The International Journal of Multilingualism
Editors: Jasone Cenoz (University of Basque Country) and Ulrike Jessner (University of Innsbruck)
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Volume: 1 Number: 2 Page: 109–122
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'Maman, je suis polyglotte!': A Case Study of Multilingual Language Acquisition from 0 to 5 Years
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Blagovesta Maneva
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This paper presents and discusses some longitudinal observations of a case study of multilingual language acquisition from birth to the age of five. The analyses are based on data provided from written observations and audio recordings made on a regular basis. The child in this study
is acquiring two minority languages at home and the two official languages of the community outside of the home. Similarities and differences in the acquisition of these four languages are examined. The conditions in which the language acquisition takes place, as well as the role of the linguistic
input, the respect of the 'one person–one language' principle, the separation of codes, codemixing and codeswitching phenomena, are also discussed. The child's metalinguistic awareness and her attitude towards her multilingualism are shown to be consequences of her positive experience
with multilingual language acquisition.
Keywords: MULTILINGUALISM, ACQUISITION, INPUT, CODE-SEPARATION, CODEMIXING
© 2004 Multilingual Matters
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