The effect of dual versus mono medium teaching on the ability of bilingual, typically developing children to label graphic symbols in two languages

Abstract

A large portion of the world’s population is multilingual. This trend is reflected in the population with communication disorders, and therefore in people with complex communication needs (CCN). People with CCN may need alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) systems to facilitate their participation in daily life. These systems are often related to the language of the person’s community. Yet, if this person lives in a multilingual community, little current research is available to guide the design of AAC systems that give access to expression in more than one language. This pilot study aimed to determine the ability of typically developing Afrikaans-English bilingual children, between the ages of 4;6 (years;months) and 6;11, to label Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) in both these languages when taught with mono medium (English) versus dual medium (Afrikaans and English) teaching. Four participants, who spoke Afrikaans and English, were included in the study. A withinsubjects crossover design was used. Each participant was taught two sets of symbols, one using mono medium and one dual medium teaching. Treatments were counterbalanced for order and set. Results tentatively showed that the teaching method was successful, with participants being able to label most symbols in English when taught in either mono (English) or dual medium. Participants were also able to label symbols in Afrikaans when taught the symbols by dual medium teaching. Some participants were spontaneously able to translate symbols taught by mono medium teaching (English) to Afrikaans. This pilot study tentatively suggests that this ability is dependent on the child’s receptive vocabulary ability in both languages, as well as their ability to express the concepts depicted by the symbols in both L1 and L2. Future research is needed with studies that include a larger sample size, to be able to draw more robust conclusions.