Measuring change in young children’s bilingual environments: How do transitions influence language exposure?

Bilinguals' early exposure is highly variable, changing across time and contexts. Caregiver interviews were used to investigate transitions – changes in children’s environments – and their influence on language exposure in 61 English-French bilinguals between birth and 30 months. Children experienced 4 transitions on average, often due to entry to daycare and changes in caregiving arrangements or caregivers’ language use. Most children experienced at least one transition that led to a change in which of their languages was heard most often. Changes in caregiver’s language strategy contributed to stabilizing exposure and, as children aged, transitions that additionally involved changes in both the speakers and the time that they spent with the child, had a larger impact on children’s exposure. Our findings highlight the role of the socio-cultural context and environmental variability on early bilingual exposure, introducing the concept of transitions for the first time.