Early Trilingualism: A Focus on Questions

Barnes (humanities and education, U. of Mondragon, Spain) presents a case study of a child living in the Basque Country in Spain, who has been brought up in three languages--English, Basque and Spanish--from birth. The study examines her general development in English, focusing in particular on her acquisition of questions in English from both a formal and functional perspective. The research explores whether the child is developing English and interrogative behavior in a way that is similar to other monolingual and bilingual subjects even though in her case it is a third language. The study also analyzes the correspondence between the child's questioning behavior and that of her mother, in relation to the use of form, function and the feedback that is given in questions. Distributed in the U.S. by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Julia Barnes holds a B.A in Spanish and Linguistics and a P.G.C.E. in TESOL. After moving to Spain she worked for the British Council and the University of the Basque Country. Her principal area of interest is on childhood multilingualism along with intercultural communication and language teaching methodology. She currently lectures and trains teachers at the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of Mondragon.