A Comparison of Grammatical Structures in Kannada - English Bilingual Preschoolers

Abstract

Language acquisition and development of grammar in preschool children is a complex continuum. Research evidences suggest that language development in bilingual children may be qualitatively different from that of monolingual children and the progression may differ in the two languages. The study aimed to compare the development of grammatical structures in Kannada and English languages in Kannada speaking English language learners. The participants were evaluated for their knowledge of grammatical rules in each of the languages using a sentence completion task. The results showed that the linguistic abilities of children increased with age, thereby revealing a developmental trend. The order of acquisition of grammatical structures was found to vary between Kannada and English with better performance evidenced in Kannada language. These findings are discussed with regard to the importance of assessing language abilities in both languages known to bilingual children and the development of suitable tools for the same.