Cécile De Cat
Biographic Data
| ID | 1234622 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cécile De Cat |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cécile |
| FAMILY NAME | De Cat |
| SIGNATURE | DE CAT C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Leeds |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0044-0527 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
How detailed do measures of bilingual language experience need to be? A cost–benefit analysis using the Q-BEx questionnaire
What is the optimal level of questionnaire detail required to measure bilingual language experience? This empirical evaluation compares alternative measures of language exposure of varying cost (i.e., questionnaire detail) in terms of their performance as predictors of oral language outcomes. The alternative measures were derived from Q-BEx questionnaire data collected from a diverse sample of 121 heritage bilinguals (5–9 years of age) growing up…
Individual language experience determinants of morphosyntactic variation in heritage and attriting speakers of Bosnian and Serbian: A causal inference approach
Using a causal inference approach, we explored the relationships among the language experience determinants of morphosyntactic sensitivity, to identify the factors that indirectly and directly cause its acquisition or maintenance in immigration contexts. We probed the sensitivity to Serbian/Bosnian clitic placement violations with a self-paced listening task, in a diverse group of bilinguals in Norway ( n = 71), born to immigrant parents, or havi…
Direct objects in child heritage speakers of Bosnian and Serbian in Norway: Morphosyntax, pragmatics, and language experience
Aims and objectives: This study examines the structural and morphological features of direct object realization through various types of direct objects—noun phrases (NPs), clitic pronouns, and null objects—in child heritage speakers (HSs) of Bosnian and Serbian in contact with Norwegian. This study also focuses on the role of language-internal factors, individual language experience variables, lexical proficiency, and cross-linguistic influence i…
Unpacking the Richness of Language Experience as a Predictor of Bilingual Children’s Language Proficiency
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 count…
How to quantify bilingual experience? Findings from a Delphi consensus survey
While most investigations of bilingualism document participants’ language background, there is an absence of consensus on how to quantify bilingualism. The high number of different language background questionnaires used by researchers and practitioners jeopardises data comparability and cross-pollination between research and practice. Using the Delphi consensus survey method, we asked 132 panellists (researchers, speech and language therapists, …
So many variables, but what causes what
Paradis’ keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children’s dual language abilities. It includes the ‘usual suspects’, such as input quantity, and also highlights areas requiring further investigation, such as cognitive abilities. As such, it will no doubt serve as a valuable basis for the field as we move forward. Paradis quite rightly points out that whilst some of these factors may be unidirectionally…
Achieving representativity in opportunity sampling: The ‘Bradford effect’ in the multilingual families Covid-19 survey
Typically, families from ethnic minority backgrounds and socioeconomic disadvantage are underrepresented in research.Using secondary data from a survey of the language practices of multilingual families during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, we sought to ascertain whether the unexpectedly large proportion of Bradford-based respondents affected the representativeness of the sample and/or the patterns of responses.Respondents were objectiv…
A review of questionnaires quantifying bilingual experience in children: Do they document the same constructs
Questionnaires documenting children's bilingual experience have been used frequently in research on language and cognitive development. However, there has been little investigation of the comparability between these tools. In this review, we (i) provide a list of available questionnaires used to quantify bilingual experience in children; (ii) identify the components of bilingual experience documented across questionnaires; and (iii) discuss the c…
A constellation of continua: Reconceptualising bilingualism, autism and language research
Preview this article: A constellation of continua, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.21069.kas-1.gif
What does the Sentence Structure component of the Celf-IV index, in monolinguals and bilinguals
The Sentence Structure sub-test (SST) of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) aims to “measure the acquisition of grammatical (structural) rules at the sentence level”. Although originally designed for clinical practice with monolingual children, components of the CELF, such as the SST, are often used to inform psycholinguistic research. Raw scores are also commonly used to estimate the English proficiency of bilingual children…
Opportunities and challenges in the analysis of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (Main)
The development of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) has no doubt contributed to prompting a renewed interest in children’s narratives. This carefully controlled test of narrative abilities elicits a rich set of measures spanning multiple linguistic domains and their interaction, including lexis, morphosyntax, discourse-pragmatics, as well as various aspects of narrative structure, communicative competence, and language…
Evaluating Yang’s algorithms: An outline
Preview this article: Evaluating Yang’s algorithms, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.18066.de-1.gif
Introduction: Special section on interfaces between cognition and language development
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Beyond the first step: A commentary on O’Grady (2013)
Preview this article: Beyond the first step: A commentary on O’Grady (2013), Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.3.3.06dec-1.gif
Egocentric definiteness errors and perspective evaluation in preschool children
Explaining children’s over-use of definites in partitive contexts
Partitive contexts are those in which a set of similar individuals has been introduced, and the speaker needs to refer to one of them. If that referent has not yet been individualized in the context, the only adult-like option is to refer to it with an indefinite. But in such contexts, children have been shown to often produce (illicit) definites. In comprehension, if children are made to identify a referent in a partitive context, they do not al…
Information tracking and encoding in early L1: Linguistic competence vs. cognitive limitations
This study provides experimental evidence for preschool children's competence in basic information structure, with particular attention to the notions of topic and focus. It investigates their mastery of structural and definiteness distinctions to encode the information status of discourse referents, and seeks to distinguish linguistic competence from cognitive development as the source for children's ‘errors’. Evidence comes from a story-telling…
French dislocation without movement
French subject clitics are not agreement markers
Peripheries
Core Questions about the Edge D. Adger, C. de Cat. 2. On The Left And On The Right R. Cann, R. Kempson, L. Marten, M. Otsuka, D. Swinburne. 3. The Left Periphery In Hungarian: Towards A Phase-Based Account B. Suranyi. 4. Unspecified Categories As The Key To Root Constructions J. Emonds. 5. Peripheral Effects Without Peripheral Syntax: The Left Periphery In Korean G. Tsoulas, Kook-Hee Gill. 6. Japanese Scrambling In A Comparative Perspective M. Sa…
Peripheries: Syntactic Edges and Their Effects
Dislocation without movement
This paper argues that French Left-Dislocation is a unified phenomenon whether it is resumed by a clitic or a non-clitic element. The syntactic component is shown to play a minimal role in its derivation: all that is required is that the dislocated element be merged by adjunction to a Discourse Projection (generally a finite TP with root properties). No agreement or checking of a topic feature is necessary, hence no syntactic movement of any sort…
Peripheries
Core Questions about the Edge D. Adger, C. de Cat. 2. On The Left And On The Right R. Cann, R. Kempson, L. Marten, M. Otsuka, D. Swinburne. 3. The Left Periphery In Hungarian: Towards A Phase-Based Account B. Suranyi. 4. Unspecified Categories As The Key To Root Constructions J. Emonds. 5. Peripheral Effects Without Peripheral Syntax: The Left Periphery In Korean G. Tsoulas, Kook-Hee Gill. 6. Japanese Scrambling In A Comparative Perspective M. Sa…
Peripheries: Syntactic Edges and Their Effects
Dislocation without movement
This paper argues that French Left-Dislocation is a unified phenomenon whether it is resumed by a clitic or a non-clitic element. The syntactic component is shown to play a minimal role in its derivation: all that is required is that the dislocated element be merged by adjunction to a Discourse Projection (generally a finite TP with root properties). No agreement or checking of a topic feature is necessary, hence no syntactic movement of any sort…
French subject clitics are not agreement markers
French dislocation without movement
Information tracking and encoding in early L1: Linguistic competence vs. cognitive limitations
This study provides experimental evidence for preschool children's competence in basic information structure, with particular attention to the notions of topic and focus. It investigates their mastery of structural and definiteness distinctions to encode the information status of discourse referents, and seeks to distinguish linguistic competence from cognitive development as the source for children's ‘errors’. Evidence comes from a story-telling…
Explaining children’s over-use of definites in partitive contexts
Partitive contexts are those in which a set of similar individuals has been introduced, and the speaker needs to refer to one of them. If that referent has not yet been individualized in the context, the only adult-like option is to refer to it with an indefinite. But in such contexts, children have been shown to often produce (illicit) definites. In comprehension, if children are made to identify a referent in a partitive context, they do not al…
Beyond the first step: A commentary on O’Grady (2013)
Preview this article: Beyond the first step: A commentary on O’Grady (2013), Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.3.3.06dec-1.gif
Egocentric definiteness errors and perspective evaluation in preschool children
Introduction: Special section on interfaces between cognition and language development
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Evaluating Yang’s algorithms: An outline
Preview this article: Evaluating Yang’s algorithms, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.18066.de-1.gif
A review of questionnaires quantifying bilingual experience in children: Do they document the same constructs
Questionnaires documenting children's bilingual experience have been used frequently in research on language and cognitive development. However, there has been little investigation of the comparability between these tools. In this review, we (i) provide a list of available questionnaires used to quantify bilingual experience in children; (ii) identify the components of bilingual experience documented across questionnaires; and (iii) discuss the c…
A constellation of continua: Reconceptualising bilingualism, autism and language research
Preview this article: A constellation of continua, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.21069.kas-1.gif
What does the Sentence Structure component of the Celf-IV index, in monolinguals and bilinguals
The Sentence Structure sub-test (SST) of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) aims to “measure the acquisition of grammatical (structural) rules at the sentence level”. Although originally designed for clinical practice with monolingual children, components of the CELF, such as the SST, are often used to inform psycholinguistic research. Raw scores are also commonly used to estimate the English proficiency of bilingual children…
Opportunities and challenges in the analysis of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (Main)
The development of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) has no doubt contributed to prompting a renewed interest in children’s narratives. This carefully controlled test of narrative abilities elicits a rich set of measures spanning multiple linguistic domains and their interaction, including lexis, morphosyntax, discourse-pragmatics, as well as various aspects of narrative structure, communicative competence, and language…
How to quantify bilingual experience? Findings from a Delphi consensus survey
While most investigations of bilingualism document participants’ language background, there is an absence of consensus on how to quantify bilingualism. The high number of different language background questionnaires used by researchers and practitioners jeopardises data comparability and cross-pollination between research and practice. Using the Delphi consensus survey method, we asked 132 panellists (researchers, speech and language therapists, …
So many variables, but what causes what
Paradis’ keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children’s dual language abilities. It includes the ‘usual suspects’, such as input quantity, and also highlights areas requiring further investigation, such as cognitive abilities. As such, it will no doubt serve as a valuable basis for the field as we move forward. Paradis quite rightly points out that whilst some of these factors may be unidirectionally…
Achieving representativity in opportunity sampling: The ‘Bradford effect’ in the multilingual families Covid-19 survey
Typically, families from ethnic minority backgrounds and socioeconomic disadvantage are underrepresented in research.Using secondary data from a survey of the language practices of multilingual families during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, we sought to ascertain whether the unexpectedly large proportion of Bradford-based respondents affected the representativeness of the sample and/or the patterns of responses.Respondents were objectiv…
How detailed do measures of bilingual language experience need to be? A cost–benefit analysis using the Q-BEx questionnaire
What is the optimal level of questionnaire detail required to measure bilingual language experience? This empirical evaluation compares alternative measures of language exposure of varying cost (i.e., questionnaire detail) in terms of their performance as predictors of oral language outcomes. The alternative measures were derived from Q-BEx questionnaire data collected from a diverse sample of 121 heritage bilinguals (5–9 years of age) growing up…
Individual language experience determinants of morphosyntactic variation in heritage and attriting speakers of Bosnian and Serbian: A causal inference approach
Using a causal inference approach, we explored the relationships among the language experience determinants of morphosyntactic sensitivity, to identify the factors that indirectly and directly cause its acquisition or maintenance in immigration contexts. We probed the sensitivity to Serbian/Bosnian clitic placement violations with a self-paced listening task, in a diverse group of bilinguals in Norway ( n = 71), born to immigrant parents, or havi…
Direct objects in child heritage speakers of Bosnian and Serbian in Norway: Morphosyntax, pragmatics, and language experience
Aims and objectives: This study examines the structural and morphological features of direct object realization through various types of direct objects—noun phrases (NPs), clitic pronouns, and null objects—in child heritage speakers (HSs) of Bosnian and Serbian in contact with Norwegian. This study also focuses on the role of language-internal factors, individual language experience variables, lexical proficiency, and cross-linguistic influence i…
Unpacking the Richness of Language Experience as a Predictor of Bilingual Children’s Language Proficiency
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 count…
Computer Science (15 works) · Linguistics (14 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Language Development and Disorders (10 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (8 works) · Clitic (6 works) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (6 works) · Artificial Intelligence (5 works) · Cognition (5 works)