The Effect of Bilingualism on the Measured Intelligence of Elementary School Children of Italian Parentage

Abstract

This investigation was an experimental study of elementary school children, who were alike in nationality, school progress, so cial status, and in certain other factors, and who were unlike in the kind of language spoken within the homes. The primary pur pose of the investigation was to weigh the effect of bilingualism on the scores of a va riety of recognized tests of intelligence by comparing Italian children who heard and spoke Italian at home with Italian children who heard and spoke English at home. In planning the study, the writer hoped that some light might be thrown upon the following questions: Will Italian children who hear and speak Italian at home do as well as Italian children who hear and speak English at home on a verbal test of intelli gence, on a non-verbal or non-language test, on a performance test, on the various sub-tests of a group test, and on a spelling test? How well does a non-verbal test given the Italian child when first entering school indicate what that child will do later on an extremely verbal test? Does familiarity with the Italian dia lect increase with chronological age? Is the more intelligent Italian-speaking child also the more familiar with the Italian dialect? Is a verbal group test as reliable a measure of the intelligence levels of Italian-speaking children of Italian parentage as a non-verbal or non-language group test? The groups compared with each other in the study were designated as le and Ei. Group le was composed of those children, whose par ents were Italian, and who had always been accustomed to the use of an Italian dialect within the home. Children in this group have been influenced more by the amount of Italian than by the amount of English spoken in the community. Since Italian had always been the language of their homes, their Eng lish was of a low order when they first en tered school. Group Ei was composed of those children, whose parents were also Italian, and who had always been accustomed to the use of English at home. Children in this group heard Italian spoken within the community, but since English had been the language of the home, their Italian was of a low degree of efficiency in respect to English. In fact they did not comprehend it at all. When they first entered school, they were already familiar with the language of the school.