Verb Production in Malay-English Bilingual Preschoolers: A Processability Theory Framework
Abstract
Malaysia is a multilingual country where many children are exposed to more than one language from an early age; yet, empirical evidence on how young Malaysian children produce verb structures across typologically different languages remains limited. This study examines verb production among 58 Malay-dominant bilingual preschoolers aged 5 to 6 in Selangor, Malaysia, whose English input was largely confined to school instruction. Using a mixed-methods descriptive cross-sectional design, picture elicitation tasks elicited targeted verbs in both languages; the data were transcribed in ELAN and analysed through Processability Theory (PT). PT was adopted because its implicational hierarchy maps verb output in both languages onto developmental stages rather than describing it through frequency alone, and the study constitutes the first group-level, verb-focused application of PT to Malay. Base forms were the preferred verb type in both languages. In Malay, fifteen (25.9%) children reached the Phrasal Procedure through productive use of the progressive marker tengah, as in tengah tidur, while the rest demonstrated Lemma Access through base forms. In English, most children produced no stageable output; seventeen (29.3%) children reached Lemma Access through bare forms such as sleep and eat, and one child reached the Category Procedure through productive V+ing use. Qualitative analysis also revealed far greater lexical variety in Malay. Given the children’s unequal exposure, these patterns are interpreted as reflecting both processing development and differences in input and instruction, rather than processability alone. The findings offer preliminary support for a Malay-based PT framework and baseline evidence for early English vocabulary instruction.
Keywords: Malay-English bilingualism; verb production; preschool children; Processability Theory; language exposure
Malaysia adalah sebuah negara dengan kepelbagaian bahasa, yang mana ramai kanak-kanaknya terdedah kepada lebih daripada satu bahasa sejak usia awal. Namun demikian, kajian empirikal tentang cara kanak-kanak Malaysia menghasilkan struktur kata kerja merentas bahasa yang berbeza dari segi tipologi masih terhad. Kajian ini meneliti penghasilan kata kerja dalam kalangan 58 kanak-kanak prasekolah dwibahasa berumur 5 hingga 6 tahun di Selangor, Malaysia, yang menguasai bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa dominan, dengan pendedahan bahasa Inggeris sebahagian besar dari mereka terhad kepada pengajaran di sekolah. Dengan menggunakan reka bentuk keratan rentas deskriptif berkaedah campuran, tugasan elisitasi bergambar digunakan untuk menjana kata kerja sasaran dalam kedua-dua bahasa; data ditranskripsikan menggunakan ELAN dan dianalisis melalui Processability Theory (PT). PT dipilih kerana hierarki implikasinya membolehkan output kata kerja dalam kedua-dua bahasa dipetakan kepada tahap perkembangan dan bukan sekadar dihuraikan melalui kekerapan. Kajian ini juga merupakan aplikasi PT yang pertama terhadap kata kerja bahasa Melayu pada peringkat kumpulan. Bentuk dasar merupakan bentuk kata kerja yang paling kerap dihasilkan dalam kedua-dua bahasa. Dalam bahasa Melayu, lima belas orang (25.9%) kanak-kanak mencapai Prosedur Frasa melalui penggunaan produktif penanda progresif tengah, seperti dalam tengah tidur, manakala kanak-kanak lain menunjukkan Capaian Lema melalui bentuk dasar. Dalam bahasa Inggeris, kebanyakan kanak-kanak tidak menghasilkan output kata kerja yang boleh dipetakan pada mana-mana tahap; tujuh belas orang (29.3%) kanak-kanak mencapai Capaian Lema melalui bentuk dasar seperti sleep dan eat, dan hanya seorang mencapai Prosedur Kategori melalui penggunaan V+ing yang produktif. Analisis kualitatif turut menunjukkan kepelbagaian leksikal yang jauh lebih luas dalam bahasa Melayu. Oleh kerana tahap pendedahan kanak-kanak kepada kedua-dua bahasa tidak seimbang, pola ini mungkin dipengaruhi bukan sahaja oleh perkembangan keupayaan pemprosesan mereka, tetapi juga oleh perbezaan dalam pendedahan dan pengajaran bahasa. Dapatan kajian memberikan sokongan awal terhadap kerangka PT berasaskan bahasa Melayu dan bukti asas bagi pengajaran awal kosa kata bahasa Inggeris.
Kata Kunci:kedwibahasaan Melayu–Inggeris; penghasilan kata kerja; kanak-kanak prasekolah; Processability Theory; pendedahan bahasa
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2026-2603-15
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