This book investigates a set of structures characteristic of Chinese speakers' English interlanguage (CIL) in the light of grammatical theory and principles of learnability. As a study of CIL grammar, it illuminates both the theory of interlanguage syntax in general and some specific problems in… read more
This paper discusses issues of language diversity and inclusion in the context of bilingual language acquisition, with a focus on heritage language development. The lack of diversity and representation in language acquisition research in general and in bilingual acquisition in particular is… read more
Research on heritage language acquisition at the school age has shown protracted development and early stabilisation in morphosyntax and the lexicon. Our study examined the properties of resultative verb compound (RVC), a structure at the crossroads of the lexicon and morphosyntax, in… read more
This corpus-based study investigates intonation patterns in the production of Cantonese by Cantonese-English bilingual children. We examine the intonation patterns in eight simultaneous bilingual children acquiring a tonal (Cantonese) and an intonational language (English) from 2;0 to 3;0. Two… read more
Recent research has identified language development in school-age heritage children as an important yet missing link between child early bilinguals and adult heritage speakers. This study investigates the Mandarin ba-construction ([(NP1)-ba-NP2-VP]) through elicited narration among heritage… read more
The CHILDES archive has revolutionized the study of bilingual development. We review the available corpora and their properties, some methods that have been used in creating and analyzing corpus data, and the kinds of analyses that it has made possible. These points are illustrated with corpus data… read more
Whether relative clauses can be identified in Chinese is a recurrent question. We ask whether relative clauses are distinct from other noun-modifying clause constructions in Cantonese, one of many East Asian languages in which a noun can be preceded by a diverse range of modifying clauses. The… read more
We discuss three typological characteristics relevant to the acquisition of relative clauses (RCs) in Cantonese and Mandarin: (i) the prenominal position of RCs; (ii) the availability of an internally-headed analysis for Cantonese object RCs; and (iii) Chinese RCs as a subset of noun modifying… read more
It is widely acknowledged that developments in bilingual individuals parallel, and ultimately underlie, those taking place in the course of contact-induced change. In this paper we address the poorly understood relationship between the individual and community-level processes, focusing on the… read more
It is widely acknowledged that developments in bilingual individuals parallel, and ultimately underlie, those taking place in the course of contact-induced change. In this paper we address the poorly understood relationship between the individual and community-level processes, focusing on the… read more
Previous research has shown that past-tense inflection is particularly difficult for child learners of English whose L1 is Chinese, with persistent omission often attributed to cross-linguistic influence (CLI). Building on this literature, this study investigates how Chinese–English bilingual… read more
