ERIC Number: EJ1062885
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jul
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-0009
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Cross-Linguistic Influence in Welsh-English Bilingual Children's Adjectival Constructions
Nicoladis, Elena; Gavrila, Andra
Journal of Child Language, v42 n4 p903-916 Jul 2015
Cross-linguistic influence (CLI) refers to the linguistic influence of one of a bilingual's languages while processing the other. Researchers have debated whether CLI is better explained by the structure of bilinguals' two languages or by a combination of processing demands and structure. In this study, we test if Welsh-English bilingual children manifest CLI when producing adjectival constructions. Welsh adjectives typically appear postnominally, English adjectives typically appear prenominally. Since these structures do not overlap, there may be no CLI. If, however, CLI is a result of competition between languages, children's adjectival constructions may be reversed in both languages. We elicited adjectival constructions from Welsh-English bilingual children and English monolingual children between three and six years of age. The bilingual children produced more reversals than monolinguals and equivalent rates of reversals in both languages. In other words, the results support an interpretation of CLI resulting, at least in part, from processing demands.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Child Language, Welsh, English, Bilingualism, Language Acquisition, Form Classes (Languages), Monolingualism, Young Children
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Wales)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
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