Word parsing by late-learning French–English bilinguals

Extract

Previous research conducted with early learning French–English bilinguals suggests that, at the individual word level, the development of segmentation is best characterized in terms of a parameter-setting theory of language acquisition in which French segmentation is marked relative to English segmentation. The present study, which is conducted with late learning French–English bilinguals, finds evidence for parameter setting but with a directionality of markedness opposite that found by others. Support in favor of these findings is discussed.