Chinese-Spanish bilingualism in Guayaquil, Ecuador

In this dissertation I investigate adult natural second language acquisition resulting from Chinese immigrants' coming into contact with the Spanish language after their arrival in Ecuador in very recent times. Account is also taken of selected social factors that may potentially influence their language acquisition. I compare the language acquisition of older adult speakers to formal acquisition by young adult speakers. The language output obtained from the adult and younger participants in this study sheds light on the nature of their language acquisition processes, attitudes towards the language, and most importantly their linguistic systems.; Linguistically, the research focuses on the acquisition of morpho-syntactic and phonological features among all participants. The acquisition of Spanish can be understood in relation to access to UG. Language acquisition among younger adults is complete, or almost complete, suggesting the successful application of principals of UG in accessing the target language through a process similar to first language acquisition. Sandra's (one of the older adults) language acquisition process shows signs of partial access to UG and is representative of the interlanguage of an L2 learner who is approximating target language use. The other older adult speakers' language acquisition process suggests little or no ability to apply principles of UG in accessing the target language, and may be representative of a primitive stage of interlanguage and an acquisition process similar to pidginization, resulting in the development, in this case, of a reduced linguistic variety that is neither Spanish nor Chinese but incorporates aspects of both.; The main data were collected over the summers of 2001-2003 in Guayaquil - Ecuador. A later trip was made in 2004 to re-interview a few older participants. All of the participants are family members of the investigator, friends of the family, or friends of friends.; The data analyses resulted in different outcomes. The quantitative and qualitative results indicate the younger adults speak a native to near native Spanish. Sandra's interlanguage Spanish is not fully proficient, but shows signs of continuing development towards the target language. The language spoken by the older adults is at best, a primitive interlanguage that contains pidgin-like qualities.