The role of play in second language acquisition: a bilingual grandmother and a preschool child

Term

2009

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAESL

Abstract

This case study examined socio-dramatic play in Spanish (L2) with a bilingual grandmother, the researcher, as a potential influence on second language acquisition and use in a four and one-half year old child, the researcher's granddaughter. Prior to the case study the preschool child, a sequential bilingual, had not used her L2 spontaneously. The researcher and her granddaughter engaged in 16 sessions of socio-dramatic play in the child's L2. The play sessions were videotaped, transcribed, and coded to identify L2 use in the preschool child. During the 24 hours following the play sessions, the child's mother kept a record of the child's L2 use. The results demonstrated that the child began to use her L2 in limited, but spontaneous ways, advancing from the pre-production to early production stage of second language acquisition.

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