Bilingual children’s Icelandic skills: Standardized language tests and language samples

• Main Authors: Hafsteinsdóttir, Hjördís, Einarsdóttir, Jóhanna Thelma, Nowenstein, Iris Edda
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2022
• Subjects: bilingualism; language development; standardized language tests; language samples; Icelandic as a second language; preschool children; tvítyngi; málþroski; málþroskapróf; málsýni; íslenska sem annað mál; leikskólabörn; Reykjanesbær; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3576

Previous research on bilingualism in Iceland indicates that the gap in Icelandic skills between bilingual children and their monolingual peers is greater than expected based on comparable research on bilingualism in other language communities. We argue that such results prompt extensive investigation on the language status of bilingual children in Iceland using a wide array of assessment tools. The main goal of this investigation was to assess the Icelandic knowledge of bilingual children with different assessment tools and compare the results to normative data for monolingual children. The study targeted sequential bilingual children in the last year of pre-school (5-6 years old) in Iceland. The inclusion criteria were 1) the child was born in Iceland and had started Icelandic pre-school education no later than at 2 to 3 years of age 2) both parents spoke the same language at home (and not Icelandic) 3) the child had not been previously diagnosed with language or neurological disorder. The participants were 25 bilingual children living in two towns in south-west Iceland, Reykjanesbær and Suðurnesjabær. The children were in Icelandic preschool on average 7-8 hours daily and in Icelandic language environments for, on average, about 43 hours a week. The language tests MELB, a newly developed and standardized language test of Icelandic, and the Icelandic-PPVT-4 were administered. MELB measures both language comprehension and spoken language for the components; semantic, syntax, phonology, and morphology. The test was standardized between 2019 and 2020 with 879 children aged 4 to 6 years. The Icelandic version of the PPVT-4 has not been standardized but normative data are available for children in the target age group (Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir, 2018). Spontaneous language samples were analysed and compared to normative values for monolingual children (Jóhanna T. Einarsdóttir & Álfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir, 2015). To estimate the relationship between the language tests and language samples a correlation analysis ...