By Medha Tare & Susan A. Gelman “Bilingual parents’ modeling of pragmatic language use in multiparty interactions” By Medha Tare & Susan A. Gelman

Medha Tare Susan A. Gelman Research Scientist Professor of Psychology & Linguistics University of Maryland University of Michigan Center for Advanced Study of Language The Conceptual Development Lab Specializes in Second Language Acquisition Specializes in Cognitive Development -Bilingual development - Category formation and use -Individual differences in second language learning -Causal reasoning -Technology in language learning -Relationship between language and thought

Goals Determine the extent to which parents demonstrate pragmatic language use in the presence of a third party. Examine the metalinguistic strategies bilingual parents use with their children to highlight language differences. Examine the extent to which children demonstrate pragmatic language use in this context, as well as how children respond to parental metalinguistic strategies.

Methods Participants Bilingual families living in the U.S. 28 English- and Marathi-speaking parent–child pairs in the presence of monolingual bystanders *Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Maharasthra state of India by nearly 96 million people. How do personal characteristics of the bystander play into children’s assumptions about language knowledge?

Discussion Question How do personal characteristics of the bystander play into children’s assumptions about language knowledge?

Methods Younger Group Older Group 14 children 14 children 9 female Age: 2.7 to 3.10 years (M = 3.2) Average English/Marathi Ratio of Vocabulary Knowledge 1.19:1 words Measured by the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory Average English/Marathi ratio of vocabulary knowledge,1.19:1 words Older Group 14 children 4 female Age: 4.1 to 4.11 years (M = 4.6) Average English/Marathi Ratio of Vocabulary Knowledge 1.37:1 words

Methods Continued... 26 of the children tested in a Marathi household, & 2 children were tested in a research lab Mothers average age 33.37 years and 92% had at least a college education Fathers’ average age was 37.08 years and 92% had at least a college education All parents who participated in the study knew both English and Marathi 39% of these parents also knew at least one other Indian language Do you think there is a difference between children growing up in a one-parent/one-language home versus a home with two bilingual parents who speak the same languages? If a child is in a home with a high amount of language mixing, he/she might not have as much experience speaking with monolingual speakers of each of their language.

Discussion Question Do you think there is a difference between children growing up in a one-parent/one-language home versus a home with two bilingual parents who speak the same languages?

Design Quasinaturalistic situation where the parent looks at a picture book with the child. Three observation sessions: Parent and child alone Parent and child with the English speaker Parent and child with the Marathi speaker Between-subjects variables were speaker (parent or child) and child’s age group Within-subject variable was session (parent–child, parent– child–English speaker, parent–child–Marathi speaker) Dependent variable was language used (English or Marathi). How do personal characteristics of the bystander play into children’s assumptions about language knowledge?

Materials 3 binders with brightly colored photographs of everyday objects intended to be fairly familiar to the children (e.g., car, bucket, spoon) and no written text. Each binder depicted 16 objects (different across the three binders) MacArthur CDI for preschoolers -translated to Marathi The ratio of one language to the other could not be greater than 3:1; that is, at least one-quarter of their total vocabulary was required to be in their less known language. Language Background Questionnaire- Created to assess child’s language environment at home/childcare Parent variables: age, education, language, & attitudes towards raising a bilingual child were assessed

Procedure The first session always included the parent and child alone. The order of English and Marathi sessions was counterbalanced between subjects. When parents were done with the first binder, the 1st experimenter came in with the second binder stating the following: “Hi, remember me? Do you remember my name? I’m [name]. Here’s another book. I’m going to sit here with you and your mom/dad and look at the pictures with you.” This process was repeated with the third experimenter and the thirst binder. Researchers sat on the other side of the child than the parent.

Coding Language use coding- to capture the language used by parents and children during the picture book task Ex. Complete English, Complete Marathi, English with Marathi Insertion, Marathi with English Insertion, Neutral Metalinguistic talk coding- ways in which parents encouraged children to focus on the two language systems Ex. Requests translation, Provides translation, Suggests translation, Requests repetition of translation, Repeats translation equivalent, Uses name of language

Requests Translation: Speaker requests a translation for a label that has already been provided in one language Provides Translation: Speaker provides a translation for an item that has already been labeled in one language Suggests Translation: Parent suggests possible translation for an item already labeled in one language Requests Repetition of Translation: Parent requests that the child repeat the translation that was provided Repeats Translation Equivalent: Speaker repeats a translation that was provided in a previous utterance (coded for each repetition) Used Name of Language: Speaker uses the name of the language

Results Parents demonstrated pragmatic differentiation by using relatively more of the bystander’s language. Children did not show this sensitivity. The results indicate that parents model pragmatic language differentiation as well as metalinguistic talk that may contribute to children’s metalinguistic awareness.

Of Further Interest Investigating how individual differences in bilingual children’s experience may affect their pragmatic language use and metalinguistic skills. Examine when in development a sensitivity to a third-party speaker emerges. Examine whether preschool-aged children whose parents engaged in more explicit metalinguistic conversation perform better on metalinguistic tasks when they are older.

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