Early bilingualism and word order in Breton

Abstract

The aim of this investigation is to analyse word order in the productions of children who are acquiring Breton as a second language at school, in order to detect influences from their first language. The author has organised the paper as follows: in the introduction, general characteristics of the Breton language; in part one, adult word order in Breton; in part two, word order in childrens' speech and, finally, conclusions. The productions analysed have been collected from children aged 3 to 6 taught in Breton at a different school. According to the author, the different word orders used by adults are also found in these childrens' production. Influence from French is strong during the initial stage of schooling. By the age of 6, however, children have acquired the structures offered by school and environment.