ERIC Number: EJ1135816
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 30
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2083-5205
EISSN: N/A
Acquisition of German Pluralization Rules in Monolingual and Multilingual Children
Zaretsky, Eugen; Lange, Benjamin P.; Euler, Harald A.; Neumann, Katrin
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, v3 n4 p551-580 2013
Existing studies on plural acquisition in German have relied on small samples and thus hardly deliver generalizable and differentiated results. Here, overgeneralizations of certain plural allomorphs and other tendencies in the acquisition of German plural markers are described on the basis of test data from 7,394 3- to 5-year-old monolingual German and bi/multilingual immigrant children tested with a modified, validated version of the Marburger Sprachscreening (MSS) language test and 476 children tested with the SETK 3-5 language test. Classified correct and wrong answers to MSS and SETK 3-5 plural items were compared. The acquisition patterns of immigrants corresponded to those of younger German children. Both monolingual German and immigrant children demonstrated generally the same universal frequency and phonetically/phonologically based error patterns, irrespective of their linguistic background, but with different tendencies such as overgeneralization of "-s" by German children only.
Descriptors: German, Morphemes, Monolingualism, Multilingualism, Preschool Children, Immigrants, Language Tests, Comparative Analysis, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Error Patterns, Native Speakers, Foreign Countries, Statistical Analysis
Adam Mickiewicz University Department of English Studies. Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Ul. Nowy Swiat 28-30, 62-800 Kailsz, Poland. e-mail: ssllt@amu.edu.pll; Web site: http://ssllt.amu.edu.pl/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A