Nelleke Strik

Bilingual effects: exploring object omission in pronominal languages

This article assesses the impact of bilingualism on the acquisition of pronominal direct objects in French and English (clitics in French and strong pronouns in English). We show that, in comparison to monolingual children, bilingual children omit more pronominal objects for a longer period in both languages. At the same time, the development in each language spoken by the bilinguals follows the developmental asymmetry found in the language of their monolingual counterparts: there are more omissions in French than in English. It is also shown that language dominance affects the rate of omissions as there are fewer omissions in the language in which children receive more exposure, i.e. the dominant language. We analyze these results as reflecting a bilingual effect based on the retention of a default null object representation. This in turn is supported by reduced overall input for bilingual children and by language-internal input ambiguity.

Wh-questions in child L2 French: Derivational complexity and its interactions with L1 properties, length of exposure, age of exposure, and the input

This study investigates how derivational complexity interacts with first language (L1) properties, second language (L2) input, age of first exposure to the target language, and length of exposure in child L2 acquisition. We compared elicited production of wh-questions in French in two groups of 15 participants each, one with L1 English (mean age 8 years 10 months or 8;10) and one with L1 Dutch (mean age 6;3), which were further subdivided into subgroups matched for the different variables under examination. Although in their L1s wh-questions display wh-movement and subject–verb/aux inversion, the learners did not perform similarly. A high number of wh-in-situ questions (i.e. the least complex option) was produced by the L1-English children, suggesting that derivational complexity can override L1 influence. In the L1-Dutch group, questions with overt wh-movement were more frequent. This may stem from the influence of generalized XP-movement to the left periphery in Dutch. Inversion (i.e. the most complex option) was rare in both groups and was related to contact with formal schooling. These results hold across the different subgroups, which suggests not only that complexity plays a role in child L2 acquisition, but also that its effects may differ according to the properties of the L1.

Wh-questions in child bilingual acquisition of French: Derivational complexity and cross-linguistic influence

This study investigates the development of wh-questions in French in a group of bilingual French–Dutch children. Fifteen children (aged 4 to 8, mean age 6;03, first exposure to French under age 4 for most of the children) participated in an elicited production task. Their results were compared to those of 4-year-old and 6-year-old monolingual children from a previous study. In order to examine possible influence from Dutch, two main hypotheses with contrasting predictions are proposed: structural overlap and derivational complexity. The results show that the bilingual children exhibited the same developmental course for wh-questions as their monolingual peers. The majority of responses involved wh-fronting without inversion, whereas wh-fronting with inversion, the only possible structure in Dutch, was not frequent. Therefore, the results do not provide clear evidence for influence from Dutch. Instead, they confirm that derivational complexity constrains the development of wh-questions in French. Cette étude porte sur les questions wh en français chez des enfants bilingues français–néerlandais. Quinze enfants (âgés de 4 à 8 ans, âge moyen 6;03, première exposition au français en dessous de 4 ans pour la majorité) ont participé à une tâche de production induite. Leurs résultats ont été comparés à ceux des enfants monolingues de 4 ans et de 6 ans d’une étude précédente. Pour examiner l’influence possible du néerlandais, deux hypothèses principales sont proposées : le chevauchement structural et la complexité dérivationnelle. Les résultats montrent un développement similaire à celui des enfants monolingues. Les questions à wh antéposé sans inversion sont les plus fréquentes, alors que les questions à wh antéposé avec inversion, la seule structure possible en néerlandais, sont plus rares. Par conséquent, les résultats ne contiennent pas de preuve évidente d’influence du néerlandais. En revanche, ils confirment que la complexité dérivationnelle contraint le développement des questions wh en français.