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Related Experiment Videos

Early bilingual development: one language or two?

F Genesee

    Journal of Child Language
    |February 1, 1989
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Infant bilingual development shows that babies differentiate languages early on. Contrary to the unitary language system hypothesis, bilingual infants develop distinct language systems from birth.

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    Area of Science:

    • Developmental Psychology
    • Linguistics
    • Child Language Acquisition

    Background:

    • The common belief is that infants learning two languages simultaneously cannot differentiate them.
    • Previous research suggests bilingual infants mix languages, supporting the unitary language system hypothesis.
    • This hypothesis posits an undifferentiated language system in early bilingual development.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To re-examine the empirical basis of the unitary language system hypothesis.
    • To challenge the interpretation that language mixing indicates undifferentiated systems.
    • To propose that bilingual infants develop differentiated language systems from infancy.

    Main Methods:

    • Re-examination of empirical data from infant bilingual development studies.

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  • Critical analysis of existing interpretations of language mixing.
  • Theoretical argumentation based on developmental linguistics principles.

    • Main Results:

    • Evidence suggests bilingual infants differentiate their languages from the beginning.
    • Bilingual children utilize their developing languages in contextually appropriate ways.
    • Language mixing does not necessarily imply an undifferentiated language system.

    Conclusions:

    • Bilingual infants possess differentiated language systems from the outset.
    • The unitary language system hypothesis is challenged by new interpretations.
    • Parental input, including mixed utterances, may play a significant role in bilingual development.