Bilingual advantages in early foreign language learning: Effects of the minority and the majority language

Publication date: June 2019Source: Learning and Instruction, Volume 61Author(s): Holger Hopp, Markus Vogelbacher, Teresa Kieseier, Dieter ThomaAbstractThis longitudinal study tests effects of minority and majority-language proficiency in the early foreign language learning of English in German primary schools. In a study with monolingual German and bilingual students who speak a minority language at home (N = 200), we find that the bilingual group scores lower than the monolingual group overall, yet bilingual students outperform monolingual German students in vocabulary and grammar in early foreign language learning, once socio-economic factors are controlled for. Vocabulary in the minority language acts as a significant predictor for early achievement in the foreign language for bilingual students. However, positive effects of bilingualism abate from grades 3 to 4, and proficiency in the majority language emerges as a significant predictor of English vocabulary. This change suggests that bilingual advantages wither unless they are explicitly fostered by teachers and educators.
Source: Learning and Instruction - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research