Predicting Minority Children's Bilingual Proficiency: Child, Family, and Institutional Factors*

The purpose of the present study was to identify factors that predict the first‐and second‐language proficiency of ethnic minority children at the age of 6 years. A sample of 72 six‐year‐old Turkish children, living in The Netherlands since their infant years, was identified prior to their entrance into the first grade of primary school. Predictor measures originating from the child, his or her family, and the institutional care the child had gone through were collected, along with direct and indirect first‐ and second‐language proficiency measures. The results of the study make clear that two dimensions underlie the children's proficiency in either language: communicative skills versus cognitive/academic skills. Measures of the cultural orientation of the children and their parents turned out to be related to all of the proficiency levels under consideration. The extent of caretaker interaction in the first language was al so positively related to the children's bilingual proficiency level. Moreover, there was evidence for the notion of interdependency in bilingual development in that cognitive/academic abilities in the second language could be predicted from similar abilities in the first language.