Unpacking the Richness of Language Experience as a Predictor of Bilingual Children’s Language Proficiency
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20367331 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sharon Unsworth (0000-0002-0946-2362, Radboud University, corresponding author), Arief Gusnanto (0000-0001-5748-784X, University of Leeds), Draško Kašćelan (0000-0002-4465-0844, University of Essex), Philippe Prévost (0000-0002-6201-1800, Université de Tours), Ludovica Serratrice (0000-0001-5141-6186, University of Reading), Laurice Tuller (0000-0002-7491-0379, Université de Tours), Laurie Tuller (Université de Tours), Cécile De Cat (0000-0003-0044-0527, University of Leeds) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-33 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Child Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-0009 • E-ISSN: 1469-7602 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0305000925100305 |
| PMID | 41220314 |
| OpenAlex | W4416131193 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 50 |
The richness of bilingual children’s language experience is typically expressed as a composite score using parental questionnaire data. This study unpacks the concept of input richness by examining one such composite score (Q-BEx) to determine whether it reliably predicts children’s language abilities, is no more complex than required, and as user-friendly as possible. Data were collected from 173 bilingual children aged 5 to 8 across three countries (France, Netherlands, UK) with various heritage languages in each. Parents completed the Q-BEx questionnaire and children proficiency tasks in their societal language. We analysed the predictive power of the original score compared to several alternative scoring approaches. Results showed (i) these alternatives were not more informative, (ii) scores including qualitative aspects of richness fared better than those with only quantitative variables, (iii) the latent variables underlying richness were comparable across languages, and (iv) whether parental education was included made little difference
Heritage language · Language acquisition · Language proficiency · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Predictive power · Qualitative property · Species richness · Unpacking · Early Childhood Education and Development · Language Development and Disorders · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
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| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |