Research Questions

1. How do new arrivals compare to heritage speakers in their language competence during primary school and the first years of secondary education (age range 7;0-12;0, Length of Exposure minimum 18 months)?
2. Which assessment tools are most successful in identifying SLI in these populations -can the COST tools be applied with older children and new arrivals?
3. How does verbal intelligence, language competence, and academic competence evolve in new arrivals and bilingual children with SLI in 12 months?
4. Which factors influence positive development (SES, stay in transit countries providing schooling, other languageslearned during transit and flight, family vs. unaccompanied)?

Basic Design

Combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional data; assessing L1 and L2; collecting elicited narratives, repetition data, standardized test results at two times -a year apart; evaluating academic achievement in the second year; parental questionnaire.

Project Status

Project funded by DFG for 30 months, start April 2017. Test series have started, some COST tools still have to be modified for use with new arrivals.