JCPSLP Vol 18 No. 1Mar 2016

= 16.806, p < .001, n p 2 = 0.035] and

for language [F age group [F

Table 2. Means and standard deviations for both language dominance groups for plural “-s” and quantifier usage variables EL1 ML1 Variable Agegroup Mean Standard deviation

(1,480)

(5,480) = 15.418, p < .001, n p 2 = 0.141] but no interaction between them. That is, the acquisition of quantifiers to mark plurality follows the same pattern for both language dominance groups. For the EL1 participants, simple effects testing across age groups (with Bonferroni corrections at p < .05 , and a threshold of p < .005 after the correction was applied) revealed significant differences between age group 3, aged 4;9–5;2, [M = 0.96, SD = .92] and age group 5, aged 5;9–6;2, [M = 1.72, SD = 1.23, t (1,83) = –3.256, p < .001]. This shows that in addition to using the plural “-s”marker to indicate plurality, the EL1 participants had also increased use of quantifiers to indicate plurality. The mean values (Table 1) and patterns shown in figures 1 and 2 show that the EL1 participants were at times indicating plurality using the “-s”marker or quantifier by the beginning of preschool (i.e., approximately 4 years of age). This usage was not, however, consistent and this will be discussed later. The ML1 participants were also using a low proportion of both marker and quantifier to indicate plurality on occasions, but the predominant pattern was of omission of any type of plural marking.

Mean Standard deviation

Plural“-s” 1(3;9–4;2) 2.05 1.89

.92 1.01

2(4;3–4;8) 2.03 1.98 .90 1.46 3(4;9–5;2) 2.04 1.85 1.83 1.90 4(5;3–5;8) 3.38 2.48 1.51 1.91 5(5;9–6;2) 4.10 2.48 1.82 2.43 6(6;3–6;8) 4.17 2.36 1.48 1.55

Quantifier 1(3;9–4;2)

.74 1.288 .35

.75

2(4;3–4;8) 1.00 1.08

.45

.80

3(4;9–5;2)

.96

.92

.65

.87

2.5

4(5;3–5;8) 1.40

.93 1.02 1.33

LANG

5(5;9–6;2) 1.72 1.23 1.13 .89 6(6;3–6;8) 1.92 1.13 1.70 1.45

EL1 ML1

2.0

31.5

Simple effects testing within language but across age (with Bonferroni corrections at p < .05, and a threshold of p < .005 after the correction was applied) for the EL1 participants revealed significant differences between age group 3 (aged 4;9–5;2) [M = 2.04, SD = 1.85] and age group 5 (aged 5;9–6;2) [M = 4.10, SD = 2.48, t (1,83) = –4.378, p < .001]. The EL1 participants used the marker significantly more than the ML1 participants with a notable increase in use by the EL1 participants by approximately 6 years of age. Most of the ML1 participants had not demonstrated consistent use of the “-s” plural marker before completion of their preschool education (average 6 years 8 months). Use of quantifier The 2x6 factorial ANOVA for the use of a quantifier with a noun to indicate plurality revealed significant main effects

1.0

.5

0.0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Mean no. of uses of quantifier to indicate pluralality

age group

Discussion This research aimed to explore the marking of noun plurality in English for English–Mandarin bilingual Singaporean preschoolers by language dominance and by age group. The results demonstrate different patterns in noun plural marking for English–Mandarin bilingual preschoolers in Singapore both in comparison to noun plural marking for forms of StdE and based on their language dominance. Both main language dominance groups used quantifiers to indicate plurality. While monolingual speakers of StdE would usually start to mark noun plurality with the “-s” marker by 2;6 years, this was not the case for these English–Mandarin bilingual participants. The data show that quantifiers rather than morphological marking of noun plurals are used in Singaporean English, as shown in adults by Deterding and Poedjosoedarmo (2001). This presents important considerations for the clinician as to appropriate assessment and intervention targets in this context. The results also showed differences in the acquisition of the plural marker between groups of children with different main home languages (i.e., faster and different patterns of acquisition of plural marker for children who speak English Figure 2. Mean number of uses of quantifier to indicate plurality for both language dominance groups

5.0

LANG

EL1 ML1

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

Mean no. of uses of plural “s”marker

0.0

1

2

3

4

5

6

age group

Figure 1. Mean number of uses of plural“-s”marker for both language dominance groups

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JCPSLP Volume 18, Number 1 2016

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology