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Sentence interpretation in bilingual speakers of English and Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Hua Liu ,
Elizabeth Bates  and
Ping Li
Hua Liu*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Elizabeth Bates
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Ping Li
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
*
Hua Liu, Department of Cognitive Science, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
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Abstract

This study examines patterns of transfer in the sentence processing strategies displayed by Chinese-English and English–Chinese bilinguals. Our results indicate that late bilinguals display strong evidence for forward transfer: late Chinese–English bilinguals transfer animacybased strategies to English sentences; late English–Chinese bilinguals transfer English-like word order strategies to Chinese. Early bilinguals display a variety of transfer patterns, including differentiation (use of animacy strategies in Chinese and word order strategies in English) and backward transfer (use of L2 processing strategies in L1, a possible symptom of language loss). These unusual transfer patterns reflect a complex interaction of variables, including age of exposure to L2 and patterns of daily language use. Implications of these findings for the critical period hypothesis are discussed, together with some new hypotheses concerning the interaction between acquisition of L2 and maintenance of L1.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , October 1992 , pp. 451 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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