Early quadrilingual language acquisition: a longitudinal case study

This longitudinal study examines the early quadrilingual language acquisition of a young girl, Sofia, who was born and raised in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Sofia was exposed to Slovak, Japanese and English from birth and Italian from the age of 18 months. In addition to investigating the receptive and productive levels of Sofia’s multilingualism, we were interested in the influence of input quantity and contact variety on the acquisition of four languages in early childhood. Data in the form of two sets of video recordings with 4 interlocutors along with week-long language diaries were collected when Sofia was 3;01 and 3;11. The examination of the evidence showed that Sofia’s language acquisition of the four languages had a dynamic nature. Consistent with previous research, Sofia’s comprehension exceeded production in all four languages. At the age of 3;01, she was dominant in Slovak and Italian, and demonstrated some ability to produce English and Japanese. At the age of 3;11, she was found to be a productive trilingual and receptive quadrilingual, dominant in English, followed by Slovak, Italian, and then Japanese. Quantity of language input as well as contact variety in each language likely contributed to Sofia’s language acquisition. The findings are discussed in light of current research on multilingual language acquisition.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Maczeakova, Sonia

• H Gwyddorau Cymdeithasol (Cyffredinol)
• PB Ieithoedd Ewropeaidd Modern

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:2323