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Chapter 8. Development of Japanese and English polar questions in bilingual first language acquisition

  • Yuki Itani-Adams and Bruno Di Biase
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Processability and Language Acquisition in the Asia-Pacific Region
This chapter is in the book Processability and Language Acquisition in the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

This chapter examines the development of polar questions, in English and Japanese in a bilingual child acquiring these two typologically different languages from birth in a one-parent-one-language environment in Australia. The three-year longitudinal data-set was collected from the time Haru, the informant, was one year and eleven months of age. Her polar questions began with the use of rising intonation in single or two-word utterances in both languages. Her development continued in language-specific ways resembling that of L1 development in each language, much in line with the Prominence Hypothesis. As well as supporting this Hypothesis and the universality of PT in a bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) context the study highlights the importance of the two-word stage in child language development and proposes a Two-word stage for PT’s developmental schedule, intermediate between the lemma stage and the canonical order stage within the BFLA context.

Abstract

This chapter examines the development of polar questions, in English and Japanese in a bilingual child acquiring these two typologically different languages from birth in a one-parent-one-language environment in Australia. The three-year longitudinal data-set was collected from the time Haru, the informant, was one year and eleven months of age. Her polar questions began with the use of rising intonation in single or two-word utterances in both languages. Her development continued in language-specific ways resembling that of L1 development in each language, much in line with the Prominence Hypothesis. As well as supporting this Hypothesis and the universality of PT in a bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) context the study highlights the importance of the two-word stage in child language development and proposes a Two-word stage for PT’s developmental schedule, intermediate between the lemma stage and the canonical order stage within the BFLA context.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Processability Theory, second language learning and teaching in the Asia-Pacific region 1
  5. Part 1. Asian languages as second languages
  6. Chapter 2. Studies of Japanese as a second language and their contribution to Processability Theory 27
  7. Chapter 3. The development of lexical mapping in Chinese L2 63
  8. Chapter 4. Extending PT to split ergative marking and differential object marking 91
  9. Chapter 5. Acquiring content questions in Japanese child second language 115
  10. Chapter 6. Japanese L2 corpora and SLA research 144
  11. Part 2. Bilingual first language acquisition and PT
  12. Chapter 7. The bilingual development of plural marking in a Malay-English child 165
  13. Chapter 8. Development of Japanese and English polar questions in bilingual first language acquisition 192
  14. Part 3. English as Foreign Language (EFL) in Asia
  15. Chapter 9. Developmentally moderated focus on form in an Indonesian kindergarten EFL programme 231
  16. Chapter 10. The acquisition of polar questions in Chinese learners of English as a foreign language 258
  17. Chapter 11. Testing the validity of Processability Theory through a corpus-based analysis 280
  18. About the authors 301
  19. Index 305
https://doi.org/10.1075/palart.9.08ita

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Processability Theory, second language learning and teaching in the Asia-Pacific region 1
  5. Part 1. Asian languages as second languages
  6. Chapter 2. Studies of Japanese as a second language and their contribution to Processability Theory 27
  7. Chapter 3. The development of lexical mapping in Chinese L2 63
  8. Chapter 4. Extending PT to split ergative marking and differential object marking 91
  9. Chapter 5. Acquiring content questions in Japanese child second language 115
  10. Chapter 6. Japanese L2 corpora and SLA research 144
  11. Part 2. Bilingual first language acquisition and PT
  12. Chapter 7. The bilingual development of plural marking in a Malay-English child 165
  13. Chapter 8. Development of Japanese and English polar questions in bilingual first language acquisition 192
  14. Part 3. English as Foreign Language (EFL) in Asia
  15. Chapter 9. Developmentally moderated focus on form in an Indonesian kindergarten EFL programme 231
  16. Chapter 10. The acquisition of polar questions in Chinese learners of English as a foreign language 258
  17. Chapter 11. Testing the validity of Processability Theory through a corpus-based analysis 280
  18. About the authors 301
  19. Index 305
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