Daniela Gatt
Biographic Data
| ID | 8987710 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daniela Gatt |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daniela |
| FAMILY NAME | Gatt |
| SIGNATURE | GATT D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Malta |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2871-1122 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Designing gamified connected tools for bilingual language therapy and education
This research contributes to the growing field of technology-enhanced learning by demonstrating how gamification and connected technologies can address gaps in bilingual education and language therapy. It investigates the design, development, and evaluation of Olly’s Adventures: The City of Two Languages, a novel, gamified language intervention tool for bilingual Maltese-English-speaking children aged five to eight. The tool merges a physical boa…
Feasibility and acceptability of a web-based parent-report questionnaire for early communicative-language assessment in plurilingual Italian-speaking children
Aims and objectives: Early bilingual language assessment often focuses on lexical development. However, lexical tasks per se are not sufficiently informative of the child’s bilingual language development. Thus, other developmental communicative-language domains should be analysed within plurilingual language assessment. Methodology: Drawing on parent-report instruments currently used with plurilingual children, we developed a web-based questionna…
Effects of socioeconomic background and caregiver input quality on three-year-olds’ bilingual lexical skills
This study investigated associations between socioeconomic status (SES), input quality, and bilingual lexical skills of children raised in Maltese-dominant homes. Children aged 3;04–3;08 ( N = 38) and their primary caregivers were categorised as low, medium, or high SES. Children’s lexical skills were assessed through receptive picture name judgement and picture naming, in Maltese and English. Input quality was measured through type counts sample…
The adaptation of Main to Maltese
This paper describes the process of adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) to Maltese. The language-learning context in Malta is introduced, followed by an overview of the main typological characteristics of Maltese. A detailed account of the adaptation process is then given. Theoretical and clinical applications of the Maltese adaptation of the MAIN are discussed and current research projects in which the Maltese a…
Preschoolers’ lexical skills in two majority languages
Aims and objectives: This study measured bilingual lexical skills in children just starting preschool and in others who had been attending preschool for one year. It aimed to investigate how children’s lexical abilities were influenced by length of contact with structured bilingual input at school, in a context where two majority languages are taught through the educational system. Methodology: The participants were 72 children starting their fir…
Which measure of socioeconomic status best predicts bilingual lexical abilities and how? A focus on four-year-olds exposed to two majority languages
This study evaluates the ability of different measures of socioeconomic status (SES) to predict lexical outcomes for preschoolers raised in a context of nationwide bilingualism. The participants were 58 children aged 3;11–4;3 from Maltese-dominant homes who attended state preschools. Receptive picture name judgement and picture naming, in Maltese and English, were employed to measure receptive and expressive lexical abilities, respectively. Lexic…
Risk and protective environmental factors for early bilingual language acquisition
Young children’s vocabulary skills impact their phonological, semantic and syntactic development (Chiat 2000). It is inevitable, therefore, that small expressive vocabularies showing laboured growt
Bilingual vocabulary production in young children receiving Maltese-dominant exposure
This study explored individual variability in the bilingual vocabularies of 65 Maltese children aged 23–27 months (N = 33) and 30–34 months (N = 32). Most of the participants’ direct input consisted of Maltese sentences embedding English words. Bilingualism was present at the societal level. Word production was measured through parental report, using a bilingual adaptation of the vocabulary checklist in the MacArthur Communicative Development Inv…
Parent report of early lexical production in bilingual children
This paper compared the vocabulary size of a group of 250 bilinguals aged 24–36 months acquiring six different language pairs using an analogous tool, and attempted to identify factors that influence vocabulary sizes and ultimately place children at risk for language delay. Each research group used adaptations of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: Words and Sentences and a specially designed developmental and language back…
Early lexical expression in children exposed to mixed input
Aims and objectives: This study documents early lexical expression in children whose language input in the home was predominantly Maltese, accompanied by regular exposure to English lexical mixing. Bilingualism and language contact were also present at the societal level. The study attempts to determine whether the children’s pattern of vocabulary growth corresponded to a monolingual or bilingual mode of development. Methodology: The expressive v…
How do 5-year-olds understand questions? Differences in languages across Europe
The comprehension of constituent questions is an important topic for language acquisition research and for applications in the diagnosis of language impairment. This article presents the results of a study investigating the comprehension of different types of questions by 5-year-old, typically developing children across 19 European countries, 18 different languages, and 7 language (sub-)families. The study investigated the effects of two factors …
Early expressive vocabulary skills
Investigations of early vocabulary production often employ a single method to measure children’s word use. This study examined expressive vocabulary development in children aged 1;0–2;6 years through a combination of picture naming, caregiver report and language sampling. The participants were predominantly exposed to Maltese at home, with gathered evidence providing novel documentation of early vocabulary development in this specific language-le…
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Early expressive vocabulary skills
Investigations of early vocabulary production often employ a single method to measure children’s word use. This study examined expressive vocabulary development in children aged 1;0–2;6 years through a combination of picture naming, caregiver report and language sampling. The participants were predominantly exposed to Maltese at home, with gathered evidence providing novel documentation of early vocabulary development in this specific language-le…
Early lexical expression in children exposed to mixed input
Aims and objectives: This study documents early lexical expression in children whose language input in the home was predominantly Maltese, accompanied by regular exposure to English lexical mixing. Bilingualism and language contact were also present at the societal level. The study attempts to determine whether the children’s pattern of vocabulary growth corresponded to a monolingual or bilingual mode of development. Methodology: The expressive v…
How do 5-year-olds understand questions? Differences in languages across Europe
The comprehension of constituent questions is an important topic for language acquisition research and for applications in the diagnosis of language impairment. This article presents the results of a study investigating the comprehension of different types of questions by 5-year-old, typically developing children across 19 European countries, 18 different languages, and 7 language (sub-)families. The study investigated the effects of two factors …
Risk and protective environmental factors for early bilingual language acquisition
Young children’s vocabulary skills impact their phonological, semantic and syntactic development (Chiat 2000). It is inevitable, therefore, that small expressive vocabularies showing laboured growt
Bilingual vocabulary production in young children receiving Maltese-dominant exposure
This study explored individual variability in the bilingual vocabularies of 65 Maltese children aged 23–27 months (N = 33) and 30–34 months (N = 32). Most of the participants’ direct input consisted of Maltese sentences embedding English words. Bilingualism was present at the societal level. Word production was measured through parental report, using a bilingual adaptation of the vocabulary checklist in the MacArthur Communicative Development Inv…
Parent report of early lexical production in bilingual children
This paper compared the vocabulary size of a group of 250 bilinguals aged 24–36 months acquiring six different language pairs using an analogous tool, and attempted to identify factors that influence vocabulary sizes and ultimately place children at risk for language delay. Each research group used adaptations of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: Words and Sentences and a specially designed developmental and language back…
Preschoolers’ lexical skills in two majority languages
Aims and objectives: This study measured bilingual lexical skills in children just starting preschool and in others who had been attending preschool for one year. It aimed to investigate how children’s lexical abilities were influenced by length of contact with structured bilingual input at school, in a context where two majority languages are taught through the educational system. Methodology: The participants were 72 children starting their fir…
Which measure of socioeconomic status best predicts bilingual lexical abilities and how? A focus on four-year-olds exposed to two majority languages
This study evaluates the ability of different measures of socioeconomic status (SES) to predict lexical outcomes for preschoolers raised in a context of nationwide bilingualism. The participants were 58 children aged 3;11–4;3 from Maltese-dominant homes who attended state preschools. Receptive picture name judgement and picture naming, in Maltese and English, were employed to measure receptive and expressive lexical abilities, respectively. Lexic…
The adaptation of Main to Maltese
This paper describes the process of adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) to Maltese. The language-learning context in Malta is introduced, followed by an overview of the main typological characteristics of Maltese. A detailed account of the adaptation process is then given. Theoretical and clinical applications of the Maltese adaptation of the MAIN are discussed and current research projects in which the Maltese a…
Designing gamified connected tools for bilingual language therapy and education
This research contributes to the growing field of technology-enhanced learning by demonstrating how gamification and connected technologies can address gaps in bilingual education and language therapy. It investigates the design, development, and evaluation of Olly’s Adventures: The City of Two Languages, a novel, gamified language intervention tool for bilingual Maltese-English-speaking children aged five to eight. The tool merges a physical boa…
Feasibility and acceptability of a web-based parent-report questionnaire for early communicative-language assessment in plurilingual Italian-speaking children
Aims and objectives: Early bilingual language assessment often focuses on lexical development. However, lexical tasks per se are not sufficiently informative of the child’s bilingual language development. Thus, other developmental communicative-language domains should be analysed within plurilingual language assessment. Methodology: Drawing on parent-report instruments currently used with plurilingual children, we developed a web-based questionna…
Effects of socioeconomic background and caregiver input quality on three-year-olds’ bilingual lexical skills
This study investigated associations between socioeconomic status (SES), input quality, and bilingual lexical skills of children raised in Maltese-dominant homes. Children aged 3;04–3;08 ( N = 38) and their primary caregivers were categorised as low, medium, or high SES. Children’s lexical skills were assessed through receptive picture name judgement and picture naming, in Maltese and English. Input quality was measured through type counts sample…
Language Development and Disorders (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Reading and Literacy Development (11 works) · Linguistics (10 works) · Neuroscience of multilingualism (7 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works) · Maltese (6 works) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (6 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Vocabulary (4 works)