Abstract
Spanish/English bilingual and monolingual English children, ages 36-50 months, were recorded during interactions with their mothers. An analysis of the recorded language was performed utilizing selected morphological and syntactic features. An analysis of home language use was also performed for bilingual children. Results indicate: (1) a definite bilingual proficiency character with "weighted" proficiency in English; (2) no significant difference on English measures between bilingual and monolingual children; (3) a differential language use pattern for Spanish and English by bilingual children in the home. These results provide new insights into the bilingual acquisition phenomenon in early childhood.

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