This review article presents a summary of research on the second language acquisition of Bantu languages, including Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa and Lingala. Although second language (L2) research on these languages is currently very limited, work in morphosyntax and phonology suggests promising directions for future study, particularly on noun class, tense and aspect.
Baker M. ( 1988) Theta theory and the syntax of applicatives in Chichewa . Natural Language and Linguistic Theory6: 353-89.
2.
Bardovi-Harlig K. ( 2000) Tense and aspect in second language acquisition: Form, meaning and use. Language Learning50, Supplement 1: xi-491.
3.
Berman R. and Slobin D. ( 1994) Relating events in narrative: A crosslinguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
4.
Best C., McRoberts G., and Sithole N. ( 1988) Examination of perceptual reorganization for non-native speech contrasts: Zulu click discrimination by English-speaking adults and infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance14: 345-60.
5.
Bresnan J. and Mchombo S. ( 1995) The lexical integrity principle: Evidence from Bantu. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory13: 181-254.
6.
Carstens V. ( 1991) The morphology and syntax of determiner phrases in Kiswahili . Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California , Los Angeles, CA.
7.
Carstens V. ( 1993) On nominal morphology and DP structure. In: Mchombo S (ed.) Theoretical aspects of Bantu grammar. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications , 151-76.
8.
Carstens V. ( 2005) Agree and EPP in Bantu. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory23: 219-79.
9.
Chimombo M. ( 1981) Overgeneralization in negation: A comparison of first and second language acquisition. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College, New York.
10.
Contini-Morava E. ( 2002) What do noun class markers mean? In: Reid W and Otheguy R (eds) Signal, meaning, and message: Perspectives on sign-based linguistics. Amsterdam/Philadelphia : John Benjamins, 3-64.
11.
de Cat C. and Demuth K. ( 2008) Introduction. The Bantu-Romance connection: A comparative investigation of syntactic structure. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, xi-xviii.
12.
Demuth K. ( 2003) The acquisition of Bantu languages. In: Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu Languages. New York : Routledge, 209-22.
13.
Demuth K., Machobane M., Moloi F., and Odato C. ( 2005) Learning animacy hierarchy effects in Sesotho double object applicatives. Language81: 421-47.
14.
Dube B. ( 2000a) Where are the Minimal Trees? Evidence from early Zulu L2 subordination. Second Language Research16: 233-65.
15.
Dube S. ( 2000b) The nature of the initial state Zulu L2 grammar and subsequent interlanguage development. Edinburgh Working Papers in Applied Linguistics10: 15-31.
16.
Eubank L.(1993/94) On the transfer of parametric values in L2 development. Language Acquisition3: 183-208.
17.
Eubank L. ( 1996) Negation in early German-English interlanguage: More valueless features in the L2 initial state. Second Language Research12: 73-106.
18.
Furman N., Goldberg D., and Lusin N. ( 2007) Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education. Retrieved from http://www.mla.org/pdf/06enrollmentsurvey_final.pdf (June 2010 ).
19.
Hobson C. ( 1999) Morphological development in the interlanguage of English learners of Xhosa. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
20.
Kambou M. ( 1998) Acquisition of Lingala tense/aspect by American college students. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences28: 99-112.
21.
Katamba F. ( 2003) Bantu nominal morphology. In: Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu languages. New York: Routledge, 103-20.
22.
Kisseberth C. and Odden D. ( 2003) Tone. In: Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu languages. New York: Routledge, 59-70.
23.
Klein W. and Perdue C. ( 1997) The basic variety (or: Couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research13: 301-48.
24.
Lewis P. ( 1994) The acquisition of clicks by non-mother-tongue speakers . Paper presented at the Conference on Linguistics for the Language Professions. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED369285.pdf.
25.
Maddieson I. ( 2003) The sounds of the Bantu languages. In: Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu languages. New York : Routledge, 15-41.
26.
McPherson L. and Paster M. ( 2009) Evidence for the mirror principle and morphological templates in Luganda affix ordering. In: Ojo A and Moshi L (eds) Selected proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, CA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 56-66.
27.
Mesthrie R. ( 2007) Differentiating pidgin from early interlanguage: A comparison of pidgin Nguni (Fanakalo) and interlanguage varieties of Xhosa and Zulu. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies25: 75-89.
28.
Musau P. ( 1995) Communicative strategies of Swahili learners: The one to one principle. International Review of Applied Linguistics33: 297-314.
29.
Ngonyani D. ( 2006) Attract F and verbal morphology in Kiswahili. The Linguistic Review, 23: 37-68.
30.
Nurse D. ( 2008) Aspect and tense in Bantu languages. In Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu languages. New York : Routledge, 90-102.
31.
Nurse D. and Philippson G. ( 2003) Introduction. In: Nurse D and Philippson G (eds) The Bantu languages. New York: Routledge, 1-11.
32.
Orie O. ( 2006) L2 acquisition and Yoruba tones: Issues and challenges . In: Arasanyin O and Pemberton M (eds) Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 121-28.
33.
Orr G. ( 1987) Aspects of the second language acquisition of Chichewa noun class morphology. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
34.
Prévost P. and White L. ( 1999) Finiteness and variability in SLA: More evidence for missing surface inflection. Proceedings of the Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development 23: 575-86.
35.
Rubanza Y. ( 1991) Sources of errors in second language acquisition: The case of English speakers learning Swahili. East African Journal of Education1: 63-72.
36.
Sabourin L., Stowe L., and de Hann G. ( 2006) Transfer effects in learning a second language grammatical gender system. Second Language Research22: 1-29.
37.
Schwartz B. and Sprouse R. ( 1996) L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research12: 40-72.
38.
Slabakova R. ( 2008) Meaning in the second language. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
39.
Spinner P. ( 2009) The detection and assembly of the number feature in L2 Swahili. Presentation at Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), Boston University, MA .
40.
Spinner P. and Thomas J. ( 2008a) Cues to gender in L2 Swahili. Presentation at Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition, North America (GALANA), University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
41.
Spinner P. and Thomas J. ( 2008b) Number and gender in L2 Swahili. Presentation at Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD) , Boston University, MA.
42.
Vainikka A. and Young-Scholten M. ( 1996) Gradual development of L2 phrase structure. Second Language Research12: 7-39.
43.
Vainikka A. and Young-Scholten M. ( 1994) Direct access to X -Theory: Evidence from Korean and Turkish adults learning German. In: Hoekstra T and Schwartz B (eds) Language acquisition studies in generative grammar. Amsterdam : John Benjamins, 265-316.
