Bilingual language acquisition by Korean schoolchildren in New York City

Abstract

This paper examines the bilingual language development of young Korean–American children with respect to their acquisition of English grammatical morphemes and the different plural marking systems of Korean and English. We address two specific issues: (1) “do L1 and L2 learners acquire the grammatical features of a given language in the same sequence?” and (2) “do L2 learners of different L1 backgrounds learn the grammatical features of a given second language in the same sequence?” Comparison of our results with those of other morpheme acquisition studies suggests that L1 and L2 learners of English do not acquire English grammatical features in the same sequence. Furthermore, there is evidence that first language influences the course of second language acquisition. Results of an experimental study of plural marking suggest that the bilingual children in most, but not all, respects follow similar, but delayed patterns of first language acquisition of Korean and successive acquisition of English.

Structural priming of adjective–noun structures in hearing and deaf children

“…A key finding in research on bilingual children using two spoken languages is that the languages interact and that bilingual children are sensitive to differences in the overlap of structures in their two languages (e.g., Döpke, 2000;Hulk & Müller, 2000;Nicoladis, 2006;Shin & Milroy, 1999). Recently, researchers have begun to explore the issue of language interaction and transfer in bimodal bilinguals who use two languages in different modalities with the goal of characterizing the nature of this type of bilingualism (Emmorey, Borinstein, Thompson, & Gollan, 2008;Singleton, Morgan, DiGello, Wiles, & Rivers, 2004;van Beijsterveldt & van Hell, in press).…”

Is the Acquisition Order of Grammatical Morphemes Impervious to L1 Knowledge? Evidence From the Acquisition of Plural ‐s, Articles, and Possessive ’s

“…We also excluded case studies other than longitudinal studies (e.g., Schmidt, 1983). This yielded seven L1 Japanese studies (Hakuta, 1976; Izumi & Isahara, 2004; Koike, 1983; Makino, 1979a; Nuibe, 1986; Shirahata, 1988; Sasaki, 1987), two L1 Chinese studies (Dulay & Burt, 1974; Mace‐Matluck, 1979), two L1 Korean studies (Pak, 1987; Shin & Milroy, 1999), and seven L1 Spanish studies (Andersen, 1978; Bailey et al, 1974; Dulay & Burt, 1973, 1974; Mace‐Matluck; Pica, 1983; Rosansky, 1976). Tono (2000), which was called to our attention after this article went to press, is also consistent with our hypothesis.…”

“…Regarding our predictions, articles are acquired relatively late by Korean learners of English, as we can see in Table 3. Although articles are in the second group (rank 4) to be acquired according to the NO, they are ranked sixth and seventh in Pak's (1987) and in Shin and Milroy's (1999) study, respectively. Plural, which ranked first in the NO, ranked eighth and ninth in the studies with L1 Korean learners.…”

“…Based on such observations, Shirai (1992) argued that “even though a natural order is claimed based on correlational or implicational studies, we still need to resort to an L1 transfer explanation even in the area of morpheme acquisition” (p. 100). More recently, N. C. Ellis (2006) also argued, based on Pak's (1987) and Shin and Milroy's (1999) morpheme studies on L1 Korean learners, that “L2 acquisition is clearly affected by the transfer of learners’ knowledge of their first language” (p. 187).…”

"Uso de la retroalimentación correctivafocalizada indirecta con claves metalingüísticas en la adquisición del sufijo -s en la tercera persona del singular en inglés, en estudiantes de un programa de formación pedagógica en efl de una universidad chilena"

“…Algunas investigaciones en este ámbito han demostrado que existen etapas de desarrollo en la adquisición de la morfología y la sintaxis de una L2 (Johnson & Johnson, 2014;Lightbown & Spada, 2000); sin embargo, no hay acuerdos sobre este supuesto orden. Con relación a la s final, algunos estudios (Goldschneider & Dekeyser, 2001;Hsieh, 2009;Shin & Milroy, 1999) han arrojado como resultado que la -s se encuentra en uno de los niveles más difíciles de adquirir. Al respecto, autores como Pienemann (2005) y Ellis (2006) intentan explicar la dificultad que implica la adquisición de la -s final, a través de dos teorías diferentes.…”