4 research outputs found
Language dominance in bilingual speakers of Italian and Croatian language
Zbog visoke varijabilnosti unutar dvojeziÄne populacije, poznavanje jeziÄne dominantnosti kljuÄno je i u istraživanjima i za prikladnu jeziÄnu procjenu. U istraživanjima je takvo poznavanje kljuÄno radi usporedbe ispitanika koji formiraju ujednaÄenu skupinu, ili radi njihova promatranja s obzirom na jeziÄnu dominantnost. Za valjanu jeziÄnu procjenu važno je moÄi ispitati jeziÄne vjeÅ”tine dvojeziÄne djece te odrediti dominantni jezik. Djeca koja su od najranije dobi izložena dvama jezicima, mogu pokazivati kaÅ”njenja u jezicima koje paralelno usvajaju. Neka djeca ne pokazuju gotovo nikakve razlike u razinama jeziÄnog znanja, a neka pokazuju znaÄajnije teÅ”koÄe. Bez spoznaje o jeziÄnim znanjima u drugom jeziku nemoguÄe je odrediti jesu li ti rezultati posljedica loÅ”ijeg znanja jednog jezika ili opÄenitih teÅ”koÄa u jeziÄnom razvoju. To dovodi do teÅ”koÄa i u dvojeziÄnim podruÄjima u Hrvatskoj, kao Å”to su dvojeziÄna podruÄja u Rijeci i Istri, gdje se govore hrvatski i talijanski jezik. Brojni su naÄini na koje se pokuÅ”avalo odrediti jeziÄnu dominantnost dvojeziÄnih govornika, ali ne i jedinstvena opÄeprihvaÄena procedura. U ovom istraživanju temeljni kriterij je razlika u standardnim rezultatima hrvatske i talijanske inaÄice testa TROG. Ispitano je 56 sudionika koji pohaÄaju vrtiÄke skupine s programom na talijanskom jeziku, a prepoznati su kao kandidati za ujednaÄenu dvojeziÄnost (procjena odgojitelja). Primjenom odabranog kriterija, oko 70 % djece svrstano je u skupinu ujednaÄenih dvojeziÄnih govornika, a nisu se pokazale razlike izmeÄu sudionika iz Rijeke i PoreÄa i okolice.Because of the high variability in any bilingual population, it is of a great importance to control for language dominance in both research and language assessment. This control is crucial in research in order to form unified groups of participants according to language dominance. In the language assessment of bilingual children, determining language dominance should be a priority. Children exposed to two languages from an early age may acquire them at a slower rate when compared to their monolingual piers. While this lag is hardly noticeable in some children, for others it is significant. Without knowledge about the childās language skills in the other, non-assessed language, it is impossible to determine if the results of language assessment point to the dominance of one language over another or general language difficulties. In bilingual areas of Croatia, such as Rijeka and Istria, this can be quite a challenge. While language dominance has generally been measured using a large number of different methods, there is no universally accepted procedure. This research uses the results of the Italian and Croatian versions of the TROG test to determine language dominance. Participants were 56 preschool-aged children attending kindergartens with an Italian language programme in Rijeka and Istria. Participants were preselected by their kindergarten teachers as children that might be balanced bilinguals. Using the differences in results between both TROG tests, approximately 70% of children were placed in a balanced bilinguals group. No differences were shown between groups of participants from Rijeka and Istria
Socioeconomic characteristics and language abilities of children from rural areas attending a preschool programme
DjeÄji vrtiÄ priprema djecu za kasnije formalno obrazovanje te pozitivno utjeÄe na njihov kognitivni i socioemocionalni razvoj. Nažalost, u Hrvatskoj, osobito u ruralnim podruÄjima, nisu sva djeca u moguÄnosti polaziti vrtiÄ pa se uvoÄenjem obaveznog i besplatnog predÅ”kolskog programa nastojalo doskoÄiti tom problemu. MeÄutim, do tada ta djeca nisu bila ukljuÄena u predÅ”kolski odgoj i nisu im pruženi isti poticaji za razvoj jeziÄnih sposobnosti koje se od njih oÄekuju u osnovnoj Å”koli. Niz istraživanja navodi da djeca roditelja nižeg socioekonomskog statusa pokazuju loÅ”ije jeziÄne sposobnosti u odnosu na djecu roditelja viÅ”eg socioekonomskog statusa. UzimajuÄi u obzir dosadaÅ”nje spoznaje, ovim se radom željelo utvrditi postižu li predÅ”kolska djeca, polaznici redovnog vrtiÄa, bolje rezultate na probirnom testu jeziÄnih sposobnosti od djece polaznika iskljuÄivo predÅ”kolskog programa. Isto tako, cilj je bio utvrditi postoji li znaÄajna razlika u socioekonomskom statusu obitelji izmeÄu ove dvije kategorije djece predÅ”kolske dobi. Uzorak ispitanika ukljuÄivao je 93 djece i njihove roditelje. Djeca su ispitana Probirnim testom jeziÄnih sposobnosti, a socioekonomski status ispitan je anketom kreiranom iskljuÄivo za ovo istraživanje. Rezultati na Probirnom testu jeziÄnih sposobnosti pokazali su znaÄajnu razliku izmeÄu djece u djeÄjem vrtiÄu i obaveznom predÅ”kolskom programu u korist polaznika djeÄjeg vrtiÄa. Pokazalo se kako su roditelji djece ukljuÄene u vrtiÄ viÅ”eg stupnja obrazovanja, ÄeÅ”Äe zaposleni i imaju veÄe prihode po Älanu kuÄanstva. Iz rezultata se iÅ”Äitava potreba za dodatnom potporom djeci koja iz predÅ”kolskog programa ulaze u sustav osnovnog Å”kolstva.Attending a preschool programme prepares children for later formal education and has a positive impact on their cognitive and socio-emotional development. Unfortunately, in Croatia, not all children have an opportunity to attend a preschool programme. This is especially true in rural areas. In order to solve this problem, the government has introduced an obligatory kindergarten programme that is free of charge for all children. However, because these children have not previously attended any form of early-childhood education programme, they have not received equal support in the development of the language skills expected of them by the time they reach elementary school. A number of studies have suggested that children from families with a higher socioeconomic status have better language skills than children from families with a lower socioeconomic status. Taking all this into account, the aim of this study is to determine whether preschool-aged children who attend a preschool programme achieve better results on the Screening test of language abilities (Probirni test jeziÄnih sposobnosti) than children who only attend kindergarten. In addition, this study aims to determine whether there is a significant difference in the socioeconomic status between the families of preschool-aged children who attended preschool and those who attended kindergarten. The sample included 93 children and their parents. Children were assessed using a Screening test of language abilities. Socioeconomic status was determined via a questionnaire made for the purposes of this study. The results on the Screening test of language abilities indicated a significant difference between children in preschool and those in obligatory kindergarten programmes, where children attending preschool demonstrated higher language ability. Moreover, this study demonstrated that the parents of children attending a preschool programme are more educated, more often employed and have a higher income per household member. Based on these results, it can be argued that there is a need to provide additional support for children from kindergarten programmes as they enter elementary schools
Language dominance in bilingual speakers of Italian and Croatian language
Zbog visoke varijabilnosti unutar dvojeziÄne populacije, poznavanje jeziÄne dominantnosti kljuÄno je i u istraživanjima i za prikladnu jeziÄnu procjenu. U istraživanjima je takvo poznavanje kljuÄno radi usporedbe ispitanika koji formiraju ujednaÄenu skupinu, ili radi njihova promatranja s obzirom na jeziÄnu dominantnost. Za valjanu jeziÄnu procjenu važno je moÄi ispitati jeziÄne vjeÅ”tine dvojeziÄne djece te odrediti dominantni jezik. Djeca koja su od najranije dobi izložena dvama jezicima, mogu pokazivati kaÅ”njenja u jezicima koje paralelno usvajaju. Neka djeca ne pokazuju gotovo nikakve razlike u razinama jeziÄnog znanja, a neka pokazuju znaÄajnije teÅ”koÄe. Bez spoznaje o jeziÄnim znanjima u drugom jeziku nemoguÄe je odrediti jesu li ti rezultati posljedica loÅ”ijeg znanja jednog jezika ili opÄenitih teÅ”koÄa u jeziÄnom razvoju. To dovodi do teÅ”koÄa i u dvojeziÄnim podruÄjima u Hrvatskoj, kao Å”to su dvojeziÄna podruÄja u Rijeci i Istri, gdje se govore hrvatski i talijanski jezik. Brojni su naÄini na koje se pokuÅ”avalo odrediti jeziÄnu dominantnost dvojeziÄnih govornika, ali ne i jedinstvena opÄeprihvaÄena procedura. U ovom istraživanju temeljni kriterij je razlika u standardnim rezultatima hrvatske i talijanske inaÄice testa TROG. Ispitano je 56 sudionika koji pohaÄaju vrtiÄke skupine s programom na talijanskom jeziku, a prepoznati su kao kandidati za ujednaÄenu dvojeziÄnost (procjena odgojitelja). Primjenom odabranog kriterija, oko 70 % djece svrstano je u skupinu ujednaÄenih dvojeziÄnih govornika, a nisu se pokazale razlike izmeÄu sudionika iz Rijeke i PoreÄa i okolice.Because of the high variability in any bilingual population, it is of a great importance to control for language dominance in both research and language assessment. This control is crucial in research in order to form unified groups of participants according to language dominance. In the language assessment of bilingual children, determining language dominance should be a priority. Children exposed to two languages from an early age may acquire them at a slower rate when compared to their monolingual piers. While this lag is hardly noticeable in some children, for others it is significant. Without knowledge about the childās language skills in the other, non-assessed language, it is impossible to determine if the results of language assessment point to the dominance of one language over another or general language difficulties. In bilingual areas of Croatia, such as Rijeka and Istria, this can be quite a challenge. While language dominance has generally been measured using a large number of different methods, there is no universally accepted procedure. This research uses the results of the Italian and Croatian versions of the TROG test to determine language dominance. Participants were 56 preschool-aged children attending kindergartens with an Italian language programme in Rijeka and Istria. Participants were preselected by their kindergarten teachers as children that might be balanced bilinguals. Using the differences in results between both TROG tests, approximately 70% of children were placed in a balanced bilinguals group. No differences were shown between groups of participants from Rijeka and Istria
Socioeconomic characteristics and language abilities of children from rural areas attending a preschool programme
DjeÄji vrtiÄ priprema djecu za kasnije formalno obrazovanje te pozitivno utjeÄe na njihov kognitivni i socioemocionalni razvoj. Nažalost, u Hrvatskoj, osobito u ruralnim podruÄjima, nisu sva djeca u moguÄnosti polaziti vrtiÄ pa se uvoÄenjem obaveznog i besplatnog predÅ”kolskog programa nastojalo doskoÄiti tom problemu. MeÄutim, do tada ta djeca nisu bila ukljuÄena u predÅ”kolski odgoj i nisu im pruženi isti poticaji za razvoj jeziÄnih sposobnosti koje se od njih oÄekuju u osnovnoj Å”koli. Niz istraživanja navodi da djeca roditelja nižeg socioekonomskog statusa pokazuju loÅ”ije jeziÄne sposobnosti u odnosu na djecu roditelja viÅ”eg socioekonomskog statusa. UzimajuÄi u obzir dosadaÅ”nje spoznaje, ovim se radom željelo utvrditi postižu li predÅ”kolska djeca, polaznici redovnog vrtiÄa, bolje rezultate na probirnom testu jeziÄnih sposobnosti od djece polaznika iskljuÄivo predÅ”kolskog programa. Isto tako, cilj je bio utvrditi postoji li znaÄajna razlika u socioekonomskom statusu obitelji izmeÄu ove dvije kategorije djece predÅ”kolske dobi. Uzorak ispitanika ukljuÄivao je 93 djece i njihove roditelje. Djeca su ispitana Probirnim testom jeziÄnih sposobnosti, a socioekonomski status ispitan je anketom kreiranom iskljuÄivo za ovo istraživanje. Rezultati na Probirnom testu jeziÄnih sposobnosti pokazali su znaÄajnu razliku izmeÄu djece u djeÄjem vrtiÄu i obaveznom predÅ”kolskom programu u korist polaznika djeÄjeg vrtiÄa. Pokazalo se kako su roditelji djece ukljuÄene u vrtiÄ viÅ”eg stupnja obrazovanja, ÄeÅ”Äe zaposleni i imaju veÄe prihode po Älanu kuÄanstva. Iz rezultata se iÅ”Äitava potreba za dodatnom potporom djeci koja iz predÅ”kolskog programa ulaze u sustav osnovnog Å”kolstva.Attending a preschool programme prepares children for later formal education and has a positive impact on their cognitive and socio-emotional development. Unfortunately, in Croatia, not all children have an opportunity to attend a preschool programme. This is especially true in rural areas. In order to solve this problem, the government has introduced an obligatory kindergarten programme that is free of charge for all children. However, because these children have not previously attended any form of early-childhood education programme, they have not received equal support in the development of the language skills expected of them by the time they reach elementary school. A number of studies have suggested that children from families with a higher socioeconomic status have better language skills than children from families with a lower socioeconomic status. Taking all this into account, the aim of this study is to determine whether preschool-aged children who attend a preschool programme achieve better results on the Screening test of language abilities (Probirni test jeziÄnih sposobnosti) than children who only attend kindergarten. In addition, this study aims to determine whether there is a significant difference in the socioeconomic status between the families of preschool-aged children who attended preschool and those who attended kindergarten. The sample included 93 children and their parents. Children were assessed using a Screening test of language abilities. Socioeconomic status was determined via a questionnaire made for the purposes of this study. The results on the Screening test of language abilities indicated a significant difference between children in preschool and those in obligatory kindergarten programmes, where children attending preschool demonstrated higher language ability. Moreover, this study demonstrated that the parents of children attending a preschool programme are more educated, more often employed and have a higher income per household member. Based on these results, it can be argued that there is a need to provide additional support for children from kindergarten programmes as they enter elementary schools