Parameter setting and feature mismatch in a Yoruba-English bilingual child

Abstract

Language acquisition studies on bilingual children within the African context are rare. Furthermore, studies based on parental diaries of children’s development have the advantage of providing details that other methods will miss. This paper presents an analysis of the speech of a bilingual child acquiring Yoruba and English concurrently. Data were collected from age two years, four months and two weeks (2;4.2) to three years, eight months and two weeks (3;8.2). The pattern observed was that the matrix language of the subject, code-named BM, switched between Yoruba and English, an indication that she might not be distinguishing between the two languages at this stage of her language acquisition. Grammatical themes of head position, null preposition, wh-questions, yes/no questions, finite/non-finite clauses, serial verb constructions and feature mismatch all present data in support of the conclusion that the child was still trying hypotheses, developing the grammars of the two languages, and was also in the process of working out the distinctions between them.