Insights Into L1 and L2 Vocabulary Size Association: A Perspective From Elementary Pashto-English Sequential Bilinguals

Abstract

Vocabulary is a crucial predictive factor in the linguistic advancement of children whether monolingual or bilingual. The increasing number of bilingual individuals underscores the significance of accurately assessing vocabulary development among bilinguals at school. However, assessing the vocabulary of bilingual children is intricate due to their acquisition of words across two languages. Determining the most suitable metric for comprehensively measuring their vocabulary, especially in comparison to monolingual counterparts, remains an ongoing endeavor. This correlational descriptive study aims to examine the vocabulary knowledge of sequential bilingual children and evaluate the effectiveness of a conceptual scoring approach that incorporates the terms known in both their first and second languages. The sample consisted of bilingual(n=200) and monolingual (n=95) elementary school learners from Mardan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, recruited through purposive and random sampling to ensure a balanced and unbiased outcome. The assessment procedure involved gauging each participant's passive and active vocabulary in English and Pashto, achieved through the utilization of tools such as X-Lex and the Category Generation Task. Data analysis carried out using SPSS version 25, revealed a substantial correlation between the vocabulary sizes of bilingual individuals across both their primary (L1) and secondary (L2) languages. The findings of the study may have far-reaching effects, providing significant novel perspectives on instructional practices and stimulating further investigation.