The acquisition of languages by children using two languages is a matter of debate as many factors contribute to the success of this type of acquisition. We focus on how the competence of dual-language children changes in their two languages as a function of length of exposure and establish whether there are reciprocal influences during language development. We examined the comprehension of subject and object relative clauses in a group of 6-year-old (younger) and 8-year-old (older) Mandarin–Italian dual-language children. After 3 years of regular and intensive exposure to Italian, the younger group reached the same level of competence in the comprehension of relative clauses in their two languages, and after 5 years of exposure to Italian, the older group had a better comprehension of relative clauses in Italian than in Mandarin. Acquiring two languages leads to bidirectional influence, beyond a reciprocal support. Finally, some penalty may be observed in the acquisition of subject head-final relative clauses, which is not evident in that of subject head-initial relative clauses.
Hu, S., Costa, F., & Guasti, M. (2020). Mandarin-Italian dual-language children’s comprehension of head-final and head-initial relative clauses. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, 11.
Citazione: | Hu, S., Costa, F., & Guasti, M. (2020). Mandarin-Italian dual-language children’s comprehension of head-final and head-initial relative clauses. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, 11. |
Tipo: | Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico |
Carattere della pubblicazione: | Scientifica |
Presenza di un coautore afferente ad Istituzioni straniere: | Si |
Titolo: | Mandarin-Italian dual-language children’s comprehension of head-final and head-initial relative clauses |
Autori: | Hu, S; Costa, F; Guasti, M |
Autori: | GUASTI, MARIA TERESA (Corresponding) |
Data di pubblicazione: | 2020 |
Lingua: | English |
Rivista: | FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01379 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 01 - Articolo su rivista |