Early Phonological Acquisition in a Set of English-Spanish Bilingual Twins

Abstract

This study is the first attempt to examine the early phonological development of bilingual twins. It sought to determine the extent to which the phonological acquisition of twins was similar, and the extent to which the phonological acquisition of the two languages was similar. Language samples from twin boys acquiring English and Spanish simultaneously were taken at 18, 19 and 20 months of age, in English and Spanish. The samples were analyzed using nine measures of phonological acquisition. A scale of phonological similarity was developed to quantify comparisons between the languages and between the children. The results indicated that the phonologies of the twins were 92% similar in each language, showing highly similar, but not identical systems. The phonologies of the languages were 71% similar, indicating that being twin did not impede early language separation.