| Chapter 2: | Research on Bilingual First Language Acquisition |
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as to the role of the input” (Lanza, 1990, p. 447). There are several reasons for a focus on input patterns in terms of their being separate or not for each language. The issue of the degree of language differentiation or separation in the input has been more specifically explored in relation to the extent to which bilingual children “mix” their languages or not (Genesee, 1989; Meisel, 1989). Genesee (1989) stated that there is no reason for bilingual children to know that their languages ought not to be mixed if they are exposed to frequent mixing in the input; thus the degree of language separation in the input has often been seen as a major determinant in early bilingual acquisition in general. Traditionally, Romaine’s type 1 one parent/person, one language input condition (1995, p. 183), following Ronjat’s description of the method “une personne, une langue” (1913, p. 4), has been hailed as the best way of bringing up bilingual children, according to Ronjat’s friend, the linguist M. Grammont (1902). This type of input pattern has been labelled the best method for ensuring problem-free—that is, mixing-free—bilingual development. Since the early 20th century, this method or strategy has shaped advice for parents on how to raise their children to be bilingual.
Particular attention to parental input to the exclusion of other sources of input seems to be common in many discussions of child bilingualism. As Deuchar and Quay (2000, p. 8) pointed out, such studies tend to assume a middle-class, Western-type nuclear family with two parents, whereas in fact many bilingual children are brought up in families ranging from the extended nonnuclear type to the Western single-parent type. This overemphasis on parental input in “standard” Western nuclear families is particularly clear in discussions of the type of bilingual family in which each parent speaks his or her native language to the child. Yip and Matthews (2010, p. 143) also emphasised differences in the acquisition environment, including input patterns and family structure. In Chinese speech communities, an extended family remains the norm, with relatives and caregivers other than parents contributing significantly to the input.
The orientation towards method or parents’ strategy assumes (following Ronjat) that children will be unable to differentiate their languages unless each is associated with a different person. This may underestimate