Bilingual Basics
Children may need this percent of exposure in a language to become fluent.
What is 10–25%?
True or False: Bilingualism causes language delays.
What is false?
This exaggerated, melodic speech supports infant language learning.
What is child-directed speech or parentese?
Before words, infants communicate using these.
What are gestures, cries, posture, and facial expressions?
This theory by Chomsky says children are born with the ability to learn language.
What is nativism or the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?
Term for a child regularly exposed to more than one language early in life.
What is a bilingual infant?
Can infants distinguish between two languages in early infancy?
What is yes—they can distinguish languages within months of birth?
What’s one reason caregivers should be supported in using their heritage language?
What is it fosters cultural identity and family connection?
Around 4–6 months, infants produce this kind of sound play.
What is babbling?
Skinner believed this process explains language learning.
What is reinforcement?
Two domains that benefit from early bilingualism.
What are language skills and cognitive abilities?
Why might bilingual children appear delayed in one language?
What is because their vocabulary is split across languages?
Why is shared book reading important in bilingual homes?
What is it promotes high-quality exposure in each language?
At around 12–13 months, babies use single-word phrases called this.
What is holophrastic speech?
The social pragmatics theory emphasizes this role of the child.
What is active engagement and motivation to communicate?
The country where 90% of children grow up bilingual.
What is Singapore?
This common bilingual behavior is often misunderstood as confusing.
What is code-switching?
What does the "one-person-one-language" approach mean?
What is each caregiver consistently speaks a different language to the child?
Using "doggie" for only the family dog is an example of what?
What is underextension?
According to this theory, no formal teaching is needed—just exposure.
What is Chomsky's LAD?
When considering both languages, bilingual children have this compared to monolingual peers.
What is equal or larger total vocabulary?
Failing to consider both languages during assessment can result in this.
What is misdiagnosis of a language delay or disorder?
This type of interaction—like turn-taking cooing—predicts language outcomes.
What is conversational turn-taking?
Around 18 months, toddlers begin using short phrases called this.
What is telegraphic speech?
According to the Overstreet reading, the best approach includes these three theories.
What is a combination of nativism, reinforcement, and social pragmatics?