Bilingual first-language development: Dominant language takeover, threatened minority language take-up

Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 12 (2), 2009, 213–237

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2009 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S1366728909004015

Bilingual first-language development: Dominant language takeover, threatened minority language take-up∗

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V I R G I N I A C . M U E L L E R G AT H E R C O L E
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ENLLI MON THOMAS
Bangor University, Wales

This study explores the extent to which bilingual speakers in stable bilingual communities become fully bilingual in their two community languages. Growing evidence shows that in bilingual communities in which one language is very dominant, acquisition of the dominant language may be quite unproblematic across sub-groups, while acquisition of the minority language can be hampered under conditions of reduced input. In Wales, children are exposed to both English and Welsh from an early age, either in the home or at school, or both. The data reported here indicate that regardless of home language background, speakers develop equivalent, mature command of English, but that command of Welsh is directly correlated with the level of input in Welsh in the home and at school. Furthermore, maintenance of Welsh in adulthood may be contingent on continued exposure to the language. The data have implications for theories of bilingual acquisition in stable versus immigrant bilingual communities, for optimal conditions for bringing up bilingual children, and for theories of critical periods of acquisition.

This study explores the question of the extent to which early bilingual speakers in stable bilingual communities become fully bilingual in their two community languages.
This study responds to evidence that the timing of acquisition of a bilingual’s two languages is related to amount of exposure to each language. Growing evidence indicates that children with greater exposure to each language have the early advantage in the acquisition of that language, but that, at the same time, differences across groups tend to

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