Bilingual first language acquisition

• Genesee Nicoladis 2005 Bilingual first language acquisition.pdfGenesee Fred - Nicoladis Elena : Bilingual first language acquisition (HDBK BFLA, September 2005 | 34 S.) pdf BILINGUAL FIRST LANGAUGE ACQUISITION1 Fred Genesee, McGill University and Elena Nicoladis, University of Alberta This chapter focuses on the simultaneous acquisition of two languages from birth, or what is generally referred to as bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA). A major question in studies of BFLA, and a focus of our review, is whether the developmental path and time course of language development in BFL learners is the same as that of children learning only one language. Underlying this question is the theoretical issue of whether children’s ability to learn language is challenged in any way by the acquisition of two languages at the same time. Evidence that the rate of language development is slowed down in BFL learners in comparison to monolingual learners would argue that the ability that all children have to learn language is compromised by the challenge of learning more than one language at the same time. An additional issue is whether exposure to two languages simultaneously influences the pattern of development so that it differs from that observed in monolingual learners. Evidence that the patterns are different could give us insights as to how the processes that underlie language acquisition cope with dual language input. The study of bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) has had a remarkably long history. In 1913, Ronjat published a detailed description of his son Louis’ simultaneous acquisition of French and German. Louis showed remarkable progress in both his languages and little sign of confusion. Ronjat attributed Louis’s lack of confusion to both parents’ use of only one language with him. This conclusion was brought into doubt in 1949 when Leopold published the last volume of a detailed diary of his daughter’s (Hildegard) simultaneous acquisition of English and German. Leopold claimed that the parents were insistent on a one parent-one language rule. Yet Hildegard passed through a stage when she used words from both languages, a fact that Leopold interpreted as a sign that she had confused her two languages and was functioning as a monolingual. These diarists set the tone for the study of BFLA to this day. That BFL learners might go through an initial monolingual stage, as initially proposed by Leopold, is but one instance of the more general concern that BFLA strains the child’s language learning capacity, leading to delayed and even impaired forms of language development (e.g., see Smith, 1935, for an early expression of this view). This concern has been expressed in a number of ways: BFLA might result in impaired cognitive, as well as linguistic, development (Bialystok, 2001); bilingual education puts children at risk for academic failure or delay (e.g., Macnamara, 1966); or BFL learners will be socio-cultural misfits, identifying strongly with neither language group (Diebold, 1968).