Aims and objectives: This study empirically examines cross-linguistic interference and gender‑based differences in the production of third-person subjects in both languages (Spanish and English) of balanced bilingual Latinx children in eastern North Carolina. Methodology: We elicited picture-book retells of Mayer’s “Frog, where are you?” in both languages of 14 bilingual kindergarten children (mean age of 67 months). Data and analysis: We explored 817 tensed verb phrases to examine how language mode (Spanish/English), gender (boys/girls), and linguistic factors (e.g., topic continuity and number) affected subject expression across languages. Findings: Results indicate significant differences in subject form rates based on language mode, gender, topic continuity, and verb number. The children show a general command of the linguistic constraints for subject expression in each language, with girls using more null subjects than boys in Spanish mode. Originality: We test subject expression in both languages of each bilingual participant to explore gender-based language variation among children in a region with a fast-growing Latinx population. Significance: The children have similar proficiencies in both languages, which offers a snapshot of the developing bilingual system when the effects of language interference may be lessened. At a young age, these bilingual kindergarteners are sensitive to the linguistic patterning of each language, with differences based on gender adding to our understanding of subject expression.
Fafulas et al. (Sat,) studied this question.