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ERIC Number: ED176584
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1977-Jun
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of a Summertime French Immersion Experience on the English and French Speech of a Bilingual Child.
Celce-Murcia, Marianne
This is a report on a child's English and French speech before, during and after a summer vacation in France. The findings are based on recorded samples of her speech in both languages elicited at three times: (1) immediately preceding the trip at age 3 years, 8 months; (2) 2 and l/2 months later; and (3) again 2 and l/2 months after her return to the United States. Three types of speech were elicited: vocabulary, structured narrative and free conversation. Before the vacation the child was English dominant; during it, her pronunication became perfectly French but her vocabulary and syntax included a good deal of interference from English. Two and one half months after her return, English was again dominant, but French was still active and much better than before the trip. The taping sessions yielded data on vocabulary production that fall into five major categories: (1) bilingual maintenance; (2) patterns of forgetting; (3) patterns of learning; (4) indications of English dominance; and (5) absent lexical items at all stages in both languages. A summary of the child's narrative and conversation skills in the 3 stages, and samples of English interference in French at the end of stage 2 are provided. The overall picture is one of progress regarding the child's bilingualism. (AMH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Los Angeles Second Language Research Forum (1st, Los Angeles, California, February 11-13, 1977)