Bilingual vocabulary development of Turkish preschoolers in the Netherlands

In a small-scale longitudinal study, the development of receptive and productive Dutch and Turkish vocabulary of 31 Turkish immigrant preschool children from age three to four was assessed and compared with Dutch vocabulary development of 77 same-age Dutch children. Using multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measurements, main and interaction effects of group (Turkish, Dutch working class and Dutch middle class) and time were tested. Turkish preschoolers' development of Turkish vocabulary appeared to be rather similar to Dutch lower-class children's Dutch vocabulary development. However, Turkish preschoolers' Dutch vocabulary development was further behind. Significant interaction effects of group and age furthermore indicated that the acceleration of Dutch vocabulary growth in Turkish children, due to increased use of day-care and preschool centres and, from the fourth birthday onward, introduction into kindergarten, was not paralleled by a similar acceleration of Turkish vocabulary growth. A correlational analysis with home characteristics provided further clues as to the possible determinants of Dutch and Turkish language development of the Turkish preschoolers in this study. The results are interpreted within the framework of Cummins' interdependency hypothesis.