Successive Language Learning in Early Childhood: The Case of Question Formation

Abstract

This study investigates the emergence of question formation in multilingual and monolingal children aged 3–5 from two Norwegian kindergartens. The data is longitudinal and collected during play. The overall purpose of the study is to explore whether, and if so how, the language of multilingual children with an early onset of acquisition of Norwegian (early successive language learning) differs compared to that of monolingual children who have been exposed to Norwegian from birth (crib monolinguals). The study finds that the individual early successive learner’s questions differ more in terms of developmental stages than their monolingual peers’ questions.