The influence of the environmental language (Lε) in Mandarin-English bilingual development : the case of transfer in wh- questions

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study investigates the significance of the linguistic environment’s role in accounting for the nature of wh- in situ transfer. Previous research shows structural transfer from wh- in situ languages towards non-wh- in situ languages in bilingual children, usually affecting the weaker language. Explanations variously argue in terms of dominance of the child’s language and/or structural overlap and complexity, but transfer is said to be blocked if the languages are not isomorphic. However, these explanations fail to account for cases where all the above conditions are met but transfer does not materialise. We propose to re-examine the issues focusing on wh- in situ transfer in a Mandarin-English bilingual child. Our research questions centre around whether structural conditions and the child’s dominant language sufficiently account for transfer or lack thereof and whether the (neglected) role of the environmental language is significant. Design/Methodology: From wh- in situ research we identify 10 separate configurations differing with respect to some variable(s) and examine longitudinal data from a Mandarin-English bilingual child (age 1;7–4;6) growing up in a context-bound one language–one environment situation. Data/Analysis: The data consists of 83 audio-recordings and diary entries of naturalistic productions collected over three years. The distribution of wh- questions in context in each language was analysed in all transcriptions. Findings/Conclusions: No evidence was found of wh- in situ transfer, despite the child’s Mandarin dominance and the English-Mandarin isomorphism. The environmental language (Lε) cannot be underestimated. Originality: New evidence on wh- question development in a constellation not previously considered becomes critical when compared to earlier studies and identifies a significant, and hitherto neglected, role for the environmental language in understanding the nature of transfer. Significance/Implications: The findings suggest that approaches considering internal factors (structural overlap, complexity, isomorphism), or the child’s language dominance, do not exhaustively cover the conditions that predict whether or not transfer occurs.