The Acquisition of Creole Languages

'Dr Adone is, to date, the only scholar to deal with the acquisition of a Creole language, and this book both broadens and deepens her pioneering 1994 study. It should prove indispensable as both stimulus and benchmark for those who, hopefully, will now study acquisition in other Creoles.' Derek Bickerton, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, Manoa
'This is the first book to present a comprehensive review of the acquisition of Creole languages. The inclusion of sign language acquisition makes this volume even more welcome, as it provides to researchers concerned with spoken language acquisition, as well as those concerned with sign language acquisition, an introduction to a modality-independent view of Creole acquisition.' Bencie Woll, University College London
'This invaluable monograph provides novel research results from comprehension, production and judgment tasks on the acquisition of four aspects of the syntax of French-based Creoles spoken in Mauritius and the Seychelles, relating to binding, double object, passive and serial verb structures. It is a fascinating study and an invaluable research resource for anyone interested in first language acquisition and Creoles.' Andrew Radford, University of Essex
'Dany Adone's work is a model of how to approach Creole languages: she weaves together modern perspectives on the acquisition problem, extra-linguistic effects, linguistic theory, sophisticated experimental techniques, and fieldwork to address classic questions in binding theory, quantification, passive, recursion, and especially double object constructions and serial verb constructions. She shows that children spontaneously exhibit recursion in the unusual serial verb construction, revealing the most sophisticated form of linguistic creativity in the most challenging environments where the poverty of stimulus - limited input - is present. This work not only reflects on core issues in acquisition but should inspire acquisition study of novel forms of creativity in understudied languages.' Thomas Roeper, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
'Considering the crucial role attributed to children in many models of creole genesis, the acquisition of creoles has not been a topic of extensive research. Dany Adone is one of the few to have taken up this challenge … With its application of rigorous experimental methods, this study is a major contribution to the ontogenetic study of 'classical' creoles. It is rich in data which are made to speak profound theoretical issues. Methodologically, it offers an exemplary model for future studies in the acquisition of contact languages.' Stephen Matthews, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages