Vocabulary learning in bilingual and monolingual clinical intervention

Abstract

This study used a single-case alternating treatments design to compare the effectiveness of monolingual and bilingual clinical treatment approaches in teaching English vocabulary to a bilingual child with language impairment. In contrast to the widespread belief that regular exposure to two languages should not be recommended for children with language impairments, recent findings suggest that bilingual acquisition is a reasonable goal for these chil dren in a supportive environment. The bilingual intervention approach in this study was designed to combine the beneficial effects of a positive attitude towards both languages and the use of L1 to learn L2. Results revealed com parable learning of English in the monolingual and bilingual treatment con ditions, with a slight advantage in the latter. The results support the view that bilingual intervention does not restrict language growth compared to a mono lingual treatment, and is, therefore, desirable since it avoids important nega tive aspects that result from eliminating either language of children who live in bilingual environments.