PrepTest 35, Section 2, Question 11
Linguist: Some people have understood certain studies as showing that bilingual children have a reduced "conceptual map" because bilingualism overstresses the child's linguistic capacities. Vocabulary tests taken by bilingual children appear to show that these children tend to have a smaller vocabulary than do most children of the same age group. But these studies are deeply flawed, since the tests were given in only one language. Dual-language tests revealed that the children often expressed a given concept with a word from only one of their two languages.
Linguist: Some people have understood certain studies as showing that bilingual children have a reduced "conceptual map" because bilingualism overstresses the child's linguistic capacities. Vocabulary tests taken by bilingual children appear to show that these children tend to have a smaller vocabulary than do most children of the same age group. But these studies are deeply flawed, since the tests were given in only one language. Dual-language tests revealed that the children often expressed a given concept with a word from only one of their two languages.
Linguist: Some people have understood certain studies as showing that bilingual children have a reduced "conceptual map" because bilingualism overstresses the child's linguistic capacities. Vocabulary tests taken by bilingual children appear to show that these children tend to have a smaller vocabulary than do most children of the same age group. But these studies are deeply flawed, since the tests were given in only one language. Dual-language tests revealed that the children often expressed a given concept with a word from only one of their two languages.
Linguist: Some people have understood certain studies as showing that bilingual children have a reduced "conceptual map" because bilingualism overstresses the child's linguistic capacities. Vocabulary tests taken by bilingual children appear to show that these children tend to have a smaller vocabulary than do most children of the same age group. But these studies are deeply flawed, since the tests were given in only one language. Dual-language tests revealed that the children often expressed a given concept with a word from only one of their two languages.
The linguist's argument proceeds by
offering evidence for the advantages of bilingualism over monolingualism
pointing out an inconsistency in the view that bilingualism overstresses a child's linguistic capabilities
offering evidence that undermines the use of any vocabulary test to provide information about a child's conceptual map
providing a different explanation for the apparent advantages of bilingualism from the explanation suggested by the results of certain studies
pointing out a methodological error in the technique used to obtain the purported evidence of a problem with bilingualism
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