VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT IN BILINGUAL PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Abstract

THIS THESIS COMPRISES TWO PAPERS ON THE NATURE OF VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT IN 4-6 YEAR-OLD BILINGUAL CHILDREN IN SINGAPORE WHO HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO ENGLISH AND EITHER MANDARIN OR MALAY BEFORE THE AGE OF 3 YEARS 6 MONTHS. THE CHILDREN WERE GROUPED INTO ENGLISH L1/MANDARIN L2, MANDARIN L1/ENGLISH L2, AND MALAY L1/ENGLISH L2. PAPER 1 COVERS FIVE DIFFERENT MEASURES OF VOCABULARY, COLLATED ANNUALLY FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS USING OBJECTIVE, CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY APPROPRIATE TESTS: SINGLE LANGUAGE RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARY IN L1 AND L2, AND TOTAL CONCEPTUAL EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARY. PAPER 2 EXAMINES THE CONTRIBUTION OF PHONOLOGICAL SHORT-TERM MEMORY AND PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH. BOTH PAPERS REVEAL THAT THE NATURE OF VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG BILINGUAL CHILDREN IS BOTH MORE COMPLEX AND VARIABLE THAN THAT OF MONOLINGUAL CHILDREN, AND DEPENDS ON THE PHONOLOGICAL STRUCTURES OF THE TWO LANGUAGES BEING LEA