ON THE (UN)-AMBIGUITY OF ADJECTIVAL MODIFICATION IN SPANISH DETERMINER PHRASES

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Rothman ◽  
Tiffany Judy ◽  
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes ◽  
Acrisio Pires
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Determiner Phrase ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Adjectival Modification ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This study contributes to a central debate within contemporary generative second language (L2) theorizing: the extent to which adult learners are (un)able to acquire new functional features that result in a L2 grammar that is mentally structured like the native target (see White, 2003). The adult acquisition of L2 nominal phi-features is explored, with focus on the syntactic and semantic reflexes in the related domain of adjective placement in two experimental groups: English-speaking intermediate (n= 21) and advanced (n= 24) learners of Spanish, as compared to a native-speaker control group (n= 15). Results show that, on some of the tasks, the intermediate L2 learners appear to have acquired the syntactic properties of the Spanish determiner phrase but, on other tasks, to show some delay with the semantic reflexes of prenominal and postnominal adjectives. Crucially, however, our data demonstrate full convergence by all advanced learners and thus provide evidence in contra the predictions of representational deficit accounts (e.g., Hawkins & Chan, 1997; Hawkins & Franceschina, 2004; Hawkins & Hattori, 2006).

Second language acquisition and Binding Principle B: child/adult differences

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Knowledge Processing ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge ◽  
Value Judgement

L1 acquirers experience considerable delays in mastering properties related to Binding Principle B, performing inaccurately with respect to possible antecedents for pronouns well after the age of 6. Most accounts attribute this delay to performance phenomena (lack of pragmatic knowledge, processing capacity, etc.). In this article, I show that adult learners do not exhibit the same kinds of problems with Principle B. Intermediate-level adult learners of English as a second language (French and Japanese speakers), as well as a native-speaker control group, were tested using a truth value judgement task to determine their interpretations of pronouns. The L2 learners performed like native speakers in disallowing local antecedents for pronouns, suggesting that Principle B is not problematic in adult acquisition, in contrast to child acquisition.

Clitic placement in L2 French: evidence from sentence matching

2002 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIGEL DUFFIELD ◽  
LYDIA WHITE ◽  
JOYCE BRUHN DE GARAVITO ◽  
SILVINA MONTRUL ◽  
PHILIPPE PRÉVOST
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Parameter Resetting ◽  
Sentence Matching ◽  
Feature Values ◽  
Clitic Placement

In this paper, we argue in favour of the NO IMPAIRMENT HYPOTHESIS, whereby L2 functional categories, features and feature values are attainable, and against the NO PARAMETER RESETTING HYPOTHESIS, according to which L2 learners are restricted to L1 categories and features, as well as against the LOCAL IMPAIRMENT HYPOTHESIS, which claims that the interlanguage grammar is characterized by inert feature values. An online experiment was conducted, investigating adult learners' knowledge of properties relating to clitic projections. Advanced learners of French (L1s English and Spanish), together with a native speaker control group, were tested on a variety of constructions involving clitics by means of the SENTENCE MATCHING procedure (Freedman & Forster 1985). L2 learners distinguished in their response times between certain kinds of grammatical and ungrammatical clitic placement, as did the native-speaker controls, suggesting the attainability of L2 properties distinct from the L1.

scholarly journals A qualitative analysis of perceptions of fluency in second language French

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Préfontaine ◽  
Judit Kormos
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Cognitive Demand ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Speech Features

AbstractIn the field of second language (L2) fluency, there is a common adherence to quantitative methods to examine characteristics and features of speech. This study extends the field by reporting on an investigation that analyzed native-speaker listeners’ perceptions of L2 fluency in French from a qualitative perspective. Three untrained judges rated students’ performance on speech tasks varying in cognitive demand and provided justifications for their perceptions of fluency. The goal of the research was to examine the factors that affect raters’ evaluations of fluency in response to three oral performances from 40 adult learners of French of varying proficiency. Qualitative analysis revealed that the main speech features that influenced native listeners’ perceptions of L2 fluency were speed, rhythm, pause phenomena, self-correction and efficiency/effortlessness in word choice, but also in target-like rhythm and prosody. The results of using such qualitative methodology highlights the important role that rhythm plays in fluency judgements in syllable-timed languages such as French, a factor which has not always been given much prominence in previous L2 fluency quantitative research.

Serving Nontraditional Students

2015 ◽  
pp. 106-128
Author(s):  
Dianna L. Newman ◽  
Meghan Morris Deyoe ◽  
David Seelow
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Skills Transfer ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Writing Tutorials ◽  
English Speaking

The role of technology and educational media in supporting nontraditional adult learners is growing. One key area in which more research and development is needed is the improvement of writing, especially writing that is related to formal education. This chapter presents findings related to the use of online writing modules developed to support English as a Second Language and nontraditional English speaking college students. Participants reported improved content-specific writing skills, transfer of writing skills to other content areas, and increased self-efficacy in writing. Differences continued to be noted by key student characteristics. The study has implications for continued development and use of digitally supported writing tutorials for nontraditional adult learners.

The partial availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition: the ‘failed functional features hypothesis’

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hawkins ◽  
Cecilia Yuet-hung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Operator Movement

A number of studies in the research literature have proposed that Universal Grammar (UG) is partially available to adult second language learners. Attempts to provide a syntactic characterization of that partial availability have only recently begun to appear, however. In this article we will argue that speakers of Chinese (a language without wh-operator movement in overt syntax) learning second language English (a language with wh-operator movement in overt syntax) establish mental representations for English which involve pronominal binding rather than operator movement. It will be suggested that this divergence from native-speaker representations is an effect of the inaccessibility of features of functional categories in second language acquisition, what we will refer to as the ‘failed functional features hypothesis’. Implications are drawn from the findings for the syntactic characterization of accessibility to UG more generally in second language acquisition.

The emergence of tense and agreement in child L2 French

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Paradis ◽  
Mathieu Le Corre ◽  
Fred Genesee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Acquisition Sequence ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Lexical Transfer ◽  
Grammatical Structures

The present study examined the acquisition of tense and agreement by L2 learners of French. We looked at whether the features and and the categories AGRP and TP emerged simultaneously or in sequence in the learners' grammars.We conducted interviews with English-speaking children acquiring French as a second language and with grade-matched native-speaker controls once a year for three years. The data were analysed for the productive use of morphosyntax encoding tense and agreement. Results revealed that items encoding agreement emerged before items encoding tense, suggesting that the abstract grammatical structures associated with these morphosyntax items emerge in sequence. The findings are interpreted with respect to three prevailing views on the acquisition of functional phrase structure in L2 acquisition: the Lexical Transfer/Minimal Trees hypothesis (Vainikka and Young-Scholten, 1994; 1996a; 1996b), the Weak Transfer/Valueless Features hypothesis (Eubank, 1993/94; 1994; 1996) and the Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1994;1996). Possible reasons for the existence of this acquisition sequence in French are also discussed.

Lexical and discourse factors in the second language acquisition of Spanish word order

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammy Jandrey Hertel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Spanish Word ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Beginning Learners

This study investigates the acquisition of Spanish word order by native speakers of English. Specifically, it considers the development of sensitivity to the distinct interpretations of subject-verb (SV) vs. verb-subject (VS) order, as determined by lexical verb class (unaccusative and unergative verbs) and discourse structure.Participants included a native speaker control group and learners at four proficiency levels. Results from a contextualized production task indicate that beginning learners transferred the SV order of English for all structures. Intermediate learners showed a gradual increase in the production of lexically and discourse-determined inversion, although their data was also characterized by indeterminacy and variability. The advanced learners demonstrated a sensitivity to the word order effects of unaccusativity and discourse factors, but also tended to overgeneralize inversion to unergative verbs in a neutral discourse context.

scholarly journals What Counts in the Acquisition and Attrition of Numeral Classifiers?

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 90 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Classifier Systems ◽  
Numeral Classifiers ◽  
Acquisition Sequence ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Numeral Classifier

This study compares second language (12) acquisition and attrition sequences of the syntax and semantics of numeral classifier systems in light of considerations of markedness, frequency, and the regression hypothesis. In classifier data elicited from English-speaking adult learners and attriters of two East Asia languages, Japanese and Chinese, we find in the attrition of both languages, in both syntax and semantics, a regression of the acquisition sequence. An implicational semantic scale, the Numeral Classifer Accessibility Hierarchy, cOinciding closely with the relative frequencies of the classifiers in input, appears to provide a path of least resistance for the learning and the loss of the semantic systems.

scholarly journals A influência da idade na inteligibilidade e no grau de sotaque estrangeiro de alunos brasileiros de inglês de nível avançado

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronaldo Mangueira Lima Jr
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Exceptional Learners

Resumo Este estudo investigou a influência que a idade com a qual brasileiros começam a estudar inglês no Brasil pode ter na sua pronúncia ao final do curso avançado de inglês, mais especificamente na inteligibilidade e no grau de sotaque estrangeiro. Alunos que estavam cursando o último semestre de seus cursos e haviam começado o curso em diferentes idades foram gravados lendo um parágrafo e falando espontaneamente. Um grupo controle de falantes nativos de inglês também foi gravado desempenhando as mesmas tarefas. Os níveis de inteligibilidade e de grau de sotaque estrangeiro dos participantes foram avaliados por um painel de nove juízes, e os resultados mostram uma tendência de declínio na pronúncia com o aumento da idade de início do curso, com um grande declínio mesmo entre o grupo controle e os aprendizes mais novos. Alguns aprendizes excepcionais, com níveis de inteligibilidade e de grau de sotaque estrangeiro próximos aos dos falantes nativos, foram encontrados. Os resultados estão alinhados ao conceito de aquisição de segunda língua como sistema dinâmico, sob a qual os dados foram analisados. Palavras-chave: Aquisição de segunda língua. Aquisição fonológica. Pronúncia. Inglês-L2. Inteligibilidade.   The influence of age on intelligibility and rate of foreign accent of Brazilian advanced learners of English  Abstract This study has investigated the influence that the age in which Brazilian learners begin to study English in Brazil may have on their pronunciation at the end of their advanced English courses, especially on their intelligibility and rate of foreign accent. Learners who were in the last semester of their courses and who had begun studying at different ages were recorded reading a paragraph and speaking spontaneously. A control group of native speakers of English was also recorded performing the same tasks. Participants’ levels of intelligibility and of rate of foreign accent were assessed by a panel of nine judges and the results show a tendency of decline in their pronunciation as the age in which they began studying increases; with a sharp decline even between the control group and the earliest starters. A few exceptional learners, with intelligibility and rate of foreign accent levels close to those of the native speakers, were found. The results are aligned with the concept of second language acquisition as a dynamic system, under which the data were analyzed. Keywords: Second language acquisition. Phonological acquisition. Pronunciation. English as a foreign language. Intelligibility.

scholarly journals Pair-list readings in Korean-Japanese, Chinese-Japanese and English-Japanese interlanguage

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Experimental Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
First Languages ◽  
Korean Chinese ◽  
Japanese Learners

In English and Chinese, questions with a wh-object and a universally quantified subject (e.g. What did everyone buy?) allow an individual answer (Everyone bought apples.) and a pair-list answer ( Sam bought apples, Jo bought bananas, Sally bought...). By contrast, the pair-list answer is reportedly unavailable in Japanese and Korean. This article documents an experimental investigation of the interpretation of such questions in non-native Japanese by learners whose first languages (Lls) are Korean, Chinese or English. The results show that, regardless of L1, only a minority of advanced second language (L2) Japanese learners demonstrate knowledge of the absence of pair-list readings in Japanese. In English-Japanese and Chinese-Japanese interlanguage, L1 transfer readily accounts for this finding: the L1 grammar, which allows pair-list readings, may obstruct acquisition of the more restrictive Japanese grammar. But in Korean-Japanese interlanguage, L1 transfer predicts rejection of pair-list answers. However, in a Korean version of the experimental task, a native Korean control group robustly accepts pair-list readings, contra expectations. A proposal to account for this finding is put forward, under which the Korean-Japanese interlanguage data become compatible with an L1-transfer-based model of L2 acquisition. Moreover, the native-like rejection of pair-list readings by some advanced learners of all three L1 backgrounds is argued to imply that UG constraints operate at the L2 syntax-semantics interface.

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