Grammatical and functional characteristics of preposition-based phrase frames in English argumentative essays by L1 English and Spanish speakers

AbstractThere are numerous studies that analyze the second language (L2) acquisition of aspect (e.g., see overviews and summaries in Ayoun and Salaberry 2005; Bardovi-Harlig 2000; Labeau 2005; Salaberry, 2008; Salaberry and Shirai 2002). The present study focuses on a specific component of tense-aspect: the iteration of eventualities (iterativity and habituality) conveyed with the use of Spanish Preterite and Imperfect respectively. The analysis is based on data from monolingual Spanish speakers and L1 English speakers with near-native competence in the L2 with the use of contextualized grammaticality judgments. The findings of the study show that near-native speakers of L2 Spanish do not distinguish fine-grained representations of aspectual knowledge (iterativity versus habituality), even though they demonstrate native-like judgments with more prototypical uses of aspect. The discussion of the findings points to possible effects of mapping of meaning and form in the L2, as well as possible instructional effects paired with frequency effects prompted by classroom environments.

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Extended uses of the progressive form in L1 and L2 Englishes

English World-Wide ◽

10.1075/eww.35.3.01pau ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 247-276 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Heli Paulasto

Keyword(s):

Functional Characteristics ◽

Indian English ◽

Vernacular English ◽

Progressive Form ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

L1 English ◽

Primary Substrate

This paper examines extended stative and habitual uses of the progressive form (PF), features of vernacular syntax that are shared by numerous contact-induced Englishes. Three of these are investigated here: Welsh English (WelE), a high-contact L1/L2 shift variety, Indian English, an indigenised L2 variety, and the traditional dialects of England, representing vernacular L1 English and a potential historical superstrate. Despite cross-varietal similarities, the PF proves to be quite distinctive in the corpora in terms of its structural, functional, and lexical properties. The patterns of variation are considered in relation to the primary substrate languages, Welsh and Hindi, the English English superstrate, and general developments in the use of the PF in English. The results indicate that the contact-induced varieties are typologically similar to the substrates in divergent ways and that the superstrate is clearly influential in WelE. Propositions of “angloversality” therefore need to be considered in light of regional linguistic ecologies and the structural and functional characteristics of (vernacular) English itself.

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Failed gender agreement in L1 English L2 Spanish: Syntactic or lexical problem?

Glossa a journal of general linguistics ◽

10.16995/glossa.5761 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alena Kirova ◽

José Camacho

Keyword(s):

Critical Period ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Gender Agreement ◽

Gender Assignment ◽

Syntactic Features ◽

L2 Spanish ◽

And Control ◽

L1 English ◽

Do So

According to representational accounts (Hawkins & Franceschina, 2004), the inability to acquire abstract syntactic features after a critical period explains L2 difficulties with gender, while according to lexical accounts (Grüter et al. 2012; Hopp 2012), gender assignment issues – the inability to assigned to a target-like class accounts for these difficulties. We explore three potential agreement cues: 1) semantic gender relating to sex (e.g. ‘girl’ vs. ‘boy’) 2) morphophonological transparency cues, and 3) syntactic agreement cues. Semantic and morphophonological cues may facilitate gender agreement only for a subset of nouns, whereas agreement cues can do so for all nouns, including opaque gender nouns that do not have semantic gender. Seventeen low proficiency and sixteen high proficiency L1 English L2 Spanish speakers and seventeen native Spanish controls judged the grammaticality of 60 experimental sentences. We compared participants’ gender agreement accuracy and reaction times (RTs) on experimental items with and without semantic gender, and with and without transparent gender morphemes. Semantic gender did not serve as a cue for gender assignment/agreement; instead, it slowed down RTs in high proficiency and control participants. Morphophonological cues significantly increased accuracy and decreased RTs in all groups. Finally, agreement cues did not seem to help low proficiency learners, since their accuracy on opaque nouns was barely above chance. This suggests that they did not effectively use agreement cues to assign gender. By contrast, high proficiency learners exhibited native-like accuracy on opaque nouns. These findings support the lexical accounts of gender agreement difficulties, against the representational accounts.

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Initial phonological transfer in L3 Brazilian Portuguese and Italian

Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism ◽

10.1075/lab.18048.cab ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Cabrelli Amaro ◽

Carrie Pichan

Keyword(s):

Structural Similarity ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Primary Role ◽

First Semester ◽

Language Status ◽

Heritage Spanish Speakers ◽

English Dominant ◽

Metalinguistic Knowledge ◽

L1 English

This study examines five variables posited to drive(s) initial phonological transfer of (part of) one system over another in an L3: language status (L1/L2), facilitation, global structural similarity, dominance, and bilingual experience. Specifically, we investigate production of intervocalic voiced stops by English/Spanish bilinguals at the initial stages of L3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) or Italian. These segments surface as [−continuant] in BP, Italian, and English but are realized as [+continuant] in Spanish; English transfer is therefore facilitative while Spanish is non-facilitative. Three groups (English-dominant heritage Spanish speakers, L1 English/L2 Spanish, L1 Spanish/L2 English) enrolled in first semester BP or Italian completed delayed repetition tasks in all three languages. The majority of participants across groups produce Spanish-like [+continuant] segments, suggestive of a primary role for global structural similarity. For the subset of participants across groups that produces English-like/L3-like [−continuant] segments, debrief data indicate a potential relationship between metalinguistic knowledge and [−continuant] production.

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Gender assignment strategies used by L1 and L2 speakers of Spanish

IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching ◽

10.1515/iral-2018-0201 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Alyssa Martoccio

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Native Speaker ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Gender Assignment ◽

Bare Nouns ◽

And Gender ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

L1 English

Abstract This article compares gender assignment on known nouns by intermediate (n=15) and advanced (n=15) second language (L2) learners of Spanish (L1 English) and native Spanish speakers (n=15). Participants completed a written vocabulary task, which asked the meaning and gender of 63 nouns. Gender assignment scores revealed that only intermediate and native speaker groups scored significantly differently on known nouns, as shown by the vocabulary task. Results indicated that intermediate learners assigned the incorrect gender to known nouns significantly more than native speakers. Both L2 learner groups made errors on high frequency known nouns, whereas the few native speaker errors were on low frequency known nouns. Along with think-aloud data which showed the effectiveness of strategies that directly link the noun with its article, these results indicate that nouns need to be taught as units rather than bare nouns, using distributional co-occurrence relations.

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DO LEARNERS LIGHTEN UP?

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263116000279 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 801-832 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Megan Solon

Keyword(s):

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Learning Situation ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Speech Learning ◽

Phonetic Realization ◽

L1 English

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners’ first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish of 85 native English speakers from various levels of study and compares L2 productions to those of native Spanish speakers as well as to learners’ L1 English. Additionally, laterals produced in specific contexts are compared to examine learners’ acquisition of L2 allophonic patterning, as Spanish contains a subset of the lateral allophones that exist in English. Results suggest development toward nativelike norms in the phonetic details of Spanish /l/ and in allophonic patterning. These findings have implications for existing theoretical accounts of L2 speech learning, which cannot adequately account for the learning situation examined.

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Portuguese for L1 English-L2 Spanish Speakers: The Effectiveness of “Tá Falado” Podcast Lessons

Spanish and Portuguese across Time, Place, and Borders ◽

10.1057/9781137340450_13 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 200-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Orlando R. Kelm

Keyword(s):

Spanish Speakers ◽

L2 Spanish ◽

L1 English

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Acquisition of the Tap-Trill Contrast by L1 Mandarin–L2 English–L3 Spanish Speakers

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages3040042 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthew Patience

Keyword(s):

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Developmental Patterns ◽

Reading Task ◽

Target Segment ◽

L2 Spanish ◽

L1 English ◽

Single Substitution

The goals of this study were to investigate the developmental patterns of acquisition of the Spanish tap and trill by L1 Mandarin–L2 English–L3 Spanish speakers, and to examine the extent to which the L1 and the L2 influenced the L3 productions. Twenty L1 Mandarin–L2 English–L3 Spanish speakers performed a reading task that elicited production of rhotics from the speakers’ L3 Spanish, L2 English, and L1 Mandarin, as well as the L2 English flap. The least proficient speakers produced a single substitution initially, generally [l]. The same non-target segment was produced for both rhotics, mirroring the results of previous studies investigating L1 English–L2 Spanish speakers, indicating that this may be a universal simplification strategy. In contrast to previous work on L1 English speakers, the L1 Mandarin–L2 English–L3 Spanish speakers who had acquired the tap did not tend to use it as the primary substitute for the trill. Overall, the L1 was a stronger source of cross-linguistic influence. Nonetheless, evidence of positive and negative L2 transfer was also found. The L2 flap allophone facilitated acquisition of the L3 tap, whereas non-target productions of the L2 /ɹ/ were also observed, revealing that both previously learned languages were possible sources of cross-linguistic influence.

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SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION IN L2 LEARNERS

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263103000238 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 529-557 ◽

Cited By ~ 113

Author(s):

Paola E. Dussias

Keyword(s):

Noun Phrase ◽

Relative Clause ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Syntactic Ambiguity ◽

Paper Questionnaire ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Pencil And Paper ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

L1 English

This study investigates whether proficient second language (L2) speakers of Spanish and English use the same parsing strategies as monolinguals when reading temporarily ambiguous sentences containing a complex noun phrase followed by a relative clause, such as Peter fell in love with the daughter of the psychologist who studied in California. Research with monolingual Spanish and English speakers (e.g., Cuetos & Mitchell, 1988) has suggested that, whereas English speakers show a bias to interpret the relative clause locally (i.e., to attach the relative clause to the noun immediately preceding it), Spanish speakers reading Spanish equivalents of English sentences attach the relative clause to the first noun in the complex noun phrase (i.e., nonlocal attachment). In this study, I assess whether speakers whose native language (L1) and L2 differ with respect to processing strategies were able to employ each strategy in the correct context. To this end, L1 Spanish–L2 English and L1 English–L2 Spanish speakers read ambiguous sentences in their L1 and L2. Data collection was carried out using a pencil-and-paper questionnaire and a self-paced reading task. Analyses of both sets of data revealed that both groups of speakers favored local over nonlocal attachment when reading in their L1 and L2. The results are discussed in the context of models that assume the existence of a fixed, universal set of parsing strategies. The implications of L2 parsing research for the field of SLA are also discussed.

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Compounding and derivation

Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism ◽

10.1075/lab.16026.lic ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 42-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Juana M. Liceras ◽

Rachel Klassen

Keyword(s):

Spanish Speakers ◽

Selection Task ◽

L2 Spanish ◽

Derivational Morphemes ◽

The One ◽

Whole Word ◽

L1 English ◽

Inflectional Affixes

Abstract Inflectional affixes only adhere to the head of Noun-Noun (NN) compounds which implies that the plural of casa cuna (‘crib house’) or hombre lobo (‘werewolf’) is casa-s cuna (‘crib houses’) and hombre-s lobo (‘werewolves’) respectively, while *casa cuna-s and *hombre lobo-s ‒ with the plural inflectional affix on the modifier ‒ are ungrammatical. There seems to be more flexibility when it comes to derivational affixes since, in principle, the evaluative diminutive affix - ito appears to have scope over the whole compound, regardless of whether it is attached to the head or the modifier: cas-ita cuna / casa cun-ita and hombre-c-ito lobo / hombre lob-ito . This would imply that the operation that results in the expression of plurality of the whole word via the inflectional affix - s located on the semantic argument (the head of the compound), is more categorical than the one that regulates the scope of derivational morphemes (contra Zwicky, 1985). It would also imply that Cinque’s (2005) proposal according to which modifiers can c-command Nouns may be more in line with the behaviour of derivational affixes in Spanish NN compounds. Since this is a topic that has neither been discussed by Spanish grammarians nor received attention in the psycholinguistic literature, we have administered a Picture Selection Task with NN compounds exhibiting evaluative diminutive affixes to groups of L1 Spanish and L1 English-L2 Spanish speakers. Results show that for L1 Spanish speakers it is the affix on the head that has scope over the whole compound (in line with Zwicky’s 1985 proposal) while the L2 Spanish speakers treat derivational affixes as only having scope over the element to which they are attached.

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