Processing of pronoun gender by Dutch-Russian simultaneous bilinguals
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Elena Tribushinina
Abstract
This paper investigates the processing of pronoun gender by bilingual children. Prior research shows that Dutch–Russian bilinguals below age 7 often make gender agreement errors in Russian anaphoric pronouns, whereas monolingual children are target-like by age 4. This paper aims to establish whether the frequent production errors in the speech of bilinguals are due to lacking knowledge of grammatical gender or due to incidental performance breakdowns. The results of an eye-tracking experiment demonstrate that 5–6-year-old Dutch-Russian bilinguals are sensitive to gender cues, but are slower than Russian monolingual peers and adults in pronoun resolution. The findings support the view that bilinguals possess abstract grammatical representations, but are less efficient in gender production and processing due to competition cost in bilingualism.
Abstract
This paper investigates the processing of pronoun gender by bilingual children. Prior research shows that Dutch–Russian bilinguals below age 7 often make gender agreement errors in Russian anaphoric pronouns, whereas monolingual children are target-like by age 4. This paper aims to establish whether the frequent production errors in the speech of bilinguals are due to lacking knowledge of grammatical gender or due to incidental performance breakdowns. The results of an eye-tracking experiment demonstrate that 5–6-year-old Dutch-Russian bilinguals are sensitive to gender cues, but are slower than Russian monolingual peers and adults in pronoun resolution. The findings support the view that bilinguals possess abstract grammatical representations, but are less efficient in gender production and processing due to competition cost in bilingualism.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Relative clauses
- Case(mis)matching in German free relative clauses in the self-paced reading paradigm 11
- Integrating the filler 35
- When initial thematic role attribution lingers 57
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Empty categories
- Brain responses elicited by implausible fillers and filled object gaps in German 75
- Gone with a trace? 91
- Priming paradigmatic gaps 117
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Determiner Phrases
- A good-enough representation is not good enough 137
- Processing of pronoun gender by Dutch-Russian simultaneous bilinguals 153
-
Language impairment
- A syntactically based treatment of relative clauses 177
- Language impairment in an Italian child with Trisomy X 209
- Sentence reading in older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment 239
- The comprehension of wh -questions and passives in German children and adolescents with Down syndrome 279
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Relative clauses
- Case(mis)matching in German free relative clauses in the self-paced reading paradigm 11
- Integrating the filler 35
- When initial thematic role attribution lingers 57
-
Empty categories
- Brain responses elicited by implausible fillers and filled object gaps in German 75
- Gone with a trace? 91
- Priming paradigmatic gaps 117
-
Determiner Phrases
- A good-enough representation is not good enough 137
- Processing of pronoun gender by Dutch-Russian simultaneous bilinguals 153
-
Language impairment
- A syntactically based treatment of relative clauses 177
- Language impairment in an Italian child with Trisomy X 209
- Sentence reading in older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment 239
- The comprehension of wh -questions and passives in German children and adolescents with Down syndrome 279
- Index 303
