Search

The intensity of the language contact belongs to numerous sociodemographic variables that influence the language competence of preschool children. This study aimed to examine associations between 16 variables related to the language contact and German language competence of multilingual children. Four-year-old kindergarten children (N = 824) were examined with the language test “Kindersprachscreening” (KiSS.2; Holler-Zittlau/Euler/Neumann 2011). Correlations between children’s and their parents’ age of contact to German and children’s language competence were weak to moderate. The same is valid for the use of German at home. Weak German language skills of children speaking Turkish and Arabic were associated with their limited contact to German both in the family and beyond. Their German language competence depended predominantly on how often German was used at home. All other children acquired German predominantly in day care facilities. Therefore, their German language skills did not depend much on the language input in the family. To sum up, intensive language contact was, at best, moderately associated with age-appropriate German language skills. Significant differences in the command of the German language among largest ethnic or linguistic subgroups could be traced back to sociodemographic differences in the children’s and their families’ characteristics. Active use of German at home was more important for those immigrant subgroups that do not attend any day care facilities before kindergarten age.

Abstract – Pluralization strategies of monolingual German children aged 3-6, median 4;2 (N = 810), and adults aged 18-96, median 24;0 (N = 582), were compared on the basis of eight nonce nouns from the language test SETK 3-5. Differences between younger and older Germans resembled previously described differences between German and immigrant pre-schoolers for most aspects, e.g., use of fewer plural allomorphs (types), more errors in umlauting, and more avoidance strategies in the linguistically weaker groups. However, both German children and adults demonstrated the same universal frequency- and phonology-based pluralization patterns. Surprisingly, ungrammatical plural forms were equally frequent in both children’s and adults' answers. Key words: plural acquisition, morphology, German, gender, pluralisation Zusammenfassung – Pluralisierungsstrategien von monolingualen deutschen Kindern im Alter von drei bis sechs, Median 4;2 (N = 810), und Erwachsenen im Alter von 18 bis 96, Median 24;0 (N = 582), wurden anhand von acht Kunstwörtern aus dem Sprachtest SETK 3-5 verglichen. Die Unterschiede zwischen den Deutschen im Kindes- und Erwachsenenalter waren in den meisten Hinsichten den zuvor beschriebenen Unterschieden zwischen Deutschen und Migranten im Vorschulalter ähnlich, z.B. Gebrauch von weniger Pluralallomorphen (Typen), mehr Umlautfehler, mehr Vermeidungsstrategien in den sprachlich schwächeren Gruppen. Generell demonstrierten jedoch sowohl deutsche Kinder als auch deutsche Erwachsene dieselben universellen frequenz- und phonologisch bedingte Pluralisierungsmuster. Unerwarterterweise erwiesen sich ungrammatische Pluralformen in der Kinder- und Erwachsenensprache als gleich häufig. Schlagwörter: Pluralerwerb, Morphologie, Deutsch, Genus, Pluralisierung