Japanese-English bilingual first language acquisition-two longitudinal studies

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This study explores whether the non-dominant language of a bilingual who is acquiring two typologically different languages simultaneously, develops in a similar manner to monolinguals and/or bilinguals who are learning two linguistically close languages. We tracked a Japanese-English bilingual longitudinally from early childhood (4;09) into late adolescence (19;01) to examine her minor language, English, from both linguistic and narrative perspectives. Data collected orally were analyzed in terms of fluency, accuracy, complexity, and vocabulary as well as looking at the landscapes of action and consciousness. The results indicate that the development of the minor language is similar or identical to that of a monolingual in core linguistic areas, and that a child acquiring two languages simultaneously, (bilingual first language acquisition or BFLA) is able to develop two separate languages even when exposure to the minor language is limited and the two languages are typologically distant from each other-partially supporting the Separate Development Hypothesis. It is only partial since the bilingual child showed some idiosyncratic errors and a unique narrative style, which is possibly due to L1 influence. The results also imply that extensive and intensive exposure to the minor language at or before a certain age may be essential to reach the level similar to a monolingual.