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Internal and external factors contributing to variability in consonant accuracy of Arabic–French simultaneous bilingual children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2021

Rabia Sabah MEZIANE Open the ORCID record for Rabia Sabah MEZIANE [Opens in a new window]  and
Andrea A.N. MACLEOD Open the ORCID record for Andrea A.N. MACLEOD [Opens in a new window]
Rabia Sabah MEZIANE*
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal, Canada
Andrea A.N. MACLEOD
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Canada
*
Corresponding author. Rabia Sabah MEZIANE, Ph.D., Université de Montréal, Canada. Email: Rabia.sabah.meziane@umontreal.ca
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Abstract

This study aims to describe the relationships between child-internal and child-external factors and the consonant accuracy of bilingual children. More specifically, the study looks at internal factors: expressive and receptive vocabulary, and external factors: language exposure and language status, of a group of 4-year-old bilingual Arabic–French children. We measured the consonant accuracy of the children by the percentage of correct consonants in a Picture-Naming Task and a Non-Word Repetition Task in each language. The results suggest a significant relationship between vocabulary and consonant accuracy. A cross-language correlation was observed between the expressive vocabulary level of the majority language (French) and the consonant accuracy of the minority language (Arabic). Also, a significant correlation was found between Arabic language exposure and Arabic consonant accuracy. Finally, consonant accuracy was significantly higher in French tasks than in Arabic, despite the individual differences of the children.

Keywords

childrenbilingualphonologyArabicFrench
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 132 - 154
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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