Tweetaligheid, Verbaal Werkgeheugen en Receptieve Woordenschat

Abstract

In the Netherlands, more and more children are being raised bilingually. It has been found that bilingualism can entail several disadvantages, such as an increased risk of language delay. This language delay may be explained by impaired receptive vocabulary skills and verbal working memory. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether monolingual and bilingual children differ in their receptive vocabulary and to what extent verbal working memory explains the correlation between bilingualism and receptive vocabulary. To answer these questions, data from the DASH-project (wave 4) has been used. The sample included 53 monolingual and 82 bilingual children (Mage = 5;9, SD = 1.95). An independent t-test and multiple regression analysis via PROCESS have been used to investigate the correlations. The findings indicate that there is a significant negative correlation between bilingualism and receptive vocabulary. Bilingual children have a lower receptive vocabulary than monolingual children. However, no correlation has been found between bilingualism and verbal working memory. Because of that, it must be concluded that the correlation between bilingualism and receptive vocabulary is not significantly mediated by verbal working memory.