A BILINGUAL CHILDS STRUGGLE TO COMPLY WITH THE ONE PARENT ONE LANGUAGE RULE

The onset of language differentiation in simultaneous bilinguals is cu rrently debated heatedly (Taeschner, 1983,- Vihman, 1985, 1986; Pye, 1 986; Amberg & Arnberg, 1985, 1988; deHower, 1987; Genesee, 1989). This paper will attempt a contribution to the debate. The study is based o n monthly recordings of one bilingual child, exposed to German and Eng lish via the principle of 'one parent-one language', between the ages of 2;0 and 2;5. In contrast to some of the earlier studies, the acquis ition of sociolinguistic rules appears to precede the acquisition of s tructural rules. The difference in results is seen as an outcome of te aching strategies employed to enhance early differentiation between th e languages. The author questions the assumption that children need to have developed a certain level of linguistic sophistication in order to 'work out' that they are exposed to two different languages.