Children’s emerging ability to discriminate L1-varieties

Abstract

Children in Austria are exposed to a large amount of variation within the German language. Most children grow up with a local dialect, German standard language and 'intermediate' varieties summarized as 'Umgangssprache'. Using an ABX design, this study analyses when Austrian children are able to discriminate native varieties of their L1 German (standard German vs local dialect). The results show children's early ability to register differences and similarities on an across-speaker level when sentences are held constant (i.e. to discriminate translation equivalents in the two varieties) and a later, rather sudden emergence of more abstract categories of the varieties, which encompass different phonological and lexical variables and enable children to match sentences which also differ lexically. In sum, discrimination ability seems to be relatively stable and consistent at the age of 8/9. Other than age, the mother's educational background, language variation at home and the immediate sociolinguistic setting (urban/rural) predict children's discrimination performance.

5–9-year-olds categorisation of regional accents: The role of exposure to variation

“…It is therefore important to consider the results from individual studies in light of the context of these variations. Kaiser and Kasberger (2018) describe the concept of the standard in Austria as a standarddialect continuum, ranging from Austrian standard German to the various dialects spoken throughout the country. Most children will experience these differences on an everyday basis and therefore the standard/non-standard(dialect) distinction is prevalent.…”

“…Using an ABX task design, in which participants decide whether speaker 'X' best matches with speaker 'A' or speaker 'B', Beck (2014) found that 5-6-year-old children in Philadelphia, U.S. were able to discriminate between familiar, local and unfamiliar, non-local speakers. Kaiser and Kasberger (2018) found that children 5 years + were able to discriminate between Austrian standard German vs. dialect speakers in Austria, also using an ABX design.…”

A Continuation Method in the Teaching of Academic English Writing for Chinese College Students

“…Maybe that is why two children became "wolf children", as they were raised by wolves. B. Ambridge et al [5] pointed out that the frequency of language input and output profoundly affects children"s first language acquisition; K. Bergström et al [6] pointed out that in the process of second language acquisition, the quantity and quality of second language input play an important role; I. Kaiser and G. Kasberger [7] pointed out that children"s acquisition of a language is closely related to their parents" degree of education. They remarked that if the parents have a good education background, they can often communicate with their children with more and better language materials.…”

Children’s Linguistic Repertoires Across Dialect and Standard Speech: Mirroring Input or Co-constructing Sociolinguistic Identities?

“…Furthermore, children seem to acquire explicit metalinguistic terminology and knowledge about dialect and standard language primarily in tandem with the acquisition of literacy (Kasberger & Kaiser, 2019). Kaiser and Kasberger (2018) suggest that the acquisition of discrimination abilities in Austrian children might be somewhat protracted because of the complex sociolinguistic setting, which does not provide clear-cut distinctions between dialect and standard language in everyday communication, neither in linguistic terms nor in terms of the sociolinguistic situations linked to the varieties in question.…”

“…Language variety acquisition and use by children in Austria has not yet received much research attention. Only recently did Kaiser and Kasberger (2018) examine the development of discrimination abilities in Austrian children. They found that 5-year-old children are able to match speakers of the same variety on a perceptual level, i.e.…”