings' influence on the language exposure and language development of U.S.-born toddlers who were being raised in bilingual homes. The participants in Study 1 were 60 children between 16 and 30 months who had heard English and another language at home from birth; 26 had older siblings and 34 did not. The participants in Study 2 were 27 children, assessed at 22 and 30 months, who had heard English and Spanish from birth; 14 had school aged older siblings and 13 did not. Both studies found that older siblings used English more in talking to the toddlers than did other household members and that toddlers with older siblings were more advanced in English language development. Study 2 also found that the presence of a school aged older sibling increased mothers' use of English with their toddlers and that toddlers without a school aged older sibling were more advanced in Spanish than the toddlers with a school aged older sibling. These findings contribute to a picture of the complex processes that shape language use in bilingual homes and cause variability in young children's bilingual development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study 2 mean levels of overall English use in the home, mean English use in mothers' child-directed speech, and mean English use in older siblings' child-directed speech for children in Spanish-English bilingual homes at 22 and 30 months.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Study 2 mean productive vocabulary scores in English and Spanish at 22 and 30 months for toddlers with and without older siblings.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Study 2 mean productive grammatical complexity scores in English and Spanish at 22 and 30 months for toddlers with and without older siblings.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Study 2 mean length of longest utterances in English and Spanish at 22 and 30 months for toddlers with and without older siblings.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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