Quality of Language in Spanish-Speaking Parents who are Learning English: Conversations with their Children

Authors

Amber A. BetancesFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Major/Program

Speech-Language Pathology

First Advisor's Name

Dr.Alliete Alfano

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Dr. Monica Hough

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Dr. Eliane Ramos

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

language, spanish-speaking parents, conversation

Date of Defense

6-24-2020

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze adult language in Spanish-speaking parents who are English second language learners, during conversations with their children in both Spanish-only and English-only play sessions. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine the difference in the parents’ Spanish and English skills across a variety of different variables such as mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w), number of total words (NTW), number of different words (NTD), type-token ratio (TTR), mazes, and complex sentences.

A total of 11 participants above the age of 18 years old with children between 12-46 months of age participated in the study. Parents’ used significantly more words and different types of words when speaking Spanish versus when speaking English. The results of the study demonstrated that parents indeed expose children to more and richer language when they are speaking their native language (Spanish), versus their second language (English).

Identifier

FIDC009144

Recommended Citation

Betances, Amber A., "Quality of Language in Spanish-Speaking Parents who are Learning English: Conversations with their Children" (2020). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4489.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4489