Current models of the affinity between syntax and vocabulary are complex and recognize the contribution of bootstrapping and computational processes. To date, the mutual facilitation between these two constructs over time has not been studied in second language (L2) school children. The present study investigated longitudinally the direction and strength of the associations between syntactic and vocabulary skills in English Language Learners (ELLs; N = 409, 204 females, M age = 78 months, low socioeconomic status backgrounds) and their monolingual English-speaking peers (EL1; N = 157, 92 females, M age = 77 months, low socioeconomic status backgrounds). Children were assessed annually from Grade 1 to Grade 4 on a syntactic and a vocabulary task. Overall, autoregressive cross-lagged analyses indicated that early syntax predicted later vocabulary and vice versa, yet, the magnitude of prediction varied across groups. Notably, in the early stages of L2 learning, the predictive power from vocabulary to syntax was stronger than that in the opposite direction. Moreover, the predictive power from vocabulary to syntax was consistently stronger in the ELL than in the EL1 group. The results suggest that, in general, with sufficient quantity and quality of exposure to the L2, lexical and syntactic bootstrapping coexist. However, among novice young ELLs, bootstrapping is stronger from vocabulary to syntax than the other way around. Results underscore the importance of studying the relations between vocabulary and syntax longitudinally, and caution about an injudicious application of L1-based models to young L2 children's language development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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一项为期 4 年的纵向研究，检查英语学习者 (ELL) 及其单语同伴的词汇和句法自举。

语法和词汇之间的亲和力的当前模型很复杂，并且认识到引导和计算过程的贡献。迄今为止，尚未在第二语言 (L2) 学龄儿童中研究这两种结构之间随时间的相互促进。本研究纵向调查了英语语言学习者（英语学习者；N = 409，204 名女性，M 年龄 = 78 个月，低社会经济地位背景）和他们的单语英语同伴（ EL1；N = 157，92 名女性，M 年龄 = 77 个月，低社会经济地位背景）。从 1 年级到 4 年级，孩子们每年都要接受一项句法和词汇任务的评估。总体，自回归交叉滞后分析表明，早期句法预测后来的词汇，反之亦然，但预测的幅度因组而异。值得注意的是，在二语学习的早期阶段，从词汇到句法的预测能力强于反方向。此外，ELL 组从词汇到句法的预测能力始终强于 EL1 组。结果表明，一般来说，如果接触 L2 的数量和质量都足够，词汇和句法自举共存。然而，在新手年轻 ELL 中，从词汇到句法的自举比反过来更强。结果强调了纵向研究词汇和句法之间关系的重要性，并警告将基于 L1 的模型不明智地应用于年幼的 L2 儿童的语言发展。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。