scholarly journals Diversity and divergence in bilingual acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen M. Meisel
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Age At Onset ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
Sufficient Cause

Abstract Bilingual settings are perceived as exemplary cases of linguistic diversity, and they are assumed to trigger cross-linguistic interaction. The rationale underlying this assumption is the belief that when more than one language is processed in a brain, this will inevitably affect the way in which linguistic knowledge is acquired, stored and used. However, this idea stands in conflict with results obtained by research on children acquiring two (or more) languages simultaneously. They have been demonstrated to be able to differentiate languages from early on and to develop competences qualitatively identical to those of monolinguals. These studies thus provide little evidence supporting the idea that bilingualism must lead to divergent grammatical development. The question then is what triggers alterations of bilinguals’ grammars, especially of the syntactic core, possibly resulting in non-native competences. This has been claimed to occur in the acquisition of second languages, weaker languages of simultaneous bilinguals, or heritage languages. These acquisition types differ from first language development in that onset of acquisition of one language is delayed or that the amount of exposure to one language is reduced. I will argue that age at onset and severely reduced amount of exposure are potential causal factors triggering divergent developments, whereas bilingualism on its own is not a sufficient cause of divergence.

Formulaic Language in L1 Acquisition

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Bannard ◽  
Elena Lieven
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
First Language ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Representational Space ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
Considerable Support

The recognition that speech formulas play a role in first language acquisition—that children reuse sequences of words taken directly and seemingly unanalyzed from the input—goes back to the earliest days of the field. Until fairly recently, however, such formulaic language was considered part of an early and soon-superseded stage of development. The last decade has seen the rise of a perspective on language development in which such formulas are central to language acquisition across development. According to this perspective, which is often known as theusage-based theory of language development, acquisition begins when children identify, infer a communicative function for, and start to utilize pieces of language of different sizes (single words and multiword sequences). Generalization, and as a result grammar, is an emergent property resulting from the ongoing coexistence of such sequences in a shared representational space. The growth in popularity of such an account, which represents a radical break from traditional models of grammatical development, has resulted in large part from the appearance of very large corpora of child–caregiver interactions. Such corpora have supported a new understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the learner, as well as allowing new naturalistic analyses of children's productions and the creation of stimuli for experiments, all of which offer considerable support for the usage-based position. This article offers a review of these developments.

scholarly journals AN ANALYSIS OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN CHILDREN

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
Masykur
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Systematic Pattern ◽  
Depth Interviews

The current study investigates the accessibility of a systematic pattern to children learning their first language, and also it is a try to show the effect of the quantity of input on first language acquisition. To these aims, two case studies were carried out on six children learning as their first language. The participants of the first study were three children acquiring their first language in Indramayu being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if they all passed the same pattern in language development. The participants of the second study were three Children (who were exposed to less input) acquiring their first language in Indramayu being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if the language development was affected considering the amount of input they were exposed to. In-depth interviews, observations, audio and video recordings, notes and reports were used to collect the data for this study. The data collected for each Children was analyzed separately, and the stages of development were reported for each children accordingly. The findings support the claim that the process of language acquisition depends on an innate language ability which holds that at least some linguistic knowledge exists in humans at birth, and also the input that learners receive plays a very important role in the language acquisition since the input activates this innate structure.

The speakers of minority languages are more multilingual

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Nina Dobrushina ◽  
George Moroz
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
First Language ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Research Questions

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The paper tests the hypothesis that the larger the population of language speakers, the smaller the number of second languages mastered by these speakers. Design/methodology/approach: We match the size of the population of 29 Dagestanian languages and the number of second languages spoken by the speakers of these languages from 54 villages, and run a Poisson mixed effects regression model that predicts the average number of second languages spoken by speakers from first-language communities of different size. Data and analysis: Data for this study comes from two sources. The information on the population of Dagestanian languages is based on the digitalized census of 1926. The information on the number of second languages in which the residents of Dagestan are proficient is taken from the database on multilingualism in Dagestan (4032 people). Findings/conclusions: The study supports the hypothesis that the size of language population is negatively correlated with the multilingualism of the language community. Originality: The paper is the first to test the correlation between the size of language population and the level of multilingualism of its speakers using statistical methods and a large body of empirical data. Significance and implications: Population size is a factor that could have influenced patterns of language evolution. The population is interrelated with other factors, one of which is long-standing multilingualism. The methodological lesson of this research is that there is a difference in the level of multilingualism within a range of populations where the largest was about 120,000 people. Limitations: The data is limited to one multilingual region. The revealed correlation probably does not hold for areas where language communities do not interact with their neighbors and even speakers of minority languages can be monolingual, or for the territories where many people migrated and the area where a language is spoken was discontinuous.

Language Development in Preschool-Age Children Adopted From China

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny A. Roberts ◽  
Karen E. Pollock ◽  
Rena Krakow ◽  
Johanna Price ◽  
Kathleen C. Fulmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
First Language ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Adopted Children ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Preschool Age Children ◽  
Internationally Adopted Children ◽  
The Average Range

This study examined the language development of 55 preschool-age children adopted from China who had resided in their permanent homes for approximately 2 years or longer. Slightly over 5% of the children scored below average on 2 or more measures from a battery of standardized speech-language tests normed on monolingual English speakers. However, the vast majority scored within or well above the average range on 2 or more measures. Contrary to other reports on the language development of internationally adopted children, the results suggest that "second first language" acquisition proceeds rapidly in the majority of preschool-age children adopted as infants and toddlers. For the children in the sample who scored below average, results indicated that they were among the children who had been exposed to English for the least amount of time. The results of this study demonstrate both the robustness of the language system in the majority of adopted children from China as well as slower growth in a small subset of lower performers in the 1st years after adoption.

scholarly journals Bilingual Brains Learn to Use L2 Alliterations Covertly like Poets: Brain ERP Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siqin Yang ◽  
Xiaochen Zhang ◽  
Minghu Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Unrelated Word ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Modulation Effect ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
English Translations ◽  
High Level

Bilinguals were documented to access their native or first language (L1) during comprehension of their second languages (L2). However, it is uncertain whether they can access L2 when reading their first language. This study used the event-related potential (ERP) technique to demonstrate the implicit and unconscious access to English words when Chinese–English bilinguals read words in Chinese, their native language. The participants were asked to judge whether the Chinese words presented in pairs were semantically related or not, meanwhile unconscious of the occasional alliteration (repetition of the first phoneme) if the Chinese words were translated into English. While the concealed prime in English translations failed to affect the reaction time, the alliteration significantly modulated N400 among advanced English learners, especially for semantically unrelated word pairs. Critically, this modulation effect was discrepant between bilinguals with high-level and normal-level English proficiency. These results indicate that L2 activation is an unconscious correlate of native-language processing depending on L2 proficiency.

Lexical preference in second dialect acquisition in a second language

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110369
Author(s):  
Ksenia Gnevsheva ◽  
Anita Szakay ◽  
Sandra Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Dialect Acquisition ◽  
Second Dialect Acquisition ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Australian English

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: How does second dialect acquisition in a second language compare to that in a first language in terms of rates and predictors of second dialect vocabulary use? Design/methodology/approach: A lexical preference task was completed by four groups of participants residing in Australia: first language speakers of Australian (L1D1) and American (L1D2) English, and first language speakers of Russian who acquired Australian (L2D1) and American (L2D2) English first. The participants named objects which are denoted by different words in American and Australian English (e.g. bell pepper vs capsicum). Data and analysis: The response was coded as either American or Australian, and percentage of use of Australian items was calculated for each group. Findings/conclusions: L1D1 used Australian words the most and L1D2 the least. L2D1 and L2D2 fell between the two L1 groups. L1D2 rate of use was predicted by proportion of life spent in Australia. L2D1 were more likely to choose Australian words if they had lived in Australia longer and had positive attitudes toward Australia. L2D2 were less likely to use Australian words the longer they had lived in the USA. Similar, but not identical, factors predict second dialect acquisition in the first and second languages. Originality: The research is innovative in considering second dialect acquisition in second language speakers and creates a bridge between second language and second dialect acquisition research. Significance/implications: The finding that second language speakers may be more flexible in second dialect acquisition than first language speakers has important implications for our understanding of cognitive and social constraints on acquisition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document