A large-scale cross-linguistic investigation of the acquisition of passive. (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Armon-Lotem, Sharon; Haman, Ewa; Jensen de López, Kristine; Smoczynska, Magdalena; Yatsushiro, Kazuko; Szczerbinski, Marcin; van Hout, Angeliek; Dabašinskienė, Ineta; Gavarró, Anna; Hobbs, Erin; Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, Laura; Katsos, Napoleon; Kunnari, Sari; Nitsiou, Chrisa; Sundahl Olsen, Lone; Parramon, Xavier; Sauerland, Uli; Torn-Leesik, Reeli; van der Lely, Heather
• Is Part Of: Language acquisition. Volume 23:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 27
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Language acquisition -- Periodicals; 401.9305
• DOI: 10.1080/10489223.2015.1047095
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1048-9223

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This cross-linguistic study evaluates children's understanding of passives in 11 typologically different languages: Catalan, Cypriot Greek, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Lithuanian, and Polish. The study intends to determine whether the reported gaps between the comprehension of active and passive and between short and full passive hold cross-linguistically. The present study offers two major findings. The first is the relative ease in which 5-year-old children across 11 different languages are able to comprehend short passive constructions (compared to the full passive). The second and perhaps the more intriguing finding is the variation seen across the different languages in children's comprehension of full passive constructions. We argued, based on the present findings, that given the relevant linguistic input (e.g., flexibility in word order and experience with argument reduction), children at the age of 5 are capable of acquiring both the short passive and the full passive. Variation, however, stems from the specific characteristics of each language, and good mastery of passives by the age of 5 is not a universal, cross-linguistically valid milestone in typical language acquisition. Therefore, difficulties with passives (short or full) can be used for identifying SLI at the age of 5 only in those languages in which it has already been mastered by typically developing children.