Young DLLs have two separate phonological and grammatical language systems early in life¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2019: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? DLL infants, toddlers, and preschoolers have two separate phonological systems with different mental representations for each sound in their two languages. → Hammer 2014 q2 i? Based on nine case studies, DLL infants/toddlers have two separate grammatical systems, learning language-specific rules such as subject realization in each language. → Hammer 2014 (2)

Evidence¶

Hammer 2014¶

Hammer, C. S., Hoff, E., Uchikoshi, Y., Gillanders, C., Castro, D., & Sandilos, L. E. (2014). The Language and Literacy Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review. Early childhood research quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.05.008

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review's synthesis of multiple phonological studies (e.g., Anderson, 2004; Fabiano-Smith & Barlow, 2010) concludes that "DLL infants/toddlers and preschoolers have two separate phonological systems" with language-specific sound representations, though cross-linguistic effects appear in younger children's speech.

"The vast preponderance of the evidence suggests that DLL infants/toddlers and preschoolers have two separate phonological systems, meaning that DLLs have different mental representations for each sound in their two languages"

Hammer 2014 (2)¶

Hammer, C. S., Hoff, E., Uchikoshi, Y., Gillanders, C., Castro, D., & Sandilos, L. E. (2014). The Language and Literacy Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review. Early childhood research quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.05.008

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports that nine case studies of DLL infants/toddlers, supported by subject-realization and aspectual-marker investigations, indicate DLL children have two separate grammatical systems and learn each language's rules without difficulty.

"Based on nine case studies involving DLL infants/toddlers living in a variety of countries including the U.S., DLL children have two separate grammatical systems."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• DLL infants can discriminate their two languages from early infancy, though within-language contrast discrimination trajectories show mixed findings — related
• A learner's first language predicts L2 phoneme perception more strongly than their proficiency level does.
• DLL preschoolers may show a metalinguistic advantage over monolingual peers in grammatical awareness as their language abilities develop — related