A study of some of the environmental features found to be conducive to the bilingual development of pre‐school children in Singapore

A review of the research into the relationship of types of bilingual exposure and background to conceptual attainment and language competence, has focused largely on input and output measures and neglected to address cause and effect issues. The purpose of this study is to investigate which kinds of experiences, and, which people are involved, in the provision of appropriate language‐learning environments for preschool children. In particular the study considers the importance of parental concern for academic attainment, the quality of adult‐child interaction, the language competencies of the adults involved, and the kinds of language‐related activities which are provided. Consideration is also given to attitudes to language experiences at home and pre‐school, the programme balance and provision, and the kinds of materials and resources available. The quality of and maintenance of the training provided for pre‐school teachers is assessed in relation to teachers’ abilities to emphasise age‐appropriate language skills and developmentally appropriate language environments. The ideal type pre‐chool language environment is proposed given the emphasis on bilingual attainment of pre‐school children in Singapore.