LINGUIST List 16.1345
Wed Apr 27 2005
Diss: Applied Ling: E-rramdani: 'Acquiring ...'
Editor for this issue: Megan Zdrojkowski
<meganlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Yahya
E-rramdani,
Acquiring Tarifit-Berber by Children in the Netherlands and Morocco
Message 1: Acquiring Tarifit-Berber by Children in the Netherlands and Morocco
Date: 26-Apr-2005
From: Yahya E-rramdani <y.e-rramdani
uvt.nl>
Subject: Acquiring Tarifit-Berber by Children in the Netherlands and Morocco
Institution: Tilburg University
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2003
Author: Yahya E-rramdani
Dissertation Title: Acquiring Tarifit-Berber by Children in the Netherlands and
Morocco
Dissertation URL:
http://let.uvt.nl/general/people/ye-rramd/home.htm Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Language Acquisition
Subject Language(s): Tarifit (RIF)
Dissertation Director(s):
Abderrahman El Aissati
Guus Extra
Dissertation Abstract:
How do grammatical morphemes develop among Tarifit speaking children?
How capable are they in dealing appropriately with the different word order
patterns Tarifit? The study carried out aims at answering these 2 major
questions with to children in the Netherlands, compared to their peers in
Morocco. The younger group of children aged 4-5 years, referred to as grade
1 children, and the older group up of children aged 12-13 years, referred
to as grade 8 children.
The investigation focuses on the acquisition of morphology and syntax. 5
domains have been dealt with, i.e. 2 domains within the category of nouns
involving plural formation and case marking, 2 other ones within the
category of verbs represented by gender-number distinction and perfective
formation. The last domain deals with syntax, and is concerned with word
order construction.
Three stages are distinguished. Stage 1 is referred to as the lexical
stage, marked by the absence of any morphological devices, and dominated by
the use of lexical means. Stage 2 represents the initial morphological
stage, characterized in particular by default rules which become
overgeneralized. Morphological applications at this stage result in both
correct and incorrect forms. The third stage is the final morphological
stage, marked by the correct use of morphological devices such as
prefixation, infixation and/or suffixation, as well as by the correct
morphological inflections. Overgeneralization strategies disappear in this third
stage. When applying this developmental schema on Tarifit speaking children in
the Netherlands, the majority of grade 1 children were in the first stage. A
small number reached the second stage, spread over the first part of suffixation
in which they ignored the prefixation process, and the second part in which both
prefixation and suffixation devices were used. Very few children reached stage
3, and succeeded in matching their peers in Morocco. Grade 8 children in the
Netherlands were in the morphological stage, and were distributed over stage 2
and stage 3.