The effects of language switch on the speech perceptual abilities of internationally adopted children.

摘要

Internationally adopted children are referred for, and receive more speech and language intervention than children who do not experience an abrupt language switch at critical times of development. Age at adoption and length of exposure to English are seen as critical to this population's transition to English, with younger adoptees developing English skills quickly. Although recent research has shown that many internationally adopted children can catch up to their non-adopted peers, there are still some adopted children who have difficulty with this transition. Early speech perceptual skills have been shown to follow a developmental trajectory, and are considered an early building block for later language skills. These early perceptual skills however, have not been examined in the internationally adopted population. Children who are exposed to English from birth typically develop a preference for, and attune to their native language by about 9 months of age. Around this time, they also develop a "filter" through which the ability to discriminate non-native contrasts becomes difficult. It is possible that the abrupt switch in language input makes it difficult for internationally adopted children to attune to a new language. Those children, who have difficulty attuning to the new language, may be the ones who will need the services of a speech-language pathologist. To examine the speech perceptual skills of the internationally adopted population, children were exposed to non-words in both English and their language of first exposure (Mandarin). Listening times to sound sources served as a dependent measure to examine preferences to one language over another. Children exposed to English from birth showed a preference for non-words that followed English phonotactics. Internationally adopted children exhibited a different pattern. The children who were internationally adopted preferred the non-words that followed the Mandarin phonotactics, even after several months of exposure to English. It is possible, that internationally adopted children may benefit from more than one year's exposure to English, before they establish a preference like a child who is exposed to it from birth. Preference for the new language may be a crucial step toward developing proficiency in that language.