ERIC Number: EJ1345627
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7817
Available Date: N/A
The Effects of Language Input on Word Order in German as a Heritage and Majority Language
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v29 n2 p198-228 2022
This study addresses the question of how the main factors related to input--including the environment in which children are exposed to both languages, the relative timing of the onset of the exposure to them and the amount of input--affect bilingual language acquisition at primary-school age. We examined the data of 42 German Polish bilinguals who had acquired German from birth and German monolinguals, comparing on the one hand simultaneous bilingual children speaking German as a majority language with simultaneous bilinguals who speak German as a heritage language and, on the other hand, comparing heritage speakers of German who are simultaneous bilinguals with those who are sequential bilinguals. We studied their word order patterns in German, specifically the position of verb and negation, by dint of several tasks including acceptability judgment, forced choice, sentence repetition, and narrative tasks. The results revealed the effect of all three factors on word order patterns used by bilinguals between the ages of 7 and 13. The performance of simultaneous bilingual heritage speakers varies across the tasks. We conclude that they have problems inhibiting their stronger language in tasks that place higher demands on processor, leading to a non-target-like performance in their weaker language in producing narratives.
Descriptors: Linguistic Input, German, Word Order, Bilingualism, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Polish, Elementary School Students, Comparative Analysis, Native Language, Verbs, Morphemes, Decision Making, Task Analysis, Narration, Children, Adolescents, Language Processing, Parent Child Relationship, Parent Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Language Maintenance
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany; Poland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A