Cover not available
Part of
Language Acquisition in Romance Languages
Edited by Vicenç Torrens
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 18] 2024
► pp. 114–143

Chapter 5
Parameter setting in multilingual children with special reference to acceleration in French

| University of Wuppertal

Linguistic theorizing has revised the switch metaphor of parameters as being part of Universal Grammar. Within an epigenetic approach to language (Biberauer et al., 2014; Roberts, 2019), parameters result from the interaction of innate (linguistic) knowledge and universal non-language-specific cognitive optimization strategies, which are set in relation to the child’s experience. Languages vary at different levels of granularity (Baker, 2014), which is expressed in a parameter taxonomy, more particularly in parameter hierarchies (Roberts, 2019) distinguishing macro-, meso-, micro-, and nanoparameters (Biberauer et al., 2014). In the context of multilingualism, Mac Swan (2000) has argued that some components of the architecture of the language faculty are duplicated in multilingual children, while others are not. Parameter hierarchies, defined as previously, belong to the non-duplicated components. Therefore, multilingual children set the parameters simultaneously for all their different languages at the relevant level of variation. Taken together, these assumptions can account for acceleration effects exceeding monolingual limits in multilingual French as a non-null-subject language, if (one of) the other language(s) is a null-subject language like Italian or Spanish for example. The results reported come from longitudinal studies of balanced as well as unbalanced multilingual children during early stages of language development (from 1;6 until the age of 5) and cross-sectional studies of multilingual children at similar ages.

Keywords: parameter, null-argument hierarchy, Rizzi-Chomsky cluster applied to French, acceleration, null-subject, postverbal subject, language dominance
Article outline
  • 1.The notion of parameter in linguistic theorizing and in acquisition
    • 1.1Parameters in the framework of principles and parameters
    • 1.2Parameters in the framework of the minimalist program
    • 1.3The co-existence of macro- and micro-variation
    • 1.4The epigenetic approach: Parameters as cognitive subroutines
    • 1.5Parameter hierarchies
      • 1.5.1The null-argument hierarchy under a monolingual perspective
      • 1.5.2The null-argument hierarchy under a multilingual perspective
  • 2.Null arguments (with a focus on French)
    • 2.1Prediction according to economy (with special reference to French)
  • 3.The acquisition of French in a monolingual and multilingual context
    • 3.1Acquisition of subjects in monolingual French children (as opposed to Basque, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and German)
    • 3.2Acquisition of subjects in multilingual French children (in combination with a CNSL or a partial null-subject language)
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Acceleration effects in multilingual children in relation to language dominance
    • 4.2Just a grammar rule?
    • 4.3Goals for further research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References
Arnaus Gil, L., & Müller, N.
(2018) French postverbal subjects: A comparison of monolingual, bilingual, trilingual and multilingual French. Languages, 3(3), 1–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020) Acceleration and delay in bilingual, trilingual and multilingual German-Romance children: Finite verb placement in German. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 10(4), 530–558. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arnaus Gil, L., Müller, N., Hüppop, M., Poeste, M., Scalise, E., Sette, N., Sivakumar, A., Tirado Espinosa, M., & Zimmermann, K. S.
(2019) Frühkindlicher Trilinguismus. Französisch, Spanisch, Deutsch. (= Narr Studienbücher), Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Arnaus Gil, L., Müller, N., Sette, N., & Hüppop, M.
(2020) Active bi- and trilingualism and its influencing factors. International Multilingual Research Journal, 15(1) 1–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arnaus Gil, L., Stahnke, J., & Müller, N.
(2021) On the acquisition of French (null) subjects and (in)definiteness: Simultaneous and early sequential bi-, tri- and multilinguals. Probus, 33(2), 181–225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, M.
(1996) The polysynthesis parameter. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2008) The macroparameter in a microparametric world. In T. Biberauer (Ed.), The limits of syntax variation (pp. 351–374). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
(2014) Types of cross-linguistic variation in case assignment. In C. Picallo (Ed.), Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework (pp. 36–60). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Barbosa, P.
(2019) Pro as a minimal nP: Towards a unified approach to pro-drop. Linguistic Inquiry 50(3), 487–526.Google Scholar
Behrens, H.
(1993) Temporal reference in German child language. Form and function of early verb use (Doctoral dissertation). University of Amsterdam.
Bel, A.
(2003) The syntax of subjects in the acquisition of Spanish and Catalan. Probus, 15, 1–26.Google Scholar
Biberauer, T., Holmberg, A., Roberts, I., & Sheehan, M.
(2014) Complexity in comparative syntax: The view from modern parametric theory. In F. J. Newmeyer & L. B. Preston (Eds.), Measuring grammatical complexity (pp. 103–127). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Birdsong, D.
(2014) Dominance in bilingualism: Foundations of measurement, with insights from the study of handedness. In C. Silva-Corvalán & J. Treffers-Daller (Eds.), Language dominance in bilinguals: Issues of operationalization and measurement (pp. 85–105). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Biró, A.
(2017) El sujeto y la cópula en la adquisición trilingüe del húngaro-español-catalán. (Doctoral dissertation). Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [URL] (accessed on 10 May 2023).
Boeckx, C.
(2014) What principles and parameters got wrong. In C. Picallo (Ed.), Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework, (pp. 155–178). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bonami, O., & Boyé, G.
(2003) Supplétion et classes flexionnelles. Langages, 37, 102–126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borer, H.
(1986) I-subjects. Linguistic Inquiry, 17, 375–416.Google Scholar
Brown, R.
(1973) A first language: The early stages. Havard University Press.Google Scholar
Cardinaletti, A.
(2014) Cross-linguistic variation in the syntax of subjects. In C. Picallo (Ed.), Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework (pp. 82–107). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Champaud, C.
(1994) The development of verb forms in French children at around two years of age: Some comparisons with Romance and non-Romance languages. Paper presented at the First Lisbon Meeting on Child Language, Lisbon, Portugal.
Choi, J. K.
(2000) [-Person] direct object drop: The genetic cause of a syntactic feature in Paraguayan Spanish. Hispania, 83(3), 531–543.Google Scholar
Chomsky, N.
(1981) Lectures on government and binding. The Pisa lectures. Foris.Google Scholar
(1986) Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin, and use. Praeger.Google Scholar
(1993⁷) Lectures on government and binding. The Pisa lectures. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(1995) The minimalist program. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
(2005) Three factors in language design. Linguistic Inquiry, 36(1), 1–22.Google Scholar
De Cat, C., & Plunkett, B.
(2002) QU’ est ce qu’i (l) dit, celui + Là? Notes méthodologiques sur la transcription d’un corpus francophone. In K. D. Pusch (Ed.), Romance corpus linguistics: Corpora and spoken language (CD Rom). Narr.Google Scholar
Deguine, M.
(2017) Reversing the approach to null subject: A perspective from language acquisition. Frontiers in Psychology, 27(8), 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Déprez, V., & Pierce, A.
(1993) Negation and functional projections in early grammar. Linguistic Inquiry, 24, 25–67.Google Scholar
Ezeizabarrena, M.- J.
(1996) Adquisición de la morfología verbal en euskera y castellano por niños bilingües. Servicio Editoral Universidad del País Vasco.Google Scholar
(2003) Null subjects and optional infinitives in Basque. In N. Müller (Ed.), (In)vulnerable domains in multilingualism (pp. 83–106). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
(2013) Overt subjects in early Basque and other null subject languages. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17(3), 309–336.Google Scholar
Ferdinand, A.
(1993) Subject dislocation in French child language. HIL Manuscripts, 1(1), 54–64.Google Scholar
(1996) The development of functional categories. The acquisition of the subject in French. HIL dissertations.Google Scholar
Fernández Fuertes, R. & Liceras, J.
(2010) Copula omission in the English developing grammar of English/Spanish bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13, 525–551.Google Scholar
Gavarró, A., & Cabré-Sans, Y.
(2009) Subjects, verb classes and word order in child Catalan. In J. Grinstead (Ed.), Hispanic child languages: Typical and impaired development (pp. 175–194). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Gianollo, C., Guardiano, C., & Longobardi, G.
(2008) Three fundamental issues in parametric linguistics. In T. Biberauer (Ed.), The limits of syntax variation (pp. 109–142). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Grinstead, J., & Spinner, P.
(2009) The clausal left periphery in child Spanish and German. Probus, 21, 51–82.Google Scholar
Hamann, C.
(1996) Null arguments in German child language. Language Acquisition, 3(3), 155–208.Google Scholar
(2002) From syntax to discourse: Pronominal clitics, null subjects and infinitives in child language. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, D.
(2022) Die Sprachkombination als Einflussfaktor beim Erwerb der Subjekt-Verb-Kongruenz im Französischen: Eine empirische Untersuchung bilingual französisch-italienischer Kinder im Vergleich zu monolingualen und bilingualen Kindern mit den Kombinationen Französisch-Deutsch und Französisch-Spanisch (Unpublished MA thesis). Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Hornstein, N., & Lightfoot, D.
(1981) Introduction. In N. Hornstein & D. Lightfoot (Eds.), Explanation in linguistics: The logical problem of language acquisition (pp. 9–31). Longman.Google Scholar
Hsin, L.
(2014) English questions, Spanish structure: A shared-structure account of interlinguistic influence in bilingual first language acquisition. In M.- H. Côté & E. Mathieu (Eds.), Variation within and across Romance languages (pp. 379–400). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Huang, C.- T. J.
(1984) On the distribution and reference of empty pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry, 15(4), 531–544.Google Scholar
Hyams, N.
(2011) Missing subjects in early child language. In J. de Villiers & T. Roeper (Eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition (pp. 13–52). Springer.Google Scholar
Jakubowicz, C., Müller, N., Riemer, B., & Rigault, C.
(1997) The case of subject and object omissions in French and German. In E. Hughes, M. Hughes & A. Greenhill (Eds.), Proceedings of the 21st annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 331–342). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Jansen, V.
(2015) Dislokation im bilingualen Erstspracherwerb. Eine Untersuchung am Beispiel deutsch-französischer Kinder. De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Jones, M. A.
(1996) Foundations of French syntax. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kayne, R.
(1976) French relative ‘que’. In F. Hensey & M. Luján (Eds.), Current studies in Romance linguistics (pp. 255–299). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Kayne, R. S.
(2000) Parameters and universals. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2005) Some notes on comparative syntax with special reference to English and French. In G. Cinque & R. Kayne (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of comparative syntax (pp. 4–69). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Krumreihn, J.
(2019) Erwerb der Subjekt-Verb-Kongruenz bei mehrsprachigen Kindern mit Französisch als Erstsprach (Unpublished MA thesis). Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Kupisch, T.
(2006) The acquisition of determiners in bilingual German-Italian and German-French children. Lincom.Google Scholar
Lambrecht, K., & Lemoine, K.
(2005) Definite null objects in (spoken) French. A construction-grammar account. In M. Fried & H. Boas (Eds.), Grammatical constructions: Back to the roots (pp. 13–56). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Liceras, J., Fernández Fuertes, R., & de la Fuente, A. A.
(2012) Overt subjects and copula omission in the Spanish and the English grammar of English-Spanish bilinguals. On the locus and directionality of interlinguistic influence. First Language, 32(1–2), 88–115.Google Scholar
Liceras, J., & Fernández Fuertes, R.
(2016) Subject omission/ production in child bilingual English and child bilingual Spanish: The view from linguistic theory. Probus, 31(2), 245–278.Google Scholar
(2021) On the nature of crosslinguistic influence: Root infinitives revisited. In L. Avram, A. Sevcenco, & V. Tomescu (Eds.), L1 acquisition and L2 learning. The view from Romance (pp. 203–228). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Liceras, J., & dei Tos Cardenuto, T.
(2020) Las relaciones anafóricas de los sujetos nulos y explícitos del español y del portugués brasileño: La proximidad tipológica … funciona. Caracol, 19, 66–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lightfoot, D.
(1991) How to set parameters: Arguments from language change. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Lleó, C., Kuchenbrandt, I., Kehoe, M., & Trujillo, C.
(2003) Syllable final consonants in Spanish and German monolingual and bilingual acquisition. In N. Müller (Ed.), (In)vulnerable domains in multilingualism (pp. 191–220). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
MacSwan, J.
(2000) The architecture of the bilingual language faculty: Evidence from intrasentential code swichting. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3(1), 37–54.Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B.
(2000³) The CHILDES project: Tools for analyzing talk. Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Martínez Sanz, C.
(2012) Null and overt subjects in a variable system: The case of Dominican Spanish (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Ottawa.
Marty, F.
(2001) Les signaux morphologiques du françaus parlé. Le Français Moderne, LXIX(2), 211–240.Google Scholar
Mateu, V., & Sundara, M.
(2022) Spanish input accelerates bilingual infants’ segmentation of English words. Cognition, 218. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matushansky, O.
(1998) Le sujet nul à travers les langues: Pour une catégorie vide unique (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Université Paris VIII.
Meisel, J. M.
(1989) Early differentiation of languages in bilingual children. In K. Hyltenstam & L. Obler (Eds.), Bilingualism across the lifespan: Aspects of acquisition, maturity, and loss (pp. 13–40). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
(1994) Code-switching in young bilingual children: The acquisition of grammatical constraints. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16(4), 413–439.Google Scholar
(2007) The weak language in early child bilingualism: Acquiring a first language as a second language? Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 495–514.Google Scholar
Montanari, S.
(2010) Language differentiation in early trilingual development. Evidence from a case study. Verlag Dr. Müller.Google Scholar
Morgenstern, A.
(2006) Un JE en construction. Ontogeneèse de l’auto-désignation chez l’enfant. Ophrys.Google Scholar
Müller, N.
(1994) Parameters cannot be reset. Evidence from the development of COMP. In J. M. Meisel (Ed.), Bilingual first language acquisition. French and German grammatical development (pp. 235–269). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
(2017) Different sources of delay and acceleration in early child bilingualism. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, 36(1), 7–30.Google Scholar
(2023) Das mehrsprachige Kind als Ausgangspunkt für eine optimale Lernergrammatik: Ergebnisse von simultan bi- und trilingualen Kindern. In L. Auteri, N. Barrale, A. di Bella, & S. Hoffmann (Eds.), Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik. Akten des XIV. Kongresses der Internationalen Vereinigung für Germanistik (IVG) (Bd. 10) (pp. 721–732). Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Newmeyer, F.
(2004) Against a parameter-setting approach to typological variation. Linguistic Variation Yearbook, 4(1), 181–234. John Benjamins.Google Scholar
(2017) Where, if anywhere, are parameters? A critical historical overview of parametric theory. In C. Bowern, L. Horn, & R. Zanuttini (Eds.), On looking into words (and beyond) (pp. 547–569). Language Science Press.Google Scholar
Paradis, J., & Genesee, F.
(1996) Syntactic acquisition in bilingual children: Autonomous or interdependent? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 1–25.Google Scholar
(1997) On continuity and the emergence of functional categories in bilingual first language acquisition. Language Acquisition, 6, 91–124.Google Scholar
Paradis, J., Nicoladis, E., & Genesee, F.
(2000) Early emergence of structural constraints on code-mixing: Evidence from French – English bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3(3), 245–261.Google Scholar
Patuto, M.
(2012) Der Erwerb des Subjekts in (Nicht-)Nullsubjektsprachen: Die Rolle des Spracheneinflusses und der Sprachdominanz bei bilingual deutsch-italienisch, deutsch-spanisch und französisch-italienisch aufwachsenden Kindern. Narr.Google Scholar
Picallo, M. C.
(2014) Syntactic variation and minimalist inquiries. In M. C. Picallo (Ed.), Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework (pp. 1–10). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pierce, A.
(1992) Language acquisiton and syntactiy theory. A comparative analysis of French and English child grammars. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Platzack, C.
(2001) The vulnerable C-domain. Brain and Language, 77, 364–377.Google Scholar
Prévost, P.
(2009) The acquisition of French. The development of inflectional morphology and syntax in L1 acquisition, bilingualism, and L2 acquisition. John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Quay, S.
(2008) Dinner conversations with a trilingual two-year-old: Language socialization in a multilingual context. First Language, 28(1), 5–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rasetti, L.
(2003) Optional categories in early French syntax: A developmental study of root infinitives and null arguments (Unpublished doctoral disseration). Université de Genève. [URL]
Rizzi, L.
(1982) Issues in Italian syntax. Foris.Google Scholar
(1990) Relativized minimality. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
(2014) On the elements of syntactic variation. In M. C. Picallo (Ed.), Linguistic variation in the minimalist framework (pp. 13–35). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, I.
(1993) Verbs and diachronic syntax: A comparative history of English and French. Foris.Google Scholar
(2019) Parameter hierarchies & universal grammar. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scalise, E., Stahnke, J., & Müller, N.
(2021) Parameter hierarchy and acceleration: subject omissions in a trilingual child with special reference to French. LIA, 12(1), 157–184. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmitz, K., Patuto, M., & Müller, N.
(2011) The null-subject parameter at the interface between syntax and pragmatics. Evidence from bilingual German-Italian, German-French and French-Italian children. First Language, 31(2), 205–238.Google Scholar
Schneegans, J.
(2022) Subjektauslassung und -platzierung bei monolingual französisch- und englischsprachigen Kindern als Problem des linguistischen Vorteils mehrsprachiger Kinder (Unpublished BA thesis). Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Schwenter, S. A.
(2006) Null objects across South America. In T. L. Face & C. A. Klee (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 23–36). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Silva Colaço, I.
(2022) Der Einfluss der Sprachkombination auf den Erwerb der Subjekt-Verb- Kongruenz: eine Untersuchung eines bilingual französisch portugiesischen Kindes (Unpublished BA thesis). Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Silva Colaço, I., Hoffmann, D., d’Aurizio, L., & Müller, N.
(2023) Acceleration in multilingual children: The case of French (Unpublished manuscript). Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Suñer, M., & Yépez, M.
(1988) Null definite objects in Quiteño. Linguistic Inquiry, 19(3), 511–519.Google Scholar
Suppes, P., Smith, R. L., & Léveillé, M.
(1974) The French syntax of a child’s noun phrase. Archives de Psychologie, 42, 207–269.Google Scholar
Trutkowsky, E.
(2016) Topic drop and null subjects in German. De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Unsworth, S.
(2013) Current issues in multilingual first language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 33, 21–50.Google Scholar
Uriagereka, J.
(2007) Clarifying the notion ‘‘parameter’’. Biolinguistics, 1, 99–113.Google Scholar
Wiltschko, M.
(2014) The universal structure of categories. Towards a formal typology. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar