This volume examines the relationship between young children's degrees of bilingualism and features of the verbal input which these children receive from their parents. In particular, it seeks to explore the following question: to what extent are families who follow the 'one parent-one language' principle and whose children become active bilinguals this way, different from families who take the same approach but whose children never develop an active command of the minority language?
Case studies of six first-born children growing up with German and English were done during the children's third year of life. The input the children received was examined for parents' consistency of language choice, parents' insistence that the children use the appropriate language, parents' sensitivity towards the children's interactional and attentional needs, and parents' orientation towards the teaching of formal aspects of the linguistic system.
The findings support the notion that raising one's children bilingually according to the 'one parent-one language' principle involves great efforts on the side of the minority language-speaking parent. Importantly, they indicate that these efforts must be invested in the child's education turn-by-turn.

Susanne Döpke

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.

United States, United States of America

Includes bibliographical references ([p. 203]-213) and index.

1. The Acquisition Of Two Languages In Early Childhood. 1.2. Bilingualism In Early Childhood. 1.3. Establishing Bilingualism In The Home. 1.4. Aims Of This Study -- 2. The Sample. 2.2. Data Collection. 2.3. Processing Of Data. 2.4. The Transcripts. 2.5. The Children's Language. 2.6. Analysis Of The Data -- 3. The Language Environment. 3.2. Language Maintenance Among German-australians. 3.3. Factors Promoting Individual Bilingualism. 3.4. The Children's Language Environments. 3.5. Discussion Of Each Individual Family -- 4. Discourse Structures. 4.2. The Discourse Model. 4.3. Discourse Structures In The Families -- 5. Teaching Techniques. 5.2. Parents As Teachers. 5.3. Method. 5.4. Parental Teaching Behaviour -- 6. Summary And Conclusions. 6.2. Summary Of Results. 6.3. Determining Factors For The Individual Children's Degree Of Bilingualism. 6.4. Relationship Between Results And Hypotheses. 6.5. Four Years Later. 6.6. General Issues -- Appendix: Transcription Symbols. Susanne Döpke. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

An analysis of the divergence in attitudes to the degree of bilingualism that can be achieved through the "one parent-one language" approach, this study focuses on six German-English families who employ this principle. Coverage includes the discourse structures each parent is engaged in.

xviii, 231 p. ; 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references ([p. 203]-213) and index

2024-07-01