Research Study:
Bilingualism in children with Down syndrome
Who can participate?
French and English speaking bilingual children OR English speaking monolingual children with Down syndrome.
Bilingual children must be exposed to two languages on a regular, intensive and on-going basis and must be speaking both languages to some degree.
Bilingual or monolingual children must be at a developmental age of at least 3 years (their chronological age can be higher).
What will you be asked to do?
There are 2 parts to this study. Bilingual children can participate in Part 1 and 2. Monolingual children can participate in Part 1.
Part 1 seeks to understand how bilingualism impacts language development in children with Down syndrome by comparing children who are bilingual to children who are monolingual. Monolingual children will be seen for one session and bilingual children will be seen for one or two sessions. The total time needed to participate will be approximately 2 to 3 hours. Children will be given tests of thinking and language skills. Monolingual children will be tested only in English. Bilingual children will be tested in both their languages. All children will also complete two short activities that will help us understand how children learn language. One activity will teach the children to use pictures to express their thoughts. The other activity will teach the children made up words using a computer.
Part 2 is only open to bilingual children with Down syndrome. This part of the study seeks to describe the progress children with Down syndrome make in becoming bilingual. In part 2, children will be seen for 2 sessions and their abilities in both languages they are learning will be tested. Total time is approximately 3 hours.
If you are interested in hearing more about either part of this study or you would like to have your child participate, please contact:
Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird, Ph.D.
Professor, Dalhousie University
Phone: 902-494-5152
e-mail: rainbird@dal.ca
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