Browsing by Author "Junter, Kristiina"

Aim. The purpose of this study was to examine cross-language relationships between receptive and expressive vocabulary in first and second language. Previous studies have reported various cross-linguistic relationships ranging from positive correlations to non-significant and negative correlations. In addition, this study investigates how various factors are related to receptive and expressive vocabulary in L1 and L2. Also, the correlations were studied between children’s vocabularies and the questionnaire filled by parents and kindergarten teachers. Method. The receptive and expressive vocabularies were measured in first and second languages. The children who participated (N=21) were between 4 and 6 years old. The participants spoke Arabic or Russian as their first language and had attended Finnish kindergarten. The assessment of first language was performed in co-operation with an interpreter. Parents also assessed children’s linguistic proficiency in L1 and kindergarten teachers in L2 by filling questionnaires. The sample was analysed by using statistical methods including correlation analysis and linear regression. Results and conclusions. While examining the whole group there were no significant correlations between languages. In the Russian speaking group, there was found a significant positive correlation between L1 and L2 in receptive vocabulary. In the Arabic speaking group, the cross-language relationships were negative both in receptive and expressive vocabulary. The expressive vocabulary in L2 was associated to L2-language exposure, length of participation in Finnish kindergarten and father’s education. However, the only statistically significant predicting variable was the amount of L2 exposure. Parental ratings correlated with children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary in L1. In L2, the ratings scored by kindergarten teachers correlated with expressive vocabulary but not with receptive vocabulary. The findings of conflicting associations were similar in previous studies about cross-language relationships in vocabularies. Further research is needed to draw more reliable conclusions