The author presents a longitudinal study on verb placement in children who spontaneously learned German as a second language. It compares the position of the verb in main and subordinate clauses in two half-sisters whose mother tongue is Russian, and who came to Germany at the ages 8 and 14, respectively. The study shows that children and adolescents differ substantially in how rapidly they can achieve stable mastery in the target language.

Autorentext

Christine Czinglar, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Wien, Österreich.