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Action Naming in Spanish and English by Sequential Bilingual Children and Adolescents

Kathryn Kohnert
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Julissa Collado
Francia Aquino-Garcia
Lehman College, City University of New York

Contact author: Gisela Jia, Department of Psychology, Lehman College, City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West Bronx, NY 10468, Kathryn Kohnert, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, 115 Shevlin Hall, University of Minnesota, 164 Pillsbury Drive, S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455. Email: giselajia{at}yahoo.com or kohne005{at}umn.edu

PURPOSE: Verb processing in early sequential Spanish–English bilinguals was investigated. Primary study goals were to identify potential patterns of development in relative levels of verb processing efficiency in a 1st (L1) and 2nd (L2) language and to investigate factors influencing cognitive control of the dual-language system in developing bilinguals.

METHOD: Four age groups of early sequential Spanish–English bilinguals (5–7 years, 8–10 years, 11–13 years, and 14–16 years of age) named action pictures in single-language (Spanish or English) and mixed-language (alternating Spanish and English) conditions. Dependent variables were accuracy and response time (RT).

RESULTS: Action-naming proficiency improved in both L1 and L2 with age, with a shift from L1 to L2 dominance in accuracy. In comparison with the single-language condition, the mixed-language condition engendered slower RT for all age groups and lower accuracy for the 3 younger age groups. The oldest age group did not show accuracy difference between the conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: These general patterns of verb processing across age, language, and processing conditions replicated and enriched previous findings of noun processing in similar populations (K. J. Kohnert, E. Bates, & A. E. Hernandez, 1999). However, verb processing was considerably slower and less accurate than noun processing. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

KEY WORDS: bilingualism, bilingual assessment, English as a second language, Spanish, vocabulary assessment

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