Home language environment and bilingual acquisition in preschoolers from low-income homes: differential impact of language and literacy related factors

ABSTRACTThis paper explores home language environment and bilingual language acquisition of 3- to 4-year-old children who come from low-income homes, based on the results of a questionnaire and a battery of bilingual language tests taken by 32 Chinese and Malay preschoolers in Singapore. Assessments included receptive vocabulary, depth of vocabulary, phonological awareness and print concept in both English and Mother Tongue (Chinese or Malay). The results were different for language and literacy factors. Home language use had no impact on test scores. However, literacy-related factors showed significant impact on nearly all the test results in both languages of the bilingual child. Reasons for lack of impact of home language use could be the quality of language used at home, inaccuracies in parent reports and the long hours that parents spend working outside the home. The authors conclude with emphasising the need for early reading intervention in order to improve bilingual language acquisition.KEYWORDS: Bilingual home environmentbilingual vocabulary acquisitionlow-income homespreschoolersSingapore AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank all the parents, teachers and toddlers who gave us their time and interest.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis study was funded by the Education Research Funding Programme, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, project no. OER 20/19VV.