The relationship between first language (L1) and second language (L2) lexical development in young Turkish-German children

Lexical development in first language (L1) Turkish and second language (L2) German in two- to three-year-old children was examined, using parental vocabulary checklists in Turkish and in German. Children showed strong Turkish dominance in the number of lexical items they produced, which was due to t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rinker, Tanja (Author) , Budde-Spengler, Nora (Author) , Sachse, Steffi (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism
Year: 2016, Volume: 20, Issue: 2, Pages: 218-233
ISSN:1747-7522
DOI:10.1080/13670050.2016.1179260
Online Access:Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1179260
Verlag, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1179260
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Author Notes:Tanja Rinker, Nora Budde-Spengler & Steffi Sachse
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Summary:Lexical development in first language (L1) Turkish and second language (L2) German in two- to three-year-old children was examined, using parental vocabulary checklists in Turkish and in German. Children showed strong Turkish dominance in the number of lexical items they produced, which was due to the more frequent exposure to Turkish and higher quality of the input. Their vocabulary in Turkish and German comprised a largely different conceptual make-up, as evidenced by a high conceptual count of items across languages. Translation equivalents made up around 10% of the Total Vocabulary. An exemplary analysis of six noun categories showed that the more domestically oriented categories (Furniture, People) were represented more strongly in Turkish vocabularies, while the Food and Drink category contributed equally to both languages. In Turkish, 18% of words were verbs, whereas in German, verbs constituted only 7% of the children’s vocabularies. A comparison between the parent checklists TIGE (developed for Turkish monolingual children in Turkey) and TILDA (developed for Turkish children growing up in Germany) revealed conceptual differences, which can be attributed to culture-specific developments and use of specific lexical items in the two countries. Therefore, language- and culture-specific instruments should be used to assess early vocabulary skills.
Item Description:Published online: 11 May 2016
Gesehen am 27.06.2018
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1747-7522
DOI:10.1080/13670050.2016.1179260