Onset Age of Language Acquisition Effects in a Foreign Language Context: Evidence from Chinese–English Bilingual Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Xue ◽  
Xiaolan Hu ◽  
Rong Yan ◽  
Hong Wang ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Onset Age ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Language Context

scholarly journals Input effects across domains: The case of Greek subjects in child heritage language

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelia Daskalaki ◽  
Vasiliki Chondrogianni ◽  
Elma Blom ◽  
Froso Argyri ◽  
Johanne Paradis
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
North America ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Heritage Language Acquisition ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Interface Hypothesis

A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse–pragmatic conditions are more likely to lead to non-native outcomes than strictly syntactic aspects of the language (Sorace, 2011). To test this hypothesis, we examined subject realization and placement in Greek–English bilingual children learning Greek as a heritage language in North America and investigated whether the amount of heritage language use can predict their performance in syntax–discourse and narrow syntactic contexts. Results indicated two deviations from the Interface Hypothesis: First, subject realization (a syntax–discourse phenomenon) was found to be largely unproblematic. Second, subject placement was affected not only in syntax–discourse structures but also in narrow syntactic structures, though to a lesser degree, suggesting that the association between the interface status of subject placement and its sensitivity to heritage language use among children heritage speakers is gradient rather than categorical.

scholarly journals Language activities in a minority–majority language context: book-reading at home is more important for Frisian than for Dutch

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn BOSMA ◽  
Elma BLOM
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Watching Tv ◽  
Reading Activities ◽  
Reading At Home ◽  
At Home

AbstractPrevious research has shown that in a minority–majority language context, the quantity of language input at home is more important for the development of the minority language than for the development of the majority language. In the current study, we examined whether the same holds true for the frequency of specific language activities at home. In a group of five- and six-year-old Frisian–Dutch bilingual children (n = 120), we investigated to what extent vocabulary and morphology knowledge were predicted by reading activities, watching TV, and story-telling activities in both languages. The results showed that reading in Frisian predicted both Frisian vocabulary and morphology, while reading in Dutch only predicted Dutch vocabulary. This shows that reading at home is most important for the development of the minority language. This especially holds true for the acquisition of Frisian morphology, a domain that is known to be vulnerable in language acquisition.

Crosslinguistic transfer in the acquisition of compound words in Persian–English bilinguals

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
FARZANEH FOROODI-NEJAD ◽  
JOHANNE PARADIS
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

Crosslinguistic transfer in bilingual language acquisition has been widely reported in various linguistic domains (e.g., Döpke, 1998; Nicoladis, 1999; Paradis, 2001). In this study we examined structural overlap (Döpke, 2000; Müller and Hulk, 2001) and dominance (Yip and Matthews, 2000) as explanatory factors for crosslinguistic transfer in Persian–English bilingual children's production of novel compound words. Nineteen Persian monolinguals, sixteen Persian–English bilinguals, and seventeen English monolinguals participated in a novel compound production task. Our results showed crosslinguistic influence of Persian on English and of English on Persian. Bilingual children produced more right-headed compounds in Persian, compared with Persian monolinguals, and in their English task, they produced more left-headed compounds than English monolinguals. Furthermore, Persian-dominant bilinguals tended more towards left-headed compounds in Persian than the English-dominant group. These findings point to both structural overlap and language dominance as factors underlying crosslinguistic transfer.

scholarly journals Dwujęzyczność u progu edukacji szkolnej – interdyscyplinarny projekt badawczy

Neofilolog ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 7-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Otwinowska ◽  
Natalia Banasik ◽  
Marta Białecka-Pikul ◽  
Dorota Kiebzak-Mandera ◽  
Katarzyna Kuś ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Bilingual Child ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
European Cooperation ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
School Entrance ◽  
Natural Settings

The paper describes a Polish research project which aims at creating a cognitive and linguistic profile of the Polish-English bilingual child at the school entrance age. With the increase in the number of bilingual children due to economic migrations, researchers, educators and practitioners are often faced with diagnostic dilemmas which arise from similarities in bilingual language acquisition in natural settings and Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The study, which aims at disentangling the effects of bilingualism from those of SLI, is a part of European cooperation programme COST Action IS0408/Bi-SLI. The aim of the Polish team is to create and test a set of tools which can be used for developing norms of typical bilingual development for Polish-English children entering school education.

Inter-sentential Code-switching and Language Dominance in Cantonese–English Bilingual Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-105
Author(s):  
Chit Fung Lam ◽  
Stephen Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Hong Kong Cantonese ◽  
Measurement Variance ◽  
Language Context ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Gradient Measurement

This paper examines the relationship between language dominance and the under-investigated topic of inter-sentential code-switching in Hong Kong Cantonese–English bilingual children. Longitudinal data for six children showing different dominance patterns were analysed. MLU differentials (Yip & Matthews, 2006) were adopted to measure dominance based on five criteria: methodological compatibility, typological comparability, gradient measurement, variance validity, and multifaceted compatibility. Our results showed that bilingual children produced more inter-sentential code-switching in the context of their non-dominant language and less in their dominant-language context. We account for this asymmetry in relation to mechanisms of inhibitory control (Gross & Kaushanskaya, 2015). Further, we propose that intrasentential and inter-sentential code-switching each have a different status in bilingual children’s developing grammar, underlining the methodological importance of separating the two constructs in future investigations. We also suggest that, in societies where intra-sentential code-switching is a social norm, inter-sentential code-switching could serve as signs of early bilinguals’ dominance status.

The development of aspectual marking in Cantonese-English bilingual children

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-179
Author(s):  
Zoe Pei‐sui Luk ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Language And Cognition ◽  
Development Analysis

AbstractThe present study investigates whether the tense-aspect development of Cantonese-English bilingual children conforms to the Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen and Shirai 1994. Discourse motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles.Studies in Second Language Acquisition16(2). 133–156.), which has been shown to predict the development of monolingual children of many different languages well, and whether the two languages influence each other during development. Analysis of longitudinal production data from three Cantonese-English bilinguals (Yip and Matthews 2000. Syntactic transfer in a Cantonese-English bilingual child.Bilingualism: Language and Cognition3(3). 193–208.) shows that the development of bilingual children resemble that of monolingual children and generally follow the Aspect Hypothesis, but to a lesser degree. Interactions were also observed in that the acquisition of the Cantonese progressive markerganwas accelerated by the-ingin the bilingual children, and transfer from Cantonese to English allowed them to use the English past tense marking with verbs of different lexical aspect early in their development, deviating from the prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis.

scholarly journals THE EFFECTS OF STORY RECITATION FOR YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anesti Budi Ermerawati
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Language Context

This article discusses the effects of reciting English story in a way to prepare a storytelling competition in a private elementary school. Initially forced to use the method, the young language learners (YLL) gradually came to appreciate it. The practice enabled them to construct the story comprehensively, to improve pronunciation, to motivate their peers to tell the story confidently, and to develop the habit of attending the details of language in the context of language input. To investigate how beneficial the English story recitation is, I use interview to examine teacher’s perceptions and experiences about story recitation and its effect on language development. I will also investigate how story recitation is used and its effects in an EFL (English as a foreign language) context. The paper concludes that such practice enhances YLL’s noticing and rehearsal and later it facilitates second language acquisition. Therefore, teachers are suggested to have a positive attitude towards English story recitation for young language learners.

scholarly journals The acquisition of dative alternation by German-English bilingual and English monolingual children

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Woods
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Interface Phenomena ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
English Monolingual

The vulnerability of the syntax–semantics interface in simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition is still up for debate; while some scholars have found crosslinguistic transfer at this interface, others found no such influence. To determine which kinds of syntax–semantics interface phenomena may be vulnerable, this study examines the acquisition and use of dative alternation by German-English bilingual children and adults compared with English monolingual children and German and English monolingual adults. The study shows that bilingual children interpret and comprehend dative constructions in English like their monolingual peers but their production of dative constructions in German is influenced by English. This suggests that syntax–semantics interface phenomena relating to the representation of verbs’ objects are vulnerable to influence. However, bilingual adults perform like monolinguals in both languages. These results suggest that any indeterminacy in the use of dative alternation in the adult state is due to L1 attrition rather than incomplete L1 acquisition.

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