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Language Maintenance and Loss in Preschool-Age Children of Mexican Immigrants

Longitudinal Study

University of Northern Colorado, mark.guiberson{at}unco.edu

Karen C. Barrett

Colorado State University

Elizabeth G. Jancosek

University of Colorado-Boulder

Christine Yoshinaga Itano

University of Colorado-Boulder

In this study, the authors plotted the Spanish language usage of 10 preschool-age children over the course of 3 years and assigned them to one of two groups: language maintenance and language loss. The authors then compared the groups' scores on structured tasks, language behaviors, and language usage/exposure variables. They found that children in the language loss group presented with more grammatical errors, whereas the language maintenance group performed better on Spanish vocabulary and language tasks. No specific variable was predictive of maintenance or loss, but the children from the language loss group began to use more English with family members or peers.

Communication Disorders Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1, 4-17 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/15257401060280010601


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