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La bilingualité des enfants de migrants face aux enjeux de la transmission familiale
Abstract
Our approach on early bilingualism, focused on transcultural clinical research, shows that the idea according to which children from a foreign background master two languages is not always accurate. The difficulty of language transmission is situated within crossing and complex factors : on one hand, it includes the axe that corresponds to parents'identity projection and their children's affiliation, and, on the other hand, the axe in which the parents are attached to their languages and the children positioning towards these attachments.
... La prise en compte de la ou des langues autres de l'enfant est important également à d'autres niveaux car le profil langagier correspond aussi à des besoins de communication sociale et de construction identitaire de l'enfant. Si les multiples enjeux de la transmission et les bénéfices liés à la pratique de la L1 sont aujourd'hui bien connus (Bensekhar-Bennabi, 2010 ;Bialystok et al., 2007 ;Rezzoug & Moro, 2011), le développement bilingue n'est pas toujours socialement valorisé, notamment si la L1 ne l'est pas (Rosenbaum et al., 2009). La construction identitaire demande un travail psychique complexe pour l'enfant en situation migratoire (Baubet et al., 2013 ;Métraux & Furtos, 2018) qui doit intégrer ses appartenances plurielles pour construire une identité métissée, singulière et harmonieuse (Maalouf, 2001). ...
Le recours à un IPS vise à pallier les difficultés rencontrées lors d’un bilan de langage d’un enfant bilingue, mais reste une pratique méconnue des orthophonistes français. Notre étude explore l’implémentation d’un IPS dans ce type d’évaluation. Nous avons effectué une analyse qualitative par analyse thématique d’entretiens et observations durant 5 bilans de langage oral chez des enfants migrants âgés de 8 à 15 ans, faisant ressortir 3 axes thématiques : apports de l’IPS dans ce dispositif, difficultés.
rencontrées, perspectives.
... Rezzoug, De Plaën, Bensekhar-Bennabi ve Moro (2007) için iki dillilik "görecelidir" 12 (2007: 62). Rezzoug ve arkadaşları, bir kişinin iki dilli olarak kabul edilebileceği seviyenin belirlenmesinin zorluklarından bahsetmişlerdir ve bu durum iki dilin eşitsiz kullanımına işaret etmektedir (Bensekhar-Bennabi, 2010). Bu eşitsizlik durumuna, söz konusu kişinin geçmişi, iki dilin yeri, iki dilin çevredeki işlevleri vb. ...
The concepts of bilingualism and biculturalism have often been subjects of distinct research fields despite they are closely related. However, language and culture are in a constant interaction and an integral part of each other. This dynamic relationship between language and culture is prevalent at the same time for monolingual individuals and societies as well as for bilingual individuals and societies. These concepts must be dealt with together, especially when they concern immigrants. This descriptive study presents a traditional literature review. The aim of this article is to discuss current definitions and classifications of bilingualism and biculturalism, explain the relation between bilingualism and biculturalism and analyse particularly how these two concepts develop in immigrants. To do this, in the first part, minimalist and maximalist approaches of bilingualism have been treated. Then, different types and current definitions of bilingualism have been mentioned. In a second part entitled “Identity and Ownership”, the concepts of identity, culture and biculturalism have been introduced. In this part, different concepts related to identity and culture have been defined as Social Identity, Cultural Identity, Ethnic Identity, Enculturation and Acculturation. In the next part, the relationship between bilingualism and biculturalism has been discussed and some factors that can be considered common to bilingualism and biculturalism have been explained as Cultural Dominance, Age of Acculturation, Cultural Identity and self-perception of the individual as well as Cultural ‘Comfort’. Finally, the development of bilingualism and biculturalism in a context of migration, the bilingual development of immigrants in the framework of the hierarchical relationship between the minority and the majority languages as well as the acculturation strategies adopted by them have been examined.
... Si la langue et la culture turques ne sont pas entretenues, renforcées par un apprentissage formel, et si elles ne sont pas outre mesure valorisées au sein de la famille, on peut être certain qu'à terme les enfants ne développeront pas un bilinguisme mais connaitront ce que l'on a coutume d'appeler un bilinguisme soustractif et une attrition de la langue et de la culture d'origine des parents. Comme le rappelle Bensekhar-Bennabi (2010), la transmission de la langue familiale aux enfants est non seulement gage de maintien des liens intergénérationnels mais aussi d'intégration et de réussite scolaire. ...
... Par ailleurs les transmissions intrafamiliales sont plus fragiles lorsque les parents sont éloignés de leurs proches et du reste de leur famille, et ce d'autant plus s'ils ont subi des ruptures voire des traumatismes lors de la migration. Ainsi, on sait que la transmission de la langue maternelle se fait peu dans les familles migrantes et que les pratiques langagières y sont complexes (Bensekhar-Bennabi, M., 2010). Or, certaines compétences enseignées à l'école, comme la lecture et la rédaction, se basent sur la capacité à comprendre, à restituer ou à construire un récit, quelle que soit la langue utilisée. ...
... Quel statut la langue maternelle a-t-elle lorsqu'elle est peu parlée avec les enfants et qu'elle est d'autant moins valorisée quand elle est le reflet des conflits déchirant le pays d'origine ? (Bensekhar-Bennabi, 2010). Comment ne pas prendre en compte les récentes études de Maya Gratier montrant les effets de l'acculturation sur la structure rythmique et harmonique de l'interaction vocale entre mère et bébé ? ...
Valuing mother tongues
A speech therapist discusses the persistent preconceptions about bilingualism and the dramatic repercussions it can have on all aspects of a child’s development. Drawing on scientific studies, she argues in favour of adopting a professional position that supports the use of mother tongues. The author also discusses the distinctions between pseudo-language disorders and the particularities of language development in bilingual children and suggests the use of adapted resources.
Thanks to the French-German Agenda 2020, many new French-German day-care centres have opened in the region of the Upper Rhine, guaranteeing an early bilingual and bicultural upbringing.The present thesis elaborates an inventory of the contents, strategies and language practices offered in the respective structures and, even more important, of the linguistic and cultural interactional competencies that can actually be acquired by the children visiting these day-care centres.For this purpose, the present thesis analyses different corpora such as the legal framework for early childhood care in France and Germany, the websites of the French-German day-care centres of the Upper Rhine, the interviews made with the centres’ employees and directors, and, last not least, the field notes taken in 3 centres that have been visited as well as 28 hours of audiorecorded caretaker-child interactions. In so doing, it uses an ethnolinguistic research design in order to identify fields of tension as well as the synergies to be exploited.
For decades, international researchers and educators have sought to understand how to address cultural and linguistic diversity in education. This book offers the keys to doing so: it brings together short biographies of thirty-six scholars, representing a wide range of universities and countries, to allow them to reflect on their own personal life paths, and how their individual life experiences have led to and informed their research. This approach highlights how theories and concepts have evolved in different contexts, while opening up pedagogical possibilities from diverse backgrounds and enriched by the life experiences of leading researchers in the field. Beyond these questions, the book also explores the dynamic relationships between languages, power and identities, as well as how these relationships raise broader societal issues that permeate both global and local language practices. It is essential reading for students, teacher educators, and researchers interested in the impact of multilingualism on education.
Les enfants de migrants sont souvent plus à l’aise que leurs parents dans la langue du pays d’accueil et peuvent jouer de ce fait un rôle d’interprète au sein de la famille. Cela peut-il entraîner une inversion des rôles parents/enfants et avec quelles conséquences ? L’analyse de treize protocoles d’enfants de 8 à 14 ans (un dessin de famille et un entretien semi-directif accompagné de supports visuels et de figurines, pour aider les enfants à exprimer leurs ressentis et leur perception de la dynamique familiale dans diverses situations) donne de nombreux indices d’une parentification douloureuse : peur de ne pas être à la hauteur, sentiments d’injustice, dévalorisation des parents, conflits fraternels et non-reconnaissance de leurs efforts et de leurs compétences pour traduire. Les indices d’une parentalisation fonctionnelle plus positive, telles que la fierté ou le sentiment de maturité, sont toujours associés à des expériences de remerciements ou de félicitations. Ces résultats invitent à sensibiliser les professionnels et les parents sur l’importance des signes de reconnaissance à l’égard des enfants interprètes qui contribuent à les maintenir à une place d’enfant.
En métropole et dans les DOM-TOM, l’accueil orthophonique d’une situation plurilingue se fait le plus fréquemment en français, la langue du professionnel, au détriment de la dimension multiculturelle et sociolinguistique co-créée dans cet espace de rencontres. Notre questionnaire sur les pratiques professionnelles des orthophonistes dans l’accueil des sujets bilingues met en évidence le constat suivant : l’expertise de ce métier apparaît comme sensiblement tronquée d’une réalité clinique importante, pourtant indispensable à l’évaluation et ensuite à l’établissement d’une prise en soin adaptée. Cette recherche vise donc à proposer une transposition de certains outils de l’approche transculturelle du soin, proposée par Marie Rose Moro, vers la pratique orthophonique pour permettre un meilleur accompagnement des situations multilingues.
This qualitative exploratory study examined transcultural and familial factors involved in bilingualism and minority language transmission among French and Arabic-speaking children. Participants included 30 children aged 4 to 6 years, born in France, and their bilingual French-Maghrebi Arabic-speaking parents. Children’s bilingual language profiles were assessed with the ELAL Scale for Maghrebi Arabic (minority language) and the Neel Scale for French (majority language). Mothers participated in qualitative interviews about cultural and language practices and representations. Interview contents were compared with the children’s language profiles. Results indicated that parents closely associated the transmission of the Arabic language with their cultural heritage transmission. The parents of fluent bilinguals had a strong desire to transmit the minority language. Mothers of minority language dominant bilingual children reported little perception of change in their lives since migration. Half of the mothers of majority language dominant bilingual children reported relationship or emotional difficulties with their children. Four minority language transmission types were identified: direct parent-child transmission; indirect transmission through private classes; indirect transmission through visits to family in the parents' native countries; and alternative transmission by another family member. Direct parent-child transmission was most frequent among the fluent bilinguals. Families' processes of hybridity were related to language transmission and bilingual development of children. Parental cultural affiliations to native country were related to minority language transmission. Perception of change since migration and affiliation to host country may also play a role in harmonious bilingual development. Moreover, the quality of family relationships can affect minority language transmission.
The objective of this paper is to present results of a field work in which the aim was to examine the relationship between precocious bilingualism and certain cognitive capacities in 5 and 6 years old children. The cognitive capacities we took into account are attention, visual memory and intelligence. The obtained results permitted to conclude that bilingualism does not constitute an obstacle to the child’s cognitive development on the one hand, and that there is no difference between the bilingual and the monolingual at the advantage of monolinguals on the other hand that lead to the development of certain cognitive capacities namely memory.
“Türkiyeli Göçmenlerin Göç Alan Ülkelerde Eğitim Durumu ve Toplumsal Koşulları” Sempozyumu, dil, eğitim ve göç ile bağlantılı konuların, yeni bulgulara ulaşmak ve yeni perspektifler geliştirmek için, bilimsel temelde tartışıldığı ve derinleştirildiği bir platform olarak tasarlanmıştır.
Türkiyeli göçmenlerin ağırlıklı olarak yaşadıkları toplam 11 göç ülkesinde (Almanya, İsviçre, Hollanda, Fransa, Belçika, İngiltere, Danimarka, İsveç, Finlandiya, ABD ve Avustralya), içinde bulundukları toplumsal koşul ve eğitsel durumlar farklı boyutlarıyla dikkate alınarak irdelenmiştir. Avusturya ve Kanada üzerine sempozyumda sunumlar yapılmış, ancak kitapta bu ülke- leri irdeleyen makalelere yer verilememiştir.
Bu etkinlikte Türkiyeli göçmen çocuklarının eğitsel başarı düzeylerini, özellikle de “dil edinim eksikleri” ve “fırsat eşitliği” sorunlarını hangi etmenlerin belirlediği ele alınmıştır. Göç alan ülkelerde ve göçün farklı dönemlerinde uygulanan dil desteğinin uluslararası dil edinim kuramlarını ve başarılı dil edinim modellerini hangi ölçüde göz önünde bulundurduğu ayrıca tartışmaya açılarak, yeni bakış açıları ve eleştirel bir yaklaşım geliştirilmesine olanak tanınmıştır.
“Entegrasyon politikaları” sempozyumun bir diğer ağırlıklı konusunu oluşturmuştur. Her göç ülkesinin izlediği entegrasyon politikalarında, farklı siyasi akımlar ve toplumsal gruplar kendi çizgilerine uygun tasarıları uygulamaya ya da geliştirmeye çalışmıştır. Bütünleşme, içselleme, kültürlerarasılık, çokkültürlülük ya da yönetici kültür (Leitkultur) kavramları bunun bir yansısı olup, 1960’lı yıllardan bu yana yaşanan “entegrasyon” süreçlerinde hangi tasarıların hayata geçtiği, bu tasarıların nasıl sonuçlar doğurduğu ve alternatiflere neden gereksinim duyulduğunun kamuoyuna tanıtılması, sempozyumun amaçları arasında yer almıştır.
Faire la part de ce qui est dysfonctionnel par rapport à des modalités de fonctionnement langagier spécifiques à un contexte plurilingue, établir l’existence de réelles compétences linguistiques dans une langue exogène, éviter d’assigner à une catégorie pathologique des enfants qui n’ont juste pas bénéficié d’une bonne immersion en français, valoriser les ressources linguistiques disponibles dans la langue maternelle. L’ELAL d’Avicenne a été conçu dans ce but. Son administration en Algérie à 20 locuteurs arabophones (de 4 ans, 7 mois à 5 ans, 11 mois) nous confirme sa sensibilité et nous renseigne sur un effet du contexte sociolinguistique algérien.
Le fait que le maintien et l'enrichissement de la première langue de l'enfant représentent un facteur favorisant le développement d'une seconde langue est aujourd'hui avéré. Alors qu'à travers le monde le plurilinguisme de l'individu est loin d'être une exception, la tradition du monolinguisme reste encore fortement ancrée en France. Les familles migrantes se retrouvent face à un défi majeur qui est de tenter de s'intégrer tout en conservant leur identité, à savoir leur langue et leur culture. Ce défi est assez facilement relevé dans les cas où la langue d'origine bénéficie d'un certain prestige au sein de la société d'accueil. L'enfant devient alors bilingue biculturel et il pourra ensuite s'inscrire dans les apprentissages scolaires. Dans les autres cas, il en va en partie de la volonté des adultes à valoriser les deux langues et cultures de l'enfant de migrants. Or, la honte de leur première langue, la crainte de l'échec scolaire ou de la confusion entre les langues par l'enfant, ou encore les « conseils » donnés, empêchent souvent les parents d'adopter cette attitude positive. Dans notre étude nous avons cherché à interroger les représentations mais aussi les besoins d'information des parents au sujet du développement du langage bilingue. Nous avons ainsi mis en place une action de prévention autour du conte bilingue auprès de 7 familles migrantes arabophones ou turcophones dont les enfants sont âgés de 2 ans 3 mois à 5 ans. Cette étude nous a également amenées à élaborer une plaquette d'information à propos des facteurs favorisant le développement d'un bilinguisme harmonieux. Ce travail nous a ainsi permis de démontrer le rôle que pouvait jouer l'orthophoniste dans le cadre d'une telle action de prévention.
Many children supported by professionals from the mother and infant welfare protection centre grow up in a plurilingual environment. Taking into account this plurilingualism provides better understanding of the relationships which the children establish with their environment. This can also help them to engage in a transgenerational transmission as well as in multiple cultural affiliations.
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Bilingualism and children: new mode of treatment experiment
Children of migrant parents with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds account for an increasing proportion of the active child psychiatric patient list.
The complex nature of the developmental environment leads us to question patient care modalities and services, including the relevance of diagnostic tools. Thanks to a budget line allocated to interpreting services, the Mental HealthCenter of Eysines) near Bordeaux was able to experiment a new framework dedicated to the exploration of bilingualism. This article presents its methodology, the preliminary results and impact on the quality of patient care. The main reason for referral to child psychiatric services being learning difficulties at school, the challenge at stake is particularly critical.
The aim of our study is to understand the role of home language practices in the language development of 6 Turkish-French early bilingual preschool children (3-5 years old) from immigrant background and having different home language practices such as essentially Turkish and a mix of Turkish and French. The data consists of verbal interactions between the adults and the children in which we have studied the diversity of discourse genres. The results show that home language practices have an impact on the interactional and language competences of children. As indicated by some of the results, children who mostly practice Turkish at home are dominant in Turkish whereas those who practice more French at home are dominant in French which is reinforced by school. However, at the end of the second year of preschool (5 years old), there are few differences in French among the groups, which shows that French, as the school language, is acquired more or less at the same degree by all children, independently of their home language practices.
Résumé
La pluralité linguistique est une donnée devenue ordinaire, générant des situations où le bilinguisme est avéré, ou simplement supposé. Elle contraint les cliniciens à disposer de méthodes et outils spécifiques pour objectiver les troubles du langage, avant qu’ils ne s’enkystent. L’évaluation langagière pour allophones et primo-arrivants (ELAL Avicenne), avec sa méthodologie, répond à cet objectif. En ne considérant pas le bilinguisme comme la somme de deux états monolingues, sans faire abstraction du fait que la bilingualité a des implications psychologiques, nous proposons là une méthodologie qui permet de déterminer l’étendue des acquisitions linguistiques d’ensemble et de retracer la dynamique du développement linguistique chez des enfants de 3 à 6 ans. L’ELAL Avicenne est à la fois un test de langage rigoureux et économique. Sous-tendu par un modèle interlangue du développement et du fonctionnement langagier, il fournit la base interprétative permettant de situer les performances obtenues dans un ensemble fonctionnellement cohérent.
Extrafamilial mutism or selective mutism is four times more frequent among bilingual migrant children than among monolingual native children. Our study's aim is, by way of a review of the psychiatric and anthropological literature, and of a clinical vignette from our transcultural practice at the Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, to shed light on psychoaffective issues in a migration context, so as to integrate them into our care practice. We show that extrafamilial mutism perfectly illustrates the paradigmatic issues of migration: it reflects the children's difficulties to make links between the inside world (the family and the culture of origin, the world of affectivity) and the outside world (the school and the culture of residence, the world of rationality and pragmatism). Making link between the psychotherapeutic process at work in the transcultural consultation and a group therapy called “Bilingual group”, we show that the symptom of selective mutism also resonates with separation and individuation issues at work in language development, and with loyalty issues regarding the culture of origin. The transcultural approach allows one to integrate the patients' specific cultures and histories, so that they succeed in making a cultural interbreeding between their two cultures. In other words, this allows to bridge the gap between the two cultural backgrounds of these children, giving them the possibility to draw from their different cultures and to stimulate their creativity. Perhaps our cares both able these children to talk as well as to develop listening skills, helping them becoming sensitive and creative adults, attentive towards others and their own feelings.
Although language plays a fundamental role in psychic transmission, among children of immigrants, access to bilinguality is not easy because of a complex and difficult collective positioning in regard to bilingual-ism. A non-assumed linguistic plurality can disorganise or slow down the structuration of language to the point that bilingualism can be associated with language troubles. Some epidemiological data and clinical practice associated with research in the transculturel field show us that the troubles are not necessarily due to bilinguality. Psychological and cultural parameters combine in an unfavorable way to generate difficulties in accessing language. In fact, psychological factors and others, inherent to the complexity of plural and unequal contexts, are potentialised and give their specificity to these language troubles. Moreover, sone contingent manifestations of linguistic plurality (selective mutism, the attrition of the maternal tongue) are due to factors of a cultural and psychological kind which enter into the larger clinical framework. A specific methodology associating a Test for the Language Evaluation of allophones and first-generation immigrants (ELAL Avicenne) and a clinical interview inquiring about intrafamilial language habits shows itself to be useful in spotting these language troubles.
Language pathologies in linguistic pluralities
Although language plays a fundamental role in psychic transmission, among children of immigrants, access to bilinguality is not easy because of a complex and difficult collective positioning in regard to bilingualism. A non-assumed linguistic plurality can disorganise or slow down the structuration of language to the point that bilingualism can be associated with language troubles. Some epidemiological data and clinical practice associated with research in the transculturel field show us that the troubles are not necessarily due to bilinguality. Psychological and cultural parameters combine in an unfavorable way to generate difficulties in accessing language. In fact, psychological factors and others, inherent to the complexity of plural and unequal contexts, are potentialised and give their specificity to these language troubles. Moreover, sone contingent manifestations of linguistic plurality (selective mutism, the attrition of the maternal tongue) are due to factors of a cultural and psychological kind which enter into the larger clinical framework. A specific methodology associating a Test for the Language Evaluation of allophones and first-generation immigrants (ELAL Avicenne) and a clinical interview inquiring about intrafamilial language habits shows itself to be useful in spotting these language troubles.
Coping with foreign language, anxiety and identity construction for an adolescent expatriate
The following article studies the complex question of adolescent identity construction in the setting of expatriation. The aspects explored include the issues arising from being immersed in a foreign language, the relationship between language and psyche during adolescence and the developmental steps specific to adolescents from a minority cultural background. The theoretical part integrates anglo-saxon and francophone literature which enables a better general understanding of the issue and in the specific context of the following case study. The second half of the article aims to find and analyse the link between the difficulties of the client and his foreign language anxiety. This part also demonstrates how the mutism in the foreign language manifests the intense anxiety experienced by the subject and is strongly related to the subject’s own sense of otherness. The mutism is in fact a sign of the underlying issue of transgenerational transmission of an unprocessed trauma.
LANGUAGE EVALUATION IN THE MOTHER TONGUE FOR NATIVE CHILDREN AND NEW IMMIGRANTS. A NEW TOOL : THE ELAL Avicenne
After a review of earlier research on bilingualism, our object is to present the ELAL Avicenne (Language Evaluation for Allophones and new immigrants), a research tool created by the Language Center of the Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Service of the Avicenne Hospital (Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis, France). Over and above the fact that the ELAL Avicenne is a language evaluation tool, its aim is to facilitate the study of bilingualism and the factors which affect the quality of bilingualism in « bilingual » children. At the end of the exploratory period, this article analyses the usefulness and the pertinance of this test for children considered to be bilingual.
The present research was designed to examine more extensively the effects of bilingualism on the intellectual functioning of children and to explore the relations between bilingualism, school achievement, and students' attitudes to the second language community. The subjects were 10-year-old school children from six French schools under the jurisdiction of the Catholic School Commission of Montreal. The testing took place in the classroom and was divided into five sessions of 1 hour each, spaced about a week apart. All instructions to the children were given in French by native speakers of French, except for the test of English vocabulary which was administered by a native speaker of English. Verbal and nonverbal intelligence tests and measures of attitudes to the English and French communities were successfully administered. Contrary to previous findings this study found that bilinguals performed significantly better than monolinguals on both verbal and nonverbal intelligence tests. Several explanations are suggested as to why bilinguals have this general intellectual advantage. It is argued that they have a language asset, are more facile at concept formation, and have a greater mental flexibility. The results of factor analyses applied to the data supported the hypothesis that the structures of intellect for the two groups differ. The bilinguals appear to have a more diversified set of mental abilities than the monolinguals. The correlations of the attitude measures with other variables are also discussed.
It is commonly thought that children learning two languages simultaneously during infancy go through a stage when they cannot differentiate their two languages. Virtually all studies of infant bilingual development have found that bilingual children mix elements from their two languages. These results have been interpreted as evidence for a unitary, undifferentiated language system (the unitary language system hypothesis). The empirical basis for these claims is re-examined and it is argued that, contrary to most extant interpretations, bilingual children develop differentiated language systems from the beginning and are able to use their developing languages in contextually sensitive ways. A call for more serious attention to the possible role of parental input in the form of mixed utterances is made.
Previous work has shown that bilingualism is associated with more effective controlled processing in children; the assumption is that the constant management of 2 competing languages enhances executive functions (E. Bialystok, 2001). The present research attempted to determine whether this bilingual advantage persists for adults and whether bilingualism attenuates the negative effects of aging on cognitive control in older adults. Three studies are reported that compared the performance of monolingual and bilingual middle-aged and older adults on the Simon task. Bilingualism was associated with smaller Simon effect costs for both age groups; bilingual participants also responded more rapidly to conditions that placed greater demands on working memory. In all cases the bilingual advantage was greater for older participants. It appears, therefore, that controlled processing is carried out more effectively by bilinguals and that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses in certain executive processes.
This updated and revised edition of Hamers and Blanc's successful textbook presents state-of-the-art knowledge about languages in contact from individual bilingualism (or bilinguality) to societal bilingualism. It is both multi- and interdisciplinary in approach, and analyses bilingualism at individual, interpersonal, and societal levels. Linguistic, cognitive and sociocultural aspects of bilingual development are explored, as are problems such as bilingual memory and polyglot aphasia. Hamers and Blanc analyse the relationship between culture, identity, and language behaviour in multicultural settings, as well as the communication strategies in interpersonal and intergroup relations. They also propose theoretical models of language processing and development, which are then applied to bilingual behaviour. Other topics reviewed include language shift, pidgins and creoles, language planning and bilingual education. This book will be invaluable to students, teachers and scholars interested in languages in contact in a range of disciplines including psycholinguistics, linguistics, the social sciences, education and language planning.
SELECTIVE MUTISM IN THE CHILD : A TRANS-NOSOGRAPHIC CONCEPT. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DISCUSSION OF THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY INVOLVED
Selective mutism is a communication disorder of the child, defined as the persistant inability to speak in one or more social situations whereas the child is capable of understanding language and of speaking in other situations. This trouble is generally extra-familial and mainly concerns girls. Until recently, it was considered to be rare but is, in fact, quite probably under-diagnosed. It often begins before the age of five and several years may elapse before it is identified and treatment is begun. It can be symptomatic of quite a number of diverse personality organizations which must be considered before it is possible to offer a prognosis and the appropriate treatment. Many psychopathological hypotheses exist to explain the origin of this complex disorder. Several factors have been associated with it such as difficulties in the mother/child relationship, separation anxiety, immigration, a psychological traumatism, the notion of a family secret, and more recently, social phobia (or, more generally, anxiety troubles). The prognosis of this disorder is reserved, depending essentially on the underlying psychopathological structure, the precocity of the diagnosis and treatment, the family psychopathology and possible associated troubles such as intellectual deficiency, psychomotor or language developmental delays. To obtain the best chances of success, treatment must be global (including the child, his family and teachers) and « multi-modal », associating individual therapy (analytic and/or cognitive-behavioral type), family therapy and pharmacological treatment (if the component of anxiety seems to be massively present).
The proposed theoretical framework emphasizes the interaction between sociocultural, linguistic, and school program factors in explaining the academic and cognitive development of bilingual children. It is theorized that bilingualism that is cognitively and academically beneficial can be achieved only on the basis of adequately developed first language (L1) skills. This position is based on two hypotheses. The "developmental interdependence" hypothesis proposes that the development of competence in a second language (L2) is partially a function of the type of competence already developed in L1 at the time when intensive exposure to L2 begins. The "threshold" hypothesis proposes that there may be threshold levels of linguistic competence that bilingual children must attain both in order to avoid cognitive disadvantages and to allow the potentially beneficial aspects of bilingualism to influence their cognitive and academic functioning. This model of bilingual education explains educational outcomes as a function of the interaction between background, child input, and educational treatment factors. Attention is also directed to problems with bilingual education program evaluations that fail to consider these potential interactions. A review of relevant literature and studies is included. (Author/SW)
In this study, we investigated the expressive language development of 186 18–35 months old Chinese girls adopted into American families. The adoptees were adopted between 3 and 25 months (M = 11.0, S.D. = 3.1) and had lived in the adoptive families for 3–27 months (M = 16.2, S.D. = 5.8) at the time of the study. The adoptive mothers provided information on the adoptees’ pre- and post-adoption experiences, behavioral-emotional problems, and spontaneously uttered words and phrases. Cross-sectional data indicated that the adoptees experienced a full catch up after living in the adoptive families for an average of about 16 months. After that, the adoptees’ language level surpassed the U.S. norms for the same age group. Findings also suggested that the adoptees’ current age and age at adoption were associated with vocabulary size, while only age at adoption was a significant predictor of average phrase length. Pre-adoption experiences and current family demographics were not associated with the adoptees’ vocabulary size or average phrase length. The adoptees’ externalizing problems were negatively and weakly correlated with their phrase length.
The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with a general overview of the field of attrition. Having situated this relatively new research domain with respect to related fields and approaches, a brief summary of the most important research questions and preliminary findings is given. The discussion then focuses on two issues that are of particular interest with respect to neurolinguistics: the role of the subject's age and of the influence of L2. Concerning the former, a summary of research on the critical period hypothesis is given and discussed in the light of findings from attrition research. Another issue concerns the principal mechanisms involved in L1 attrition, i.e. whether attrition occurs because of lack of L1 use or because of its replacement by the competing L2 structures. Research issues of such scope need integrative approaches and greatly benefit from comparisons with related fields such as normal aging, acquisition and aphasia.
Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris X: Nanterre, 1987.
According to the authors' data, elective mutism is more likely to develop in children of immigrant families. Both their survey of the literature on elective mutism and immigration and their individual case studies indicate that parental reactions to immigration will at times contribute to the characteristic dynamics of elective mutism.
« L’univers du bilingue et la réalité des familles bilingues », Entretiens de la petite enfance
- M Bensekhar-Bennabi
- G Serre
Bilingualism : psychological, social and educational implications
- W.-L Lambert
« Le mutisme et les silences de l’enfant
- S Lebovici
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La conscience métalinguistique chez les bilingues, mémoire de maîtrise
- J Lenclos
Enfants d’ici venus d’ailleurs. Naître et grandir en France
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Parents en exil. Psychopathologie et migrations
- M.-R Moro
Manuel de psychiatrie de l’enfant
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L’homme et son langage
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