Tamara Sorenson Duncan
Biographic Data
| ID | 2532793 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tamara Sorenson Duncan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tamara Sorenson |
| FAMILY NAME | Duncan |
| SIGNATURE | DUNCAN T S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Carleton University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4021-2115 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Academic achievement in English
Aims and Objectives: Increasingly, students who speak a minority language at home (minority-L1) enroll in Early French Immersion in Canada. A frequent question is the extent to which they develop academic abilities in English. Accordingly, this study asks: (a) Do a similar percentage of minority-L1 students meet provincial standards for academic achievement when tested in English when they attend French immersion compared to English language of i…
Does the Use of Complex Sentences Differentiate Between Bilinguals With and Without DLD? Evidence From Conversation and Narrative Tasks
Over-identification of language disorder among bilingual children with typical development (TD) is a risk factor in assessment. One strategy for improving assessment accuracy with bilingual children is to determine which linguistic sub-domains differentiate bilingual children with TD from bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To date, little research on sequential bilinguals with TD and DLD has focussed on complex (multi-…
Not all sentences are created equal
The sentences in texts are far more complex and diverse than those that children commonly encounter in oral language. This raises interesting questions as to whether the understanding of some sentence types might be more important than others in children’s reading comprehension. Accordingly, we examined the relation between children’s reading comprehension and their understanding of two types of sentences: one we label as basic sentences, which a…
Informing the Science of Reading
The reading wars were fought over the importance of sentence‐ versus word‐level information to students’ reading. As the field considers new debates on the science of reading, we argue here that sustained empirical inquiry into the role of sentence‐level information in students’ reading skill is needed. These investigations could be particularly useful in identifying ways to support reading comprehension. In this article, we review theories point…
How does maternal education influence the linguistic environment supporting bilingual language development in child second language learners of English
Aims: In monolingual situations, mothers with higher levels of education are more likely to provide their children with enriched linguistic input. However, in bilingual situations, the relationship between maternal education and input is more complex because education may have occurred in one, but not both, of the languages. This study details this complexity by examining the relationship between maternal education and linguistic input in a group…
Home language environment and children's second language acquisition
Previous research suggests that increased second language (L2) input at home may not support L2 acquisition in children from migrant backgrounds. In drawing this conclusion, existing work has largely aggregated across family members. This study contrasts the effect of L2 input from older siblings with that from mothers. Participants were 113 child L2 learners of English (mean age = 5;10 [range 4;10–7;2]; mean exposure to L2 in school = 16.7 month…
Children's Second Language Acquisition of English Complex Syntax
The goal of this study was to determine (a) the similarities and dissimilarities between child L2 and L1 acquisition of complex sentences and (b) the individual difference factors predicting L2 children's acquisition of complex sentences. We analyzed language samples from 187 English L2 children with diverse L1s (Age mean = 5;10 [years;months]; English exposure mean = 17 months). Children used various types of complex sentences at all levels of L…
Effects of Input Properties, Vocabulary Size, and L1 on the Development of Third Person Singular -s in Child L2 English
This study was designed to investigate the development of third-person singular (3SG) -s in children who learn English as a second language (L2). Adopting the usage-based perspective on the learning of inflection, we analyzed spontaneous speech samples collected from 15 English L2 children who were followed over a 2-year period. Assessing the contribution of a wide range of predictors, we show that word frequency, allomorph, lexicon size, inflect…
Assessment of English language learners
Effects of Input Properties, Vocabulary Size, and L1 on the Development of Third Person Singular -s in Child L2 English
This study was designed to investigate the development of third-person singular (3SG) -s in children who learn English as a second language (L2). Adopting the usage-based perspective on the learning of inflection, we analyzed spontaneous speech samples collected from 15 English L2 children who were followed over a 2-year period. Assessing the contribution of a wide range of predictors, we show that word frequency, allomorph, lexicon size, inflect…
Informing the Science of Reading
The reading wars were fought over the importance of sentence‐ versus word‐level information to students’ reading. As the field considers new debates on the science of reading, we argue here that sustained empirical inquiry into the role of sentence‐level information in students’ reading skill is needed. These investigations could be particularly useful in identifying ways to support reading comprehension. In this article, we review theories point…
Assessment of English language learners
Effects of Input Properties, Vocabulary Size, and L1 on the Development of Third Person Singular -s in Child L2 English
This study was designed to investigate the development of third-person singular (3SG) -s in children who learn English as a second language (L2). Adopting the usage-based perspective on the learning of inflection, we analyzed spontaneous speech samples collected from 15 English L2 children who were followed over a 2-year period. Assessing the contribution of a wide range of predictors, we show that word frequency, allomorph, lexicon size, inflect…
Children's Second Language Acquisition of English Complex Syntax
The goal of this study was to determine (a) the similarities and dissimilarities between child L2 and L1 acquisition of complex sentences and (b) the individual difference factors predicting L2 children's acquisition of complex sentences. We analyzed language samples from 187 English L2 children with diverse L1s (Age mean = 5;10 [years;months]; English exposure mean = 17 months). Children used various types of complex sentences at all levels of L…
How does maternal education influence the linguistic environment supporting bilingual language development in child second language learners of English
Aims: In monolingual situations, mothers with higher levels of education are more likely to provide their children with enriched linguistic input. However, in bilingual situations, the relationship between maternal education and input is more complex because education may have occurred in one, but not both, of the languages. This study details this complexity by examining the relationship between maternal education and linguistic input in a group…
Home language environment and children's second language acquisition
Previous research suggests that increased second language (L2) input at home may not support L2 acquisition in children from migrant backgrounds. In drawing this conclusion, existing work has largely aggregated across family members. This study contrasts the effect of L2 input from older siblings with that from mothers. Participants were 113 child L2 learners of English (mean age = 5;10 [range 4;10–7;2]; mean exposure to L2 in school = 16.7 month…
Not all sentences are created equal
The sentences in texts are far more complex and diverse than those that children commonly encounter in oral language. This raises interesting questions as to whether the understanding of some sentence types might be more important than others in children’s reading comprehension. Accordingly, we examined the relation between children’s reading comprehension and their understanding of two types of sentences: one we label as basic sentences, which a…
Informing the Science of Reading
The reading wars were fought over the importance of sentence‐ versus word‐level information to students’ reading. As the field considers new debates on the science of reading, we argue here that sustained empirical inquiry into the role of sentence‐level information in students’ reading skill is needed. These investigations could be particularly useful in identifying ways to support reading comprehension. In this article, we review theories point…
Does the Use of Complex Sentences Differentiate Between Bilinguals With and Without DLD? Evidence From Conversation and Narrative Tasks
Over-identification of language disorder among bilingual children with typical development (TD) is a risk factor in assessment. One strategy for improving assessment accuracy with bilingual children is to determine which linguistic sub-domains differentiate bilingual children with TD from bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To date, little research on sequential bilinguals with TD and DLD has focussed on complex (multi-…
Academic achievement in English
Aims and Objectives: Increasingly, students who speak a minority language at home (minority-L1) enroll in Early French Immersion in Canada. A frequent question is the extent to which they develop academic abilities in English. Accordingly, this study asks: (a) Do a similar percentage of minority-L1 students meet provincial standards for academic achievement when tested in English when they attend French immersion compared to English language of i…
Linguistics (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Language Development and Disorders (6 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Mathematics education (5 works) · Reading and Literacy Development (5 works) · Language development (4 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · First language (3 works)