Exploring the relationship between language exposure and early language development of Hong Kong children : a three-way comparison

Abstract

This study is a three-way case study comparison investigating the relationship between language exposure and early language development of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual children growing up in Hong Kong. Three children aged from 22-24 months, including a Cantonese monolingual, Cantonese-Mandarin bilingual and Cantonese-Mandarin-English multilingual child, participated in this study. Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) and picture naming tasks in each of the three languages were used to collect information on children’s vocabulary size and speech sound development, which includes phonemic inventory, speech accuracy and phonological processes. A significant positive correlation between percentage of language exposure and vocabulary size was found, while no significant correlation was noted between percentage of language exposure and speech accuracy. Cross linguistic interactions in the form of positive and negative transfer were evident in children’s vocabulary and speech sound development. Different pattern of early language development was noted corresponding to the variation in language exposure and cross-linguistic influence across the three case studies.