Linguistic Development in Social Contexts: A Study of Two Brothers Learning German

This paper explores notions of success in second language acquisition (SLA) in terms of social interaction and linguistic inventory. Two English-speaking boys, ages 5 and 7, acquired German for 1 year in an immersion context. On the social plane, data obtained throughout the year from each child in interaction with friends show that both boys developed the ability to participate successfully in all aspects of social interaction. Dominant venues of interaction were language play and negotiation. On the linguistic plane, differences emerged in terms of production and accuracy. However, both boys developed the full range of syntactic inventory in German. The data reveal that preferred interactional strategies led to differences in linguistic choices, and hence, to differences in opportunities for linguistic practice. In this sense, linguistic development depends on social context. Success in SLA should, therefore, generally be defined under the umbrella of interactional competence, with social interaction and linguistic inventory as separate, but not independent, yardsticks for assessment.