The influence of home language on dual language toddlers’ comprehension in Norwegian

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to investigate whether 33-month-old (toddlers) monolinguals (N = 902) and different groups of dual language learners (DLL) (N = 161) differ in majority language comprehension, Norwegian (L2). The three DLL groups vary regarding the amount of parental exposure to Norwegian. Language comprehension was assessed by authentic assessment in ECEC institutions with the systematic observation material TRAS. A parent questionnaire measured the amount of Norwegian exposure at home. The DLL’s comprehension in Norwegian were significantly lower than the monolingual’s. There was no difference in L2 skills between DLL toddlers from majority-speaking households (N = 30) and toddlers from households speaking a combination of the majority and minority language (N = 82), while toddlers from minority-speaking households (N = 49) scored significantly lower. Rather than the amount of L2 exposure, the results indicate that there might exist a threshold value of parental L2 input necessary to obtain good L2 skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Dual language learner
• home language
• time on task hypothesis
• toddlers
• language comprehension in second language

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.