Effects of Second Language Acquisition on Narrative Structure and Linguistic Processes in Preschool and School- Aged Children

Abstract

This research examines the effects of second language acquisition in early childhood on the structural and linguistic properties of narrative skills in the child’s native language. To investigate these questions, narrative and vocabulary skills in monolingual and bilingual children (Frog story) were evaluated. One hundred and twelve five- and seven-year-old monolingual (Language 1 [L1]: Mother tongue, Turkish) (N = 61) and bilingual (L1, Turkish; Language 2 [L2]: Second language, English) (N = 51) children participated in the study. Narrative skills were evaluated only for Turkish for monolingual children, whereas bilingual children were tested in English as well, the latter test taking place on a separate day. For the structural evaluation of narrative discourse, a schema is used to evaluate the narrative skills of bilingual children. The elements in the schema are: Frog story elements, sequence, perspective / emotion and affect, and finally engagement. In order to evaluate the linguistic complexity simple and complex clauses were coded. The percentage of complex clauses with respect to total clauses was used as an indication of linguistic complexity. There were two age groups in the monolingual and bilingual groups. The findings revealed that in L1: Turkish, bilingual and monolingual children differed for narrative structure components regardless of age group. Monolinguals outperformed their bilingual peers for frog story elements, sequence, perspective affect, and engagement. Age differences indicated that for five-yearolds there were no differences between monolinguals and bilinguals for perspective affect and engagement which were difficult skills to display at that age. Monolingual children were better at incorporating more complex structures into their narratives compared to bilinguals. It was found that bilingual and monolingual children did not differ in L1 vocabulary skills. The results showed that early exposure to L2 might result in negative outcomes for L1 narrative development.

Keywords

• Second language acquisition,bilingualism,narrative skills

İkinci Dil Ediniminin Okul Öncesi ve Okul Çağı Çocuklarında Anlatı Becerilerinin Kurgusal ve Dilbilgisel Süreçlerine Olan Etkisi

Abstract

Bu araştırma erken çocuklukta ikinci dil öğrenmenin anadildeki anlatı becerilerinin kurgusal ve dil bilgisel yapılarının üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektedir. Bu soruları araştırmak için tek dilli ve iki dilli çocuklara anlatı becerileri görevi (kurbağa hikayesi), sözcük dağarcığı testleri uygulanmıştır. Beş ve yedi yaşındaki 112 tek dilli (Dil 1 [D1]: Anadil, Türkçe) (N = 61) ve iki dilli (D1, Türkçe, Dil 2 [D2]: İkinci dil, İngilizce) (N = 51) çocuk araştırmaya katılmıştır. Anlatı becerileri tek dilli çocuklar için sadece Türkçe oturumla değerlendirilmiş, iki dilli çocuklar Türkçe dışında farklı bir oturum gününde ve farklı bir araştırmacıyla İngilizce olarak da değerlendirilmiştir. Anlatı söylemlerinin kurgusal açıdan değerlendirilmesi için alan yazında iki dilli çocukların anlatı becerilerini değerlendirmek için kullanılan ve dört temel alanı kapsayan bir şema kullanılmıştır. Buna göre hikayeler kurbağa hikayesi unsurları, akış, perspektif/duygu ve son olarak anlatımda canlılık alanlarında değerlendirilmiştir. Dil bilgisel karmaşıklık değerlendirilmesi için basit ve karmaşık cümlecikler kodlanmıştır. Karmaşık cümleciklerin yüzdesel oranı dil bilgisel karmaşıklık düzeyinin göstergesi olarak alınmıştır. Bulgular, anadilde anlatı becerilerinin iki dilli çocuklarda tek dilli çocuklara göre farklılık gösterdiğini, anlatı kurgusu unsurlarında (kurbağa hikayesi unsurları, akış, perspektif/duygu ve canlılık) ve dil bilgisel karmaşıklık alanlarında tek dilli çocukların iki dilli çocuklardan daha iyi performans gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Yaşla ilgili farklılıklar beş yaşta perspektif/duygu ve canlılık unsurlarında tek ve iki dilli çocuklar arasında fark olmadığını, bu becerilerin bu yaş grubu için zor olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. İki dilli çocukların D1 sözcük dağarcığı becerilerinde tek dili çocuklardan farkı olmadığı bulunmuştur. Sonuçlar erken dönemde başlayan yoğun ikinci dil pratiklerinin anadildeki anlatı becerileri açısından olumsuz etkiler ortaya koyabileceğini göstermiştir.

Keywords

• İkinci dil edinimi,iki dillilik,anlatı becerileri,dil bilgisel karmaşıklık,anlatı yapısı

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