Some Language-Related Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Five-Year-Olds

ED 031 307 PS 002 057 By-Feldman, Carol; Shen, Michael Some Language-Related Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Five Year Olds. Early Education Research Center, Chicago, III. ; National Lab. on Early CMdhood Education. Spons Agency-Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D. C. Div. of Educational Labs. Report No NLECE -70706 -WG -4 Pub Date 1691 Contract OEC 3 -7 -070706 -3118 Note-21p. EDRS Price MF-0. 25 HC-1. 15 Descriptors-*Bilingualism, Bthngual SIudents, Caucasian Students, Child Language, *Cognitive Development, Cognitive Processes, *Language Development, *Language Research, Language SkO1s, Mexican Americans, Negro Students, Preschool Children Identifiers-Head Start Fifteen bilingual and 15 monohngual Head Start children, ranging in age from 4 to 6, were administered three types of tasks: (1) object constancy task: subject was shown a common object, a transformation was done on the object, e. g. , crushing a paper cup, and then that object plus an identical pre-transformed object, were shown to the subject and he was asked to pick out the first object; (2) naming task: subject was asked to use object labels under three conditions: use of the common name, use of a nonsense name, and use of switched common names; and (3) a sentence task: . subject was required to use the three label conditions (2). in simple relational sentences. It lwas hypothesized that (I) bilinguals would perform better than monohnguals on all three tasks, and that for all subjects, task (1) would be easier than (2) which would be easier than (3). Both hypotheses were supported by the gross data. It was found that bilinguals, although better at using names in relational statements, were not better than monolinguals in the use of common names alone nor nonsense names *alone. Also, bihnguals performed consistently better than monohnguals where nonverbal pointing responses were required, but not where spoken responses were required. It was suggested that having a notion of meaning as a function of use facilitates acquisition of the ability of young children to use labels in sentences. (WD)