The Influence of Context and Parental Input on Language Choice and Mixing in Bilingual Language Acquisition
Dale Haskell
Keio University
This case study of bilingual language use and acquisition focusses on a bilingual, bicultural British-Japanese family living in Japan. Interview data relating to the family language environment and recorded interaction between Shakti, the older daughter (aged 4;3 to 5;6), her Japanese mother and British father, are analysed to investigate possible reasons for language choice and mixing. It is found that in some cases, the subject's language mixing and switching could be attributed to lexical deficit, the previous use of terms in the other language, and language dominance. However, the most significant influence on her language choice and mixing appears to be context, particularly the role of parental input and discourse strategies. Although both parents support the one parent - one language strategy for promoting active bilingualism in the family, parental language mixing and second language use are observed. From the qualitative analysis of recorded interaction between family members, the influence of parental language input on Shakti's language choice and mixing patterns could be inferred. Using Lanza's (1992) categorization, Shakti's parents are found to have negotiated a bilingual context for language use which encourages language mixing and the use of both languages between participants. In the context of the family language environment, Shakti's language mixing could be interpreted as the imperfect use of adult bilingual discourse strategies.
