The effects of bilingualism on children's cross-situational word learning under different variability conditions

Abstract

In the current study, we examined the separate and combined effects of exemplar and speaker variability on monolingual and bilingual children's cross-situational word learning performance. Results revealed that children's word learning performance did not differ when the input varied in a single dimension (i.e., exemplars or speakers) compared with a condition with no variability independent of their linguistic background. However, when performance in conditions that varied in a single dimension (i.e., exemplars or speakers) was compared with a condition that varied in multiple dimensions (i.e., exemplars and speakers), bilingual word learning advantages were observed; bilinguals were more likely to learn word-referent associations than monolinguals. Together, results suggest that children can learn and generalize word-referent associations from input that varies in exemplars and speakers and that bilingualism may bolster learning under conditions of increased input variability.

Keywords: Bilingualism; Children; Cross-situational word learning; Exemplar variability; Speaker variability; Statistical learning.

Figure 1

Bar Graphs Depicting Performance in Monolinguals and Bilinguals by Condition Note. Error bars denote standard error. Red line depicts chance levels (i.e., .50). Means and Standard Errors reported in each bar. *p < .05, ** p < .01