Trajectories of Vocabulary Comprehension in Bilingual Qom - Spanish Indigenous Children in Argentina: Evidence for Education, Language Preservation, and Psycholinguistic Theory.

ROSEMBERG, C.R.; ALAM, F.; OJEA, G.; GARBER, L.; STEIN, A.; DE BENEDICTIS, C.; FRIEND, M.

Congreso; Jean Piaget Conference 2023; 2023

Jean Piaget Society

This study assesses bilingual vocabulary acquisition in children from Indigenous communities in northern Argentina. The Qom (Toba) ethnic group is one of the largest Indigenous groups in Argentina (INDEC, 2010) with only 44.3% of the population over age five regularly speaking Qom l’aqtaqa (Guaycuruan) at home. The Qom language is endangered (Moseley, 2010), by replacement with the national Spanish language in some contexts. In rural communities located in the Gran Chaco region, the Qom language is used in family and community life. However, Spanish––originally reserved for the communication with non-Indigenous people in work or business––is currently entering private domains. Language attrition has increased, partly due to the spread of television and other social media as well as schooling in traditional Spanish monolingual contexts. High quality bilingual education in the early years of schooling is crucial to fostering bilingual acquisition, intergenerational transmission, and cultural identity by reducing Indigenous language attrition. We assessed Qom and Spanish vocabulary from preschool through the early school years to inform educational interventions and extend the literature on bilingual development.We adapted the Computerized Comprehension Task (CCT; Friend, et al., 2012) to this bilingual, Indigenous context. Word frequency from an extensive corpus of spontaneous household interactions (Rosemberg, et al., 2015-2016) and interviews with native speakers guided item selection. Participants were 70 bilingual children (x= 5.5 years; range=3.0 to 7.0; 36 girls). Monolingual Spanish and bilingual Qom teachers assessed children within-subjects and cross-sectionally in rural environments and school settings. Beta regression analyses assessed age effects on response accuracy and latency by language as well as the influence of parental education.Age was negatively associated with latency in both languages (Qom ⏀= -.319 and Spanish:⏀ = -.427, respectively, p < .001), indicating faster response times, and positively associated with accuracy (accuracy ⏀= .542, p= .00, in Spanish only). However, the association between age, accuracy and latency varied with language. In follow-up regressions, age was positively associated with Qom vocabulary from age 3 to 5 (accuracy: ⏀= .506, p= .037; latency:⏀= -.780 p= .00), but from 5 to 7 age showed a negative association with accuracy (⏀= .-.58 p= .00). In Spanish, the relation between age and vocabulary showed a positive trajectory: the association between age and accuracy was strong and positive (from 3 to 5:⏀= .751, p= .00 and from 5 to 7: ⏀= .289, p= .048 ) and with latency was negative (from 3 to 5: ⏀= -.661, p= .00 and from 5 to 7: ⏀= -.222, p=.057). Parental education showed a beneficial impact on Spanish language only in the preschool years: it was positively associated with accuracy (⏀= .196, p= .005) and negatively with latency (⏀= -.014, p= .003). It showed no impact on Qom language. These preliminary trends point to potential Indigenous language attrition relative to the majority language in the early school years. This research will inform policy in Argentina to improve intercultural and bilingual education and support the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of Qom children.This study assesses bilingual vocabulary acquisition in children from the Qom ethnic group, one of the largest Indigenous groups in Argentina (INDEC, 2010) with only 44.3% of the population regularly speaking Qom l’aqtaqa at home. In rural communities, Qom language is used in family and community life. However, Spanish is replacing the Qom language. We assessed Qom and Spanish vocabulary from preschool through the early school years to inform educational interventions and contribute to extend the literature on bilingual development.We adapted the Computerized Comprehension Task (CCT; Friend, et al., 2012) to this bilingual, Indigenous context drawing on an extensive corpus of spontaneous household interactions (Rosemberg, et al., 2015-2016). Monolingual Spanish and bilingual Qom teachers assessed 70 children (x= 5.5 years; range=3.0 to 7.0). Beta regression analyses assessed age effects on response accuracy and latency by language as well as the influence of parental education.Age was negatively associated with latency in both languages, indicating faster response times, and positively associated with accuracy. However, these associations varied with language. In follow-up regressions, age was positively associated with Qom vocabulary from age 3 to 5, but from 5 to 7 age showed a negative association with accuracy. In Spanish, the relation between age and vocabulary showed a positive trajectory. Parental education showed a beneficial impact on Spanish only in the preschool years. It showed no impact on Qom. These trends point to potential Indigenous language attrition relative to the majority language in the early school years.