Competence and Performance: Is a Child's Native Language Affected by the Acquisition of a Second Language?

Abstract

Examined is interference as it occurs in the speech of a 12-year-old Arabic-Eng bilingual child. The S spoke only Arabic before his arrival in the US at age 8. Data were recorded over a period of 6 months. Systematized & spontaneous speech recordings were obtained. Inter- & intralingual objective tests were administered for word association, multiplication, reaction time, fluency, & word translation. Subjective tests included repetition of story, narrated to the child in a different lang, & informal discussion. Performance, with its apparent interference, is not a reflection of the bilingual's competence in Arabic. Although the phonological system was not affected by interference from the second lang, syntactic & lexical interference did occur. The S's passive knowledge of Arabic exceeded his active knowledge, & his competence was equal to a native speaker's & was not affected by Eng. Measuring a bilingual's consciousness of his language must therefore consider both the speaker's level of competence & performance. Modified HA