5._Bilingualism_and_SSSD[1].pdf

BILINGUALISM AND SSD FOCUS OF THESE LECTURES ARE ON ISIZULU AND ENGLISH GENERAL INFORMATION ON ZULU The phonetic inventory of Zulu is much larger than that of English. English has a phonetic inventory of approximately 24 consonants and 14 vowels (Weiss et al., 1987) while Z...

BILINGUALISM AND SSD FOCUS OF THESE LECTURES ARE ON ISIZULU AND ENGLISH GENERAL INFORMATION ON ZULU The phonetic inventory of Zulu is much larger than that of English. English has a phonetic inventory of approximately 24 consonants and 14 vowels (Weiss et al., 1987) while Zulu has 59 consonant sounds, according to the consonant chart utilised in the present study (Naidoo, 2003), and seven vowels. Zulu has a unique click structure that does not occur in English (Cope, 1983). Zulu has no consonant clusters (Taljaard & Snyman, 1993), while English does allow for consonant clusters (Creaghead et al., 1989). All Zulu syllables are open (Poulos & Msimang, 1998), while in English both open and closed syllables occur (Cope, 1983). Zulu has a number of aspirated sounds differentiating meaning, and this is not a feature of English (Van Rooy & Grijzenhout, 2000). Prenasalisation is a common feature of Zulu, but not of English (Cope, 1983).  POINT TO PONDER Contrast between Zulu and English: different syllable structure, where Zulu has predominantly CV syllables - with the majority of words being multisyllabic English has a number of monosyllabic words, closed syllables and clusters. Zulu has features on phonemes making phonemes complex and “loaded” e.g. prenasalisation. Zulu has a much larger consonant inventory than English and has some classes which do not exist in English e.g. clicks.  POINT TO PONDER Contrast Zulu and English: Different languages will have some processes which are universal e.g. stopping, or common to some e.g. depalatalisation and some that are different e.g. deprenasalisation in Zulu and final consonant deletion in English. There may be differences in the way the processes are used e.g. stopping of fricatives and affricates in Zulu and English, stopping of clicks in Zulu, and stopping occurring in syllable initial or syllable final position, WI, WW or WF in English.  WHEN DECIDING IF A SSD IS PRESENT IN A BILINGUAL CHILD Gather all the usual information during the assessment. Apply what we know about speech development in those languages and about the pattern of speech development in bilinguals after identifying the type of bilingualism (e.g. simultaneous, subtractive or successive). Simultaneous - Child acquires two languages, with exposure usually before 3 years of age Successive - Child acquires two languages, usually with exposure to the second language after 6 years and frequently at school. WHEN DECIDING IF A SSSD IS PRESENT IN A BILINGUAL CHILD Gather information about each language, when was the child exposed to each language, when did the child begin to use each language as well as with whom and in what contexts each was and is used via a detailed case history. You will want to determine if the speech is within the normal range for that child’s language community, taking into consideration their social, linguistic and cultural characteristics (Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004).  REMEMBER THAT: The specific allophones and phonemes in the phonetic inventories of each language will differ. Some phonemes may exist in one language but not the other or one language may have an allophonic variation that the other does not have. The distribution rules for phonemes and allophones may differ between the languages such that /r/ may not occur WF in one language but does occur WF in the other. The place of articulation for a consonant may differ between languages.  REMEMBER THAT: In each language, the phonological rules may differ (Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004). A bilingual child’s speech system should not be viewed as adding and applying the norms for L1 and L2. A bilingual child may do something that a monolingual never does (Watson, 1991). Bilingual children use mental processing and strategies that monolinguals do not have to do when acquiring speech. Children acquiring speech in two languages have to differentiate between the two sound systems, have to avoid the one speech system interfering with the other and have to learn to sort the speech they hear in two different ways.  REMEMBER THAT: Ascertain attitudes of child and caregivers to each language. If there is a speech disorder, it will be present in both languages, severity may differ. An articulation disorder such as developmental dysarthria seen in cerebral palsy, childhood apraxia of speech or tongue thrust will affect articulation in all languages the child speaks. A phonological disorder, that is difficulty acquiring or using the rule system for speech, will also affect both languages.  REMEMBER THAT: If the speech difficulty is present in one language only, then it is not a disorder, but a speech difference (see below). Unfortunately there is little research on phonology development as well as on phonological processing in bilingual children (Watson, 1991). Clinicians should be careful that their own languages spoken and not spoken as well as the dialect can have an effect on assessment and therapy (Bernthal & Bankson, 2004). ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD Underlying representation for speech in L1 and L2 should also be considered. Some would say that the underlying representation for L1 and L2 is the same or unitary. This Unitary System Model suggests that in bilingual children, one phonological system will separate into two systems which are autonomous, over time. ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD An opposing view, the Dual Systems Model argues that from birth bilingual children have separate phonological systems for each of their languages, which do not interact with each other. ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD A third view suggests that the Dynamic systems theory: Accounts for the behaviour of complex systems such as languages. Autonomous units of language are interconnected during development, i.e. perception and production… in learning speech.  ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD One also needs to consider the phonological similarity of the two languages. Here it is said that sounds in L1 and L2, which are different, will be less likely to show transfer from L1 to L2. Conversely, sounds in L1 and L2 which are similar are more likely to show the influence of L1 or transfer from L1. New sounds (nonequivalent) are more completely learnt than similar sounds. Phonemes that are the same in both languages tend to be more accurately produced (in Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004). Sound substitutions, which do occur when sounds in L1 and L2 are different, are likely to be due to normal development.  ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD It is important to take into consideration the stage of development the child is at with regard to L2 speech acquisition. Markedness can also be used to predict the order of sound acquisition or difficulty in L1 and L2. This means that less marked (more frequent and less difficult) aspects of speech are acquired before more marked aspects. Thus one would expect the child to acquire more difficult aspects of speech later in L2. A deviation from this pattern would be a cause for concern and would not be due to the influence of L1 on L2.  ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A BILINGUAL CHILD Universal developmental factors – related to bilingual speech acquisition. Thus patterns seen in monolingual speech acquisition are also seen in L2, e.g. overgeneralization and approximation. It is expected that development will be gradual and that with time transfer from L1 to L2 will decrease, developmental processes will increase and then decrease. Not all substitutions are due to transfer, but may be developmental in nature. Remember that the young child acquiring phonology is probably not aware that the many acoustic signals they hear belong to two or three different languages, let alone knowing which of the two or three languages they belong to (Watson, 1991). *Style may influence speech production. The more formal the style of talking, the more like the target speech production will be and the less transfer will occur. This is likely to be noted in the speech of older bilingual children.  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SIMULTANEOUS BILINGUAL CHILD Consider the info mentioned previously – as there appears to be less information about simultaneous acquisition of two languages. Seldom are children perfectly equal in their simultaneous speech acquisition of two languages. Initially the two speech systems are thought to be mixed – not yet differentiated from each other. After the child has differentiated between the two languages’ speech systems, the similarities and the differences between the speech systems can result in interference which can affect acquisition.  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SIMULTANEOUS BILINGUAL CHILD The child may not realize that a particular speech feature of one language is not shared by the other language. The child may fail to realize that speech features that are similar are not identical. Many children will not have the same level of proficiency in both languages some traces of interference may exist in the less dominant language at the phonetic or articulatory level. At the phonological level, development must be complete for both languages speech systems (Watson, 1991).  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SEQUENTIAL BILINGUAL CHILD Gather the above information about each language, as well as the history of exposure to each language, and with whom and in what contexts each is used. The attitudes of the child and caregivers to each language may be especially important in a sequential bilingual. In the KZN context, L1 may be isiZulu with L2 being English that may be used at school.  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SEQUENTIAL BILINGUAL CHILD In sequential bilingualism, it is suggested in the literature that L1 stabilizes and then influences or constrains L2. If exposure to L2 occurred after 6 to 12 years of age, the accent of L1 will be apparent in L2 (linked to critical period). The older the child, the more personality and motivation issues affect accent in L2. In sequential bilingualism, certain patterns are to be expected, but will vary according to what L1 and L2 are. L1 pronunciation can be expected to transfer to L2. Negative transfer or interference is when there are errors in L2 due to L1 influence.  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SEQUENTIAL BILINGUAL CHILD For example, one sound (L1) is substituted for another in L2: English & Zulu – plosive substituted for click; Zulu & English – [l] substituted for /r/; English & Afrikaans – velar plosive [g] substituted for velar fricative. For example, under-differentiation where two sounds in L2 are replaced by one sound such as palatal and alveolar clicks both realised as alveolar clicks For example, over differentiation where one L2 sound is realised with two allophonic variants from L1 such as [t, th] for /t/ For example, distinctions in L2 speech are reinterpreted.  ASSESSING THE SPEECH OF A SEQUENTIAL BILINGUAL CHILD With regard to preschool children, Dodd, So and Li (1996 in Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004) found more atypical or unusual errors in the speech of bilingual children. Gildersleeve, Davis, and Stubbe (1998 in Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004) reported different developmental patterns to monolinguals and more errors initially, but these diminished with time. Goldstein (1988 Goldstein & Iglesias, chapter 8 in Bernthal & Bankson, 2004) found less accurate speech sound production in bilingual children.  SUBTRACTIVE BILINGUALISM As L1 is lost, so L2 speech patterns may transfer to L1. Consider this when deciding if a SSSD is present.