From nominal reference to the acquisition of personal pronouns in a Mandarin-English bilingual child

Western Sydney University thesis: Doctoral thesis

Abstract

This longitudinal study aims to trace the developmental route from nominal to pronominal reference to person in a bilingual first language acquirer of two typologically distinct languages : Mandarin and English. The study reveals that experiencing different types of input influences the speed and movement by which personal pronouns are learned in language production. The study provides some exploration into the role of the weaker language in bilingual language development as well as the nature and extent of the early separation and interaction of two linguistic systems in a language environment which is fundamentally unlike the one parent-one-language setting. The data-set of the work consists of over 65 tape recorded sessions of naturalistic speech collected over 30 months in context-based language use in either Mandarin or English, where Mandarin is the home(and minority) language spoken by both parents and other family members while English is the(dominant)language of all other environments.
Date of Award2004
Original languageEnglish

Keywords

  • English language acquisition
  • Chinese language acquisition
  • Mandarin

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