Bilingualism

and Language
Acquisition
Theme 3
Introduction
Bilingualism can be the property of an
individual, but equally it can be the
property of an entire speech community in
which two or more languages are routinely
used.
Introduction
The existence of bilingual and multilingual
societies raises important social, political
and educational issues.
In what languages should education be
delivered, and at what levels?
What languages should be accepted for
publication and broadcasting?
In what languages should laws be written,
and what languages should be accepted
in court proceedings?
Types of Bilingualism
Bilinguals may vary considerably in their
skills and use of their languages.
This variation results from wide differences
in particular linguistic situations, and also in
the way in which bilingualism is acquired.
Types of Bilingualism
Individuals become bilingual for different
reasons; they may have parents who speak
different native languages, they may live in
a community where two languages have
long been in use as a result of political and
historical factors, they may live in diglossic
societies, where language is selected
according to social convention, or they (or
their families) may have migrated from one
linguistic community to another.
Types of Bilingualism
Within each of these situations, individuals
will vary as to the time at which they are
first exposed to each language, and the
degree of exposure at any one stage of
development.
Types of Bilingualism
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism

These terms relate to the way in which

bilingualism is acquired

Form and Time of Exposure

Types of Bilingualism
Simultaneous Bilingualism
With simultaneous acquisition, the child is
assumed to have more or less equal exposure
to two languages from birth as "first
languages".
Thus, a person who is a simultaneous
bilingual goes from speaking no languages at
all directly to speaking two languages. Infants
who are exposed to two languages from birth
will become simultaneous bilinguals.
Types of Bilingualism
Sequential Bilingualism
Where acquisition is sequential, exposure to
one language begins some time after the
child has begun to acquire the other
language (for convenience, these will be
referred to as L2 and LI, respectively).
For the sequential bilingual, L2 acquisition,
generally assumed to occur naturalistically,
however it may also refer to 'learning,' if the
child experiences some formal teaching to
help with his or her L2.
Types of Bilingualism
Sequential Bilingualism
Learning one language after already
established a first language. This is the
situation for all those who become bilingual
as adults, as well as for many who became
bilingual.
Types of Bilingualism
Receptive Bilingualism
Being able to understand two languages but
express oneself in only one.
Children who had high exposure to a second
language throughout their lives, but have
had little opportunity to use the language
would fall in this category. For example,
many children in Mexican immigrant
families hear English on TV, in stores and so
on, but use their home language in everyday
communication.
Types of Bilingualism
Bilingual individuals may also be grouped
according to the degree of bilingualism,
even though linguists themselves cannot
agree upon one.
The 'native-like control of two languages
Complete mastery of two languages
The 'ability to produce a meaningful
utterances in another language,'
Incipient bilingualism
Bilingual Language Acquisition
The most usual situation in which two
languages are acquired simultaneously, is
where the parents each have different
native languages which they use with the
child.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Volterra and Taeschner (1978), study on
simultaneous language acquisition. They
describe three principal stages.
Stage one

corresponds to the single-word stage in

monolingual children, the child appears to
operate with only one lexical system.
Vocabulary is drawn from both languages,
but only one word expresses one meaning;
the child does not have a choice of lexical
items for the same entity.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Stage two,
At this stage the child appears to operate
with two lexical systems producing
multiword utterances, but structures tend to
be selected from one language.
There is more confusion regarding syntax,
however, at times the child tends to
simplify and combine rules from both
languages.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Stage three
The final stage is characterized by growing
separation of the two languages, at both
lexical and syntactic levels.
A common feature of this stage is that the
child rigidly associates particular languages
with particular people, and may become
upset if adults do not conform to this.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
In the first stage the child has one lexical
system which includes words from both
languages. , in this stage the language
development of the bilingual child seems to be
like the language development of the
monolingual child.
In the second stage, the child distinguishes two
different lexicons, but applies the same syntactic
rules to both languages.
In the third stage the child speaks two
languages differentiated both in lexicon and
syntax
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Stages of Acquisition
Bilingual children seem to have separate
grammars by the age of 2-2;6
Bilingual children seem to undergo the
same stages of acquisition as monolingual
children (babbling, 1 word, 2 word,
multiword stages, morpheme order,
vocabulary development
Sequential Acquisition
There are fewer studies of sequential
bilingualism available, but
generally it is thought that young
children acquiring an L2 go through similar
developmental stages to the monolingual
child acquiring that same language.
With older children, the developmental
sequence may be influenced by formal
second language teaching.
Sequential Acquisition
There is growing evidence that L2
acquisition may be influenced by the child's
personality, general approach to the
problem, and particular language-learning
strategies, just as it is in language-learning
adults.
Sequential Acquisition
There has been much interest in the
importance of age in determining a child's
success in acquiring a second language.
It is often thought that the young child
acquires languages especially easily, with
this ability declining as he or she
approaches the end of the critical period
(though when exactly this is, is
controversial)
Sequential Acquisition
However, there is some evidence that, while
younger children are particularly adept at
acquiring L2 phonology, older teenaged
children may be better at acquiring
grammatical patterns.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Language Dominance and Attrition
Bilingual language acquisition does not
occur in an emptiness, and it is unlikely that
the bilingual child will have equal input from
both languages at any one time.
For any individual at a given point in time,
one their languages will be dominant, used
in more situations than the other one, and
used more skillfully.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Language Dominance and Attrition
Acquisition setting, amount of input, etc.
generally lead to one language becoming
the dominant one.
It is also well documented that if input
ceases for language, knowledge of that
language will quickly be lost by the child.
This is known as language 'attrition.'
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Transfer

A common source of interest regarding the

bilingual child is the extent to which there is
transfer from one language to the other.
Transfer ('interference') consists of elements of
one language influencing an utterance that is
mainly in the other language.
Transfer is common and well tolerated in many
bilingual communities
Also common in bilingual communities is code-
switching in which there is alternation between
languages over longer stretches of discourse.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Transfer

Anecdotal evidence suggests that,

providing the two languages are kept
separate in input (if theres consistence in
which language to use with the child, and
do not code-switch or show features of
transfer), the child is unlikely to show much
evidence of transfer once the initial stages
of language acquisition are passed.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Transfer

Fantini (1985) - Spanish-English bilingual son:

limited transfer at a number of linguistic levels.
Phonology, his son lacked control over some
allophonic variants of English, tending to
arrange phonemes according to Spanish
phonological rules.
Syntax and morphology, noted some transfer of
morphemes and grammatical relations from one
language to the other as wellas some effects on
word-order.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Transfer
Loanwords were sometimes transferred from
one to the other, and given appropriate
morphological endings.
Lexical borrowing tended to occur when there
was not an equivalent word in the other
language.
Fantini also noted some confusion of cultural
norms of behavior (e.g., shaking hands or
kissing), and some interference affecting
conversational and discourse convention.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Effects
of Bilingualism on Cognitive and Academic
Development

The monolingual view: Bilingualism detrimental to a

child's psychological, social, and cognitive development.
Early experimental highlighted the detrimental effects
of bilingualism
Bilinguals have a number of serious methodological
weaknesses, testing in the child's less dominant
language, ignorance of cultural differences influencing
the child's responses to testing, and prejudice on the
part of experimenters.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Effects of Bilingualism on Cognitive and
Academic Development
More recent research suggests that
bilingual children may have some cognitive
advantages over their monolingual peers,
developing metalinguistic awareness
earlier, and displaying more flexibility in
cognitive tasks.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Effects
of Bilingualism on Cognitive and
Academic Development

Peal & Lambert (1962):

bilinguals who are the same with respect to
social class perform better than
monolinguals on a variety of cognitive tasks.
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Effects of Bilingualism on Cognitive and
Academic Development
The bilingual child has wider experience in
two cultures, which has given him
advantages that a monolingual does not
enjoy.
Intellectually, his experience with two
language systems seems to have left him
with a mental flexibility, a superiority of
concept formation, and a more diversified
set of mental abilities
Bilingual Language Acquisition
Effects of Bilingualism on Cognitive and
Academic Development
Immersion language programs
Successful Ineffective

carefully planned introduction of the L2,

and/or mother tongue programs so that use of
the LI can be maintained and extended into
new areas, are desirable.

bilingual education = a positive asset