Culture as a binder for bilingual acquisition

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Culture as a binder for bilingual acquisition Kandhadai, Padmapriya; Danielson, Donald Kyle; Werker, Janet Feldman, 1951-

Abstract

Babies growing up bilingual attune to the speech sounds, rhythm, and intonation of each of their native languages, establish word meanings, and acquire syntax. Given that language acquisition occurs within a broader cultural context, we propose that culture may provide a binder for language acquisition, particularly for the bilingual learner. Bilingual infants may be able to use cultural information outside of language to help keep their two languages distinct, while simultaneously acquiring both of these languages successfully. We review the extant literature that supports this hypothesis, and suggest three mechanisms by which cultural binding may occur: Acquired Distinctiveness, Structural Isomorphy, and Privileged Relations.

Item Metadata

Title	Culture as a binder for bilingual acquisition
Creator	Kandhadai, Padmapriya; Danielson, Donald Kyle; Werker, Janet Feldman, 1951-
Publisher	Elsevier
Date Issued	2014-03
Description	Babies growing up bilingual attune to the speech sounds, rhythm, and intonation of each of their native languages, establish word meanings, and acquire syntax. Given that language acquisition occurs within a broader cultural context, we propose that culture may provide a binder for language acquisition, particularly for the bilingual learner. Bilingual infants may be able to use cultural information outside of language to help keep their two languages distinct, while simultaneously acquiring both of these languages successfully. We review the extant literature that supports this hypothesis, and suggest three mechanisms by which cultural binding may occur: Acquired Distinctiveness, Structural Isomorphy, and Privileged Relations.
Subject	Bilingualism; Biculturalism; Language acquisition
Genre	Article; Postprint
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2019-12-20
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0387234
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/72882
Affiliation	Arts, Faculty of; Psychology, Department of
Citation	Kandhadai, P., Danielson, D.K., & Werker, J.F. (2014). Culture as a binder for bilingual acquisition. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 3, 24-27.
Publisher DOI	10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.001
Peer Review Status	Reviewed
Scholarly Level	Faculty
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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