The relationship of phonological development and language dominance in bilingual Cantonese-Putonghua children

Abstract

The study investigated similarities and differences in the development of the Cantonese and the Putonghua phonology of children becoming bilingual in those languages with different dominant languages. One hundred children living in Hong Kong or in Shenzhen and aged from 2;6—4;11, who were simultaneously acquiring Cantonese and Putonghua provided the data we report. The Cantonese Segmental Phonology Test (So, 1993) and the Putonghua Segmental Phonology Test (So & Zhou, 2000) were used to elicit phonemes of each language. The percentages of accurately uttered phonemes, children's ages for phonemes' emergence, and their ages for the production of phonological processes were the measures of phonological development. Overall, language dominance plays a role in the children's Cantonese and Putonghua phonological development. Generally, the bilingual children's phonological development was faster in Cantonese whether they are Cantonese or Putonghua dominant. All children showed similar bilingual pattern. The pattern affords the best single crystallization of the findings which we draw on further in discussing theories and the extent of the influence of language dominance on bilingual phonological acquisition.