ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: First Language Acquisition
- Creators: Gelderen, Elly van
Description
Codeswitching, or the bilingual practice of switching between two languages, is a frequently misunderstood phenomenon in many fields, including education. Given the growing number of bilingual students and English Language Learners in U.S. schools, it is imperative that the field of education be informed by current research in bilingualism and language acquisition, including codeswitching. Codeswitching that occurs within a sentence is subject to specific rules derived from the languages involved in the switching. Furthermore, a codeswitcher's intuitions about the grammatical acceptability of certain switches over others, called grammaticality judgments, provide linguists with a unique window into how the language systems interact. In current codeswitching research, it is sometimes claimed that simultaneous and early sequential bilinguals provide more accurate grammaticality judgments than late sequential bilinguals. Although this claim is largely motivated by Critical Period Hypothesis research, the grammaticality judgments of the three groups of bilinguals have yet to be systematically compared to determine if there is indeed a difference in judgments. This dissertation investigates potential differences in intrasentential codeswitching patterns of simultaneous, early sequential and late sequential Slovak-English bilinguals (N = 39) through a comparison of grammaticality judgments. Analysis of potential differences is grounded in generative approaches to first and second language acquisition. Grammaticality judgments from Slovak-English bilinguals were elicited through a survey of constructed items. Chi square results are analyzed to determine variation in judgments attributable to bilingual group based on age of onset of exposure to English. In addition, a sub-study of data from the Welsh-English Siarad Corpus (http://www.siarad.org.uk/siarad.php) is presented. Normed token means for English and mixed tokens for simultaneous, early sequential, and late sequential bilinguals are compared using ANOVA tests, and variability is discussed in light of relevant theoretical considerations. Results from this study indicate that there are few differences attributable to age of onset of exposure, thus helping to clarify current practices in codeswitching research methodology, particularly in terms of identifying characteristics of participants. The study also addresses issues surrounding the critical period hypothesis and the effect of age of onset of exposure in bilingualism, topics which are both directly relevant to the field of education.
ContributorsMcAlister, Kara Tiffany (Author) / Macswan, Jeff (Thesis advisor) / Faltis, Christian (Committee member) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Rolstad, Kellie (Committee member) / Sipka, Danko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This study explores the acquisition of the determiner phrase (DP) in monolingual (L1) and bilingual (2L1) French. I investigate the acquisition of DP structures and features in the speech of two monolingual French and two bilingual French-English subjects from the CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System) corpus. I perform a thorough, longitudinal examination of the children's data, from the ages of 1;10 to 4;00, focusing on the description and analysis of their development of DP elements, words, and structures such as the definite and indefinite articles, demonstratives, and numerals, as well as the DP features of gender, number, and definiteness. I also consider the Adjective Phrase (AP) and its interaction with the DP.
This study complicates the traditional view of discrete, simplified stages of DP acquisition, arguing instead for an ongoing and complex process. Application of the Minimalist model of syntactic analysis provides essential insights into the underlying processes of child grammar, and suggests a number of previously unaddressed characteristics and patterns in French DP development.
This study complicates the traditional view of discrete, simplified stages of DP acquisition, arguing instead for an ongoing and complex process. Application of the Minimalist model of syntactic analysis provides essential insights into the underlying processes of child grammar, and suggests a number of previously unaddressed characteristics and patterns in French DP development.
ContributorsDanton, Naomi (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Renaud, Claire (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015