Are the Effects of Variation in Quantity of Daily Bilingual Exposure and Socioeconomic Status on Language and Cognitive Abilities Independent in Preschool Children?

Raffaele Dicataldo and Maja Roch
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Raffaele Dicataldo: Department of Development and Socialization Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Maja Roch: Department of Development and Socialization Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: Bilingual exposure (BE) and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with children’s development, but their specific and unique effects are still unclear. This study analyzed the influence of these environmental factors on a set of cognitive and linguistic abilities in preschoolers to disentangle their effects. One hundred-eleven Italian-speaking preschool children (mean age = 61 months; SD = 6.8) growing in a monolingual or multilingual context completed an assessment of cognitive (theory of mind, inhibition, attention shifting and working memory) and linguistic abilities (vocabulary, grammar, narrative comprehension, lexical access). The results of hierarchical regressions with predictors variation in BE (both Length and Daily exposure) and SES on each ability, shown a specific contribution of variation in SES, after controlling for BE, in vocabulary, grammar, and working memory (WM), and a specific contribution of variation in BE, over and above effect of SES, in vocabulary, narrative comprehension and WM. In addition, we found an interaction between these factors in predicting the performance of the theory of mind task (ToM). To conclude, variations in BE and SES are related independently to individual differences in linguistic and cognitive skills of children in preschool.

Keywords: socioeconomic status; bilingual exposure; language development; cognitive development; preschool children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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