Object–verb and verb–object in Basque and Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals

AbstractThe aim of this article is to analyse the acquisition of object-verb/verb-object word order in Spanish and Basque by monolinguals (L1), early simultaneous bilinguals (2L1) and successive bilinguals, exposed to their second language before ages 5-6 (child L2). In this study, the second language (child L2) is acquired naturalistically, in a preschool setting with no formal instruction for the Basque L2 speakers and by environmental contact for the Spanish L2 speakers. Spanish and Basque are differentiated by their canonical word order as subject-verb-object and subject-object-verb, respectively. In Spanish, the subject-verb-object order is predominant (almost exclusive) in narrative contexts, whereas in Basque, both object-verb and verb-object word orders are possible in these contexts for pragmatic reasons, with a similar use in everyday language. The productions of a few L1 and 2L1 subjects are analysed longitudinally within the 1;06-3;00 age span. Cross-sectional data from 49 subjects who developed a child L2 are analysed at ages 5 and 8. The results reveal that the bilingual children apply the same syntactic patterns as the monolinguals in their respective languages independently of 2L1 or child L2 acquisition.Keywordschild L2 acquisition, cross-linguistic influence in child L2 acquisition, early simultaneous bilingualism (2L1), influence of age of onset in child L2 acquisition, influence of length of exposure in child L2 acquisition, object-verb/verb-object word order acquisition(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionDuring the past decades, the long-lasting discussion referring to the possible fusion or separation of linguistic codes in bilingual first-language acquisition (BFLA) seems to have faded away. Gradually, the separation hypothesis has gained ground, reinforced by a variety of studies on early bilingualism in different languages: Dutch and English (De Houwer, 1995), German and French (Meisel, 1994, 2001), French and English (Genesee, Nicoladis, & Paradis, 1995), English and Spanish (Deuchar & Quay, 2000), Norwegian and English (Lanza, 1997), Catalan and Spanish (Bel, 2001) and Basque and Spanish (Almgren & Barrena, 2001; Ezeizabarrena, 1996).However, the classical opposition between single code and separation of codes has also been somewhat reconsidered, bringing about a change in approach concerning concepts such as cross- linguistic influence or transfer, which are not necessarily interpreted as an inevitable fusion or code mixing. As pointed out by Lanza (1998) and Muller (1998), such phenomena in bilingual chil- dren's productions could be interpreted as a relief strategy or even as the application in the first place of structures that are common to the two languages being acquired.Paradis (2000) stresses that although not systematically apparent, in situations of language con- tact, use of cross-linguistic structures could occur. Muller and Hulk (2001) predict syntactic condi- tions for possible influences, and Dopke (1998, 2000) points out that cross-linguistic influence may appear in productions of children who have already mastered the morphological and syntactic features of their respective languages, if these share overlapping structures. Muller (1998) defines transfer as an operation aiming at eliminating ambiguous structures in cases where different options exist in the languages in question.Until recently, however, little attention has been paid to child second-language acquisition or successive bilingualism. With this shift of focus in studies on the acquisition of two languages, a new issue has arisen: the question of whether child L2 language acquisition is more similar to child L1 acquisition, to BFLA or adult L2 acquisition. But how do we define child L2 acquisition? According to Haznedar and Gavruseva (2008), child L2 or successive bilingual language acquisi- tion could be defined as a process taking place once the subjects have acquired the basic fundamen- tals of their L1 and are exposed to an L2 between ages 4 and 8. …