Bilingual lexicon development in German in preschool children with the home languages Russian and Turkish

The present study examined the development of lexical abilities in German in Turkish-/Russian-German bilinguals. In particular, the effect of the age of onset and the socio-economic status, identified through self-reported parental education and occupation, on the productive and perceptive lexicon – verbs and nouns – was investigated. Two groups, one with 39 Russian-German and one with 55 Turkish-German simultaneous and sequential bilinguals from Berlin nursery schools, participated in the study. The age range was 26 to 47 months (mean age: 38.5 months, Standard Deviation (SD) = 5.8). The age of onset ranged from 0 to 39 months (mean age of onset: 21.0 months,SD = 9.9) and did not differ significantly in both investigated groups. The mean length of exposure to German was 17.5 months (SD = 9.3). The results showed that age of onset negatively impacts the productive lexicon of both groups. Russian-speaking children were somewhat better in the development of the perceptive lexicon in German. No effects for parental education and occupation were found. The results are discussed with respect to sensitivity and age of acquisition, and possible differences in the home language environment of Turkish and Russian bilinguals.