Adding a second native language in the home

Abstract

Abstract A progress report is given on a longitudinal study of the acquisition of English‐German bilingualism by two Australian‐born children who, from the onset of speech, have always communicated with their father in German and with their mother and most other people in English. The situation is unusual in that English is the native language of both parents and is also the dominant and official language of the community. The problems of creating and fostering bilingualism under such circumstances are examined. It is found that perseverance and patience on the part of the parents can overcome possible reluctance by the children to speak both languages. Communication patterns within the family are discussed. It is found that a one person—one language home environment is conducive to the establishment of bilingualism and has no adverse effect on family harmony. The father's not being a native speaker of German has more advantages than disadvantages. To compare the children's progress in both languages, various tests were conducted: fluency and accuracy were tested with story‐telling tasks and an analysis of free speech, receptive vocabulary was gauged with the PPVT and language dominance with Edelman's (1969) naming task. Overall, the results slightly favoured English, but, considering the disparity in exposure to, and practice in, the two languages (3 : 1 in favour of English), the standard of bilingualism att raging.