scholarly journals Perceived foreign accent in first language attrition and second language acquisition: The impact of age of acquisition and bilingualism

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP ◽  
MONIKA S. SCHMID
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThis study investigates constraints on ultimate attainment in second language (L2) pronunciation in a direct comparison of perceived foreign accent of 40 late L2 learners and 40 late first language (L1) attriters of German. Both groups were compared with 20 predominantly monolingual controls. Contrasting participants who acquired the target language from birth (monolinguals, L1 attriters) with late L2 learners, on the one hand, and bilinguals (L1 attriters, L2ers) with monolinguals, on the other hand, allowed us to disentangle the impacts of age of onset and bilingualism in speech production. At the group level, the attriters performed indistinguishably from controls, and both differed from the L2 group. However, 80% of all L2ers scored within the native (attriter) range. Correlational analyses with background factors further found some effects of use and language aptitude. These results show that acquiring a language from birth is not sufficient to guarantee nativelike pronunciation, and late acquisition does not necessarily prevent it. The results are discussed in the light of models on the role of age and cross-linguistic influence in L2 acquisition.

Perceived foreign accent in first language attrition and second language acquisition: The impact of age of acquisition and bilingualism—ERRATUM

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP ◽  
MONIKA S. SCHMID
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Open Access ◽  
First Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
First Language Attrition ◽  
The Impact

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Reading-time studies of second language ambiguity resolution

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despina Papadopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Impact

This article provides a review of studies that have examined the ambiguity resolution strategies employed when processing a second language (L2). The way second language learners parse the L2 input has not yet been thoroughly investigated, although recently there has been an increasing interest in this area. The exploration of the mechanisms L2 learners use to parse ambiguous constructions allows us to examine not only aspects of L2 acquisition that still remain obscure, but also the validity of existing theories of parsing. The studies reported in this article look at three different types of ambiguous construction in the L2, and their results are discussed in relation to the L2 performance pattern. Most of the findings show that even advanced L2 learners are slower readers than native speakers and apply processing routines that depart from those best suited for processing the target language input. In addition, although L2 learners show sensitivity to lexical cues such as verb argument structure when processing the L2 input, they are less likely to rapidly employ structural information on line. The issues of the transfer of processing mechanisms from the first language (L1) to the second as well as the impact of L2 exposure on the adoption of the L2 processing routines are still unresolved and need to be further investigated.

scholarly journals Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: exploring some differences and similarities

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Usa ◽  
English Dominant

This study compares the linguistic knowledge of adult second language (L2) learners, who learned the L2 after puberty, with the potentially ‘eroded’ first language (L1) grammars of adult early bilinguals who were exposed to the target language since birth and learned the other language simultaneously, or early in childhood (before age 5). I make two main claims: (1) that the L1 grammar of bilinguals at a given stabilized state (probably endstate) resembles the incomplete (either developing or stabilized) grammars typical of intermediate and advanced stages in L2 acquisition; and (2) that despite similar patterns of performance, when language proficiency is factored in, early bilinguals are better than the L2 learners, probably due to exposure to primary linguistic input early in childhood. I offer empirical evidence from an experimental study testing knowledge of the syntax and semantics of unaccusativity in Spanish, conducted with English-speaking L2 learners and English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers living in the USA. I consider recent treatments of unaccusativity and language attrition within the generative framework (Sorace, 1999; 2000a; 2000b), that offer a unifying account of the formal parallels observed between these two populations I discuss how input, use and age may explain differences and similarities in the linguistic attainment of the two groups.

Cross-linguistic influence in the interpretation of boundary crossing events in L2 acquisition

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Alonso Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Horizontal Axis ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Bounded Space

This paper analyses the interpretation of boundary-crossing events in second language acquisition (SLA) to determine whether L2 learners are able to select the target-like option for the interpretation of motion events or whether, on the contrary, their choice reflects cross-linguistic influence (CLI) of their L1. The two groups participating in the study – thirty Spanish learners of L2 English and sixteen English first language (L1) speakers – were subjected to an experiment involving an interpretation task with L2 boundary-crossing events pictures. Findings indicate that Spanish L2 learners selected three possible constructions (manner verb + path satellite, path in verb + manner in satellite and a combination of both) in clear contrast to English L1 speakers who only selected one construction (manner verb + path satellite). CLI has also been found to regulate the type of boundary-crossing event selected, primarily in cases of motion INTO a bounded space in the horizontal axis.

Relevance Theory and the in second language acquisition

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlad Žegarac
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The One ◽  
Teaching Learning

This article considers the implications of Sperber and Wilson’s (1986/95) Relevance Theory for the acquisition of English the by second language (L2) learners whose first language (L1) does not have an article system. On the one hand, Relevance Theory provides an explicit characterization of the semantics of the, which suggests ways of devising more accurate guidelines for teaching/learning than are available in current textbooks. On the other hand, Relevance Theoretic assumptions about human communication together with some effects of transfer from L1 provide the basis for a number of predictions about the types of L2 learners’ errors in the use of the.I argue that data from previous research (Trenkić, 2002) lend support to these predictions, and I try to show that examples drawn from the data I have collected provide evidence for the view that L2 learning is not influenced only by general pragmatic principles and hypotheses about L2 based on transfer from L1, but that learners also devise and test tacit hypotheses which are idiosyncratic to them.

The UG paradox in L2 acquisition

1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Clahsen ◽  
Pieter Muysken
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 And L2

There is a considerable amount of recent evidence that stable principles of Universal Grammar (UG) are available to adult second language (L2) learners in structuring their intuitions about the target language grammar. In contrast, however, there is also evidence from the acquisition of word order, agreement and negation in German that there are substantial differences between first language (L1) and L2 learners. In our view, these differences are due to UG principles guiding L1, but not L2 acquisition. We will show that alternative ways of accounting for the L1/L2 differences are not successful. Finally we will deal with the question of how our view can be reconciled with the idea that L2 learners can use UG principles to some extent in the evaluation of target sentences.

PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Proficiency Assessment ◽  
Assessment Standards ◽  
The Relationship

The present study aims to sensitize SLA researchers to the importance of documenting and controlling for their participants’ proficiency in the target language, with the goal of establishing more robust proficiency assessment standards in experimental research. First, this article presents a survey of recent (2000–2008) foreign and second-language (L2) acquisition studies that show that such standards have yet to be met. Second, it demonstrates the validity, reliability, and practicality of a cloze (i.e., fill-in-the-blank) test designed to discriminate among L2 learners of French at different proficiency levels. Subject and item analyses are performed on the cloze test scores of 169 L2 learners of French from various language backgrounds. The relationship between these scores and the learners’ language background is examined. Cutoff points between proficiency levels are identified in the data. The test then is shared with scholars so that those working with a similar population of L2 learners of French can also use it.

Shallow processing: a consequence of bilingualism or second language learning?

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
Susanne E. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Shallow Structure Hypothesis ◽  
The One

Clahsen and Felser (CF) review ground-breaking work comparing selected types of language processing in monolingual children and adults, on the one hand, and in monolingual first language (L1) adults and adult second language (L2) learners, on the other. They argue that children behave essentially like adults, but that adult L2 learners, even high-proficiency ones, do not. Thus, there is a principled difference to be made among types of learners; there is continuity of mechanism and process to be observed in monolingual development but L2 acquisition exhibits certain fundamental differences. In particular, L2 learners construct shallow syntactic structures (essentially failing to compute trace chains) when processing long-distance filler-gap dependencies. According to the shallow structure hypothesis (SSH), learners immediately interpret incoming words in a minimal semantic representation by assigning thematic roles to argument expressions and associating modifiers to their hosts. They are not mapping detailed and complete syntactic representations onto semantic representations.

scholarly journals Natural and Instructional Input Practices: Consciousness-Raising in ELT

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Mona Hassanzade ◽  
Mehry Haddad Narafshan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Grammar Instruction ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Explicit Grammar Instruction ◽  
The Impact

<p>Many researchers on language acquisition agree that early onset is important when acquiring a second language (L2). Second language acquisition depends on the experience of the target language. Accounts of successful L2 acquisition have accordingly emphasized the importance of the quality of the input available to the learners. Consequently, this study probes the impact of input quality on second language grammar comprehension and production of young children. 40 infants (3 to 4 years old) were selected as the sample of this study. The results revealed that explicit input which draws learners’ attention to linguistic form and structure caused a better grammar comprehension and production in young children; explicit grammar instruction can serve to speed up both grammar comprehension and production process.</p>

Resetting Universal Grammar parameters: evidence from Second Language Acquisition of Subjacency and the Empty Category Principle

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigal Uziel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Empty Category ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
Category Principle

This article is concerned with whether the principles of UG are available in adult Second Language Acquisition (SLA) as in child first language acquisi tion. My hypothesis is that these principles are fully available to the L2 learner, and that the process of L2 acquisition is, in fact, a process of parameter-reassignment or new assignment in which the L2 learner resets the parameter-values of the L1 to their values in the L2. In order to test this hypothesis, I built on previous work by Martohardjono (1991) and conducted a study which examined the acquisition of two principles of UG, Subjacency and the Empty Category Principle, by native speakers of Hebrew learning English as a second language. I made a series of predictions with respect to the patterns of acquisition for various constructions in the target language, based on the assumption that L2 grammars are systems of knowledge guided by the internal logic, or 'systematicity' specified by UG. These predictions were borne out by the results of my study, leading to the conclusion that UG is indeed available in SLA. My conclusion corroborates other studies in the field which have reached similar conclusions (e.g., Flynn, 1987; White, 1988 and Martohardjono, 1991).

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