Abstract
The study shows that bilingual children interpret and comprehend dative constructions in English like their monolingual peers but their production of dative constructions in German is influenced by English. This suggests that syntax–semantics interface phenomena relating to the representation of verbs’ objects are vulnerable to influence. However, bilingual adults perform like monolinguals in both languages. These results suggest that any indeterminacy in the use of dative alternation in the adult state is due to L1 attrition rather than incomplete L1 acquisition.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 252-284 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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The acquisition of dative alternation by German-English bilingual and English monolingual children. / Woods, Rebecca.
In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2015, p. 252-284.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - The acquisition of dative alternation by German-English bilingual and English monolingual children
AU - Woods, Rebecca
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The vulnerability of the syntax–semantics interface in simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition is still up for debate; while some scholars have found crosslinguistic transfer at this interface, others found no such influence. To determine which kinds of syntax–semantics interface phenomena may be vulnerable, this study examines the acquisition and use of dative alternation by German-English bilingual children and adults compared with English monolingual children and German and English monolingual adults.The study shows that bilingual children interpret and comprehend dative constructions in English like their monolingual peers but their production of dative constructions in German is influenced by English. This suggests that syntax–semantics interface phenomena relating to the representation of verbs’ objects are vulnerable to influence. However, bilingual adults perform like monolinguals in both languages. These results suggest that any indeterminacy in the use of dative alternation in the adult state is due to L1 attrition rather than incomplete L1 acquisition.
AB - The vulnerability of the syntax–semantics interface in simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition is still up for debate; while some scholars have found crosslinguistic transfer at this interface, others found no such influence. To determine which kinds of syntax–semantics interface phenomena may be vulnerable, this study examines the acquisition and use of dative alternation by German-English bilingual children and adults compared with English monolingual children and German and English monolingual adults.The study shows that bilingual children interpret and comprehend dative constructions in English like their monolingual peers but their production of dative constructions in German is influenced by English. This suggests that syntax–semantics interface phenomena relating to the representation of verbs’ objects are vulnerable to influence. However, bilingual adults perform like monolinguals in both languages. These results suggest that any indeterminacy in the use of dative alternation in the adult state is due to L1 attrition rather than incomplete L1 acquisition.
KW - syntax-semantics interface
KW - dative alternation
KW - simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition
U2 - 10.1075/lab.5.2.04woo
DO - 10.1075/lab.5.2.04woo
M3 - Article
VL - 5
SP - 252
EP - 284
JO - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
JF - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
SN - 1879-9264
IS - 2
ER -