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Minimalism and bilingualism: How and why bilingualism could benefit children with SLI*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2011

THOMAS ROEPER
THOMAS ROEPER*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts
*
Address for Correspondence Thomas Roeper, Linguistics Department, South College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003roeper@linguist.umass.edu
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Abstract

We begin with the hypothesis that all people are “bilingual” because every language contains ingredients from several grammars, just as English exhibits both an Anglo-Saxon and a Latinate vocabulary system. We argue that the dominant grammar is defined by productivity and recursion in particular. Although current evidence is sparse, in principle, for a child who shows Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in a bilingual environment, richer modules in one grammar may help trigger more obscure modules in another language. Thus, if one language has a rich case system, it may help a child see an impoverished case system in another grammar. Examples from prepositional systems, wh-movement, recursive possessives and others are discussed. In general, a second language can be beneficial to the SLI child in the acquisition of both languages. Minimalism offers a level of abstraction where these cross-language connections can most naturally be stated.

Keywords

recursionmultiple grammarsMinimalismwh-questions
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 15 , Special Issue 1: Bilingual children with Specific Language Impairment , January 2012 , pp. 88 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the participants of the Bilingualism and SLI conference in Jerusalem, and Sharon Armon-Lotem in particular, and the anonymous reviewers for various helpful comments.

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