Interdependence between L1 and L2: the case of Syrian children with refugee backgrounds in Canada and the Netherlands

Elma Blom; Adriana Soto-Corominas; Zahraa Attar; Evangelia Daskalaki; Johanne Paradis

doi:10.1017/S0142716421000229

Interdependence between L1 and L2: the case of Syrian children with refugee backgrounds in Canada and the Netherlands

Elma Blom
, Adriana Soto-Corominas
, Zahraa Attar
, Evangelia Daskalaki
, Johanne Paradis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Children who are refugees become bilingual in circumstances that are often challenging and that can vary across national contexts. We investigated the second language (L2) syntactic skills of Syrian children aged 6-12 living in Canada (n = 56) and the Netherlands (n = 47). Our goal was to establish the impact of the first language (L1 = Syrian Arabic) skills on L2 (English, Dutch) outcomes and whether L1-L2 interdependence is influenced by the length of L2 exposure. To measure L1 and L2 syntactic skills, cross-linguistic Litmus Sentence Repetition Tasks (Litmus-SRTs) were used. Results showed evidence of L1-L2 interdependence, but interdependence may only surface after sufficient L2 exposure. Maternal education level and refugee camp experiences differed between the two samples. Both variables impacted L2 outcomes in the Canadian but not in the Dutch sample, demonstrating the importance to examine refugee children's bilingual language development in different national contexts.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1159-1194
Journal	Applied Psycholinguistics
Volume	42
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716421000229
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. The authors would like to thank all the participants and their families for taking the time to participate in the study, as well as all the research assistants who collected and processed the data. The Canadian study was made possible by the funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through a Partnership Grant (Paradis) and an Insight Developmental Grant (Paradis). The Dutch study was funded through an Aspasia Grant of the Dutch Research Council (NWO), which was given to Elma Blom.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Interdependence Hypothesis
refugee children
L2 exposure
sentence repetition
transfer

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Cite this

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title = "Interdependence between L1 and L2: the case of Syrian children with refugee backgrounds in Canada and the Netherlands",

abstract = "Children who are refugees become bilingual in circumstances that are often challenging and that can vary across national contexts. We investigated the second language (L2) syntactic skills of Syrian children aged 6-12 living in Canada (n = 56) and the Netherlands (n = 47). Our goal was to establish the impact of the first language (L1 = Syrian Arabic) skills on L2 (English, Dutch) outcomes and whether L1-L2 interdependence is influenced by the length of L2 exposure. To measure L1 and L2 syntactic skills, cross-linguistic Litmus Sentence Repetition Tasks (Litmus-SRTs) were used. Results showed evidence of L1-L2 interdependence, but interdependence may only surface after sufficient L2 exposure. Maternal education level and refugee camp experiences differed between the two samples. Both variables impacted L2 outcomes in the Canadian but not in the Dutch sample, demonstrating the importance to examine refugee children's bilingual language development in different national contexts.",

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Interdependence between L1 and L2: the case of Syrian children with refugee backgrounds in Canada and the Netherlands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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