How mixed language input affects child language development: case studies from Central Australia

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Case studies of three Aboriginal communities (Gurindji at Victoria River Downs, Alyawarr at Epenarra, Warumungu at Tennant Creek) will identify: (i) the language input young children receive from traditional indigenous languages, Kriol and English varieties, and from code-switching involving these languages (ii) the effect on first language acquisition; (iii) the processes of language shift and maintenance resulting from multilingual environments, and consequent transmission or loss of target languages, and emergence of new mixed languages. This is an unexplored area of bilingual first language acquisition, and has theoretical implications for language shift, and practical applications for language maintenance.