Whose? L2-English speakers' possessive pronoun gender errors

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
INÉS ANTÓN-MÉNDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Possessive Pronoun ◽  
Other Hand

This article reports the results of an experiment on production of his/her in English as a second language (L2) by proficient native speakers of Italian, Spanish, and Dutch. In Dutch and English, 3rd person singular possessive pronouns agree in gender with their antecedents, in Italian and Spanish possessives in general agree with the noun they accompany (possessum). However, while in Italian the 3rd person singular possessives overtly agree in gender with the possessums, in Spanish they lack overt morphological gender marking. Dutch speakers were found to make very few possessive gender errors in any condition, Spanish and Italian speakers, on the other hand, behaved like Dutch speakers when the possessum was inanimate, but made more errors when it was animate (e.g., his mother). Thus, even proficient L2 speakers are susceptible to the influence of automatic processes that should apply in their first language alone. The pattern of results has implications for pronoun production and models of bilingual language production.

scholarly journals Drifting towards Ambiguity: A Closer Look at Palatalisation in L2 Irish

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 55-69
Author(s):  
Marina Snesareva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Good Knowledge ◽  
Front Vowel ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Everyday Communication ◽  
At Home

This article focuses on palatalisation in the Irish spoken by Dublin-based bilinguals for whom English is their first language. All informants had a good knowledge of both Irish and English; however, Irish was their second language, used less frequently in everyday communication. Most Dubliners start learning Irish at school; only a few informants had the opportunity to speak it at home, but even then the language was not used outside class on a regular basis. The study showed that most deviations in the distribution of palatalised and non-palatalised consonants in the speech of Dublin bilinguals were of the palatalisation absence type. Such deviations were especially frequent next to back and mid-back vowels. On the other hand, a palatalised consonant was often pronounced instead of a non-palatalised one next to a front vowel. Previous research suggests that these tendencies also apply in weak positions (Snesareva 2014a; 2014b). Consequently, even though in traditional Irish dialects palatalisation is not position-bound, in the speech of Dublin bilinguals there is correlation between the palatalisation of a consonant and the quality of its neighbouring vowel. However, such consonant distribution was not encountered in all contexts: even those informants whose speech had deviations used palatalisation properly in some contexts. This means that position-bound use of palatalisation is still a tendency rather than an entrenched feature of Dublin Irish.

How native and non-native English speakers adapt to humor in intercultural interaction

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy D Bell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Intercultural Interaction ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Negative Message ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

AbstractHumor can often carry an implicit negative message and thus be potentially dangerous to use. In addition, it is culturally and linguistically complex and sophisticated. Because of these things, it poses a challenge for L2 (second language) speakers and we might expect to see attempts at humor failing and causing offense in intercultural interaction. This paper reports on a study that examined humor in interaction between native and non-native speakers of English and found that humor did not seem to be a cause of conflict because of adjustments speakers made to their speech and their situated interpretations of meaning. In general, taboo topics and potentially dangerous forms of humor were avoided and humor was carefully contextualized. Native speakers reported being careful about the vocabulary they used in creating humor and both sides appeared to approach humor in intercultural communication prepared to accommodate the other and with an attitude of leniency.

Wie Zijn 'Onze' Leerders?

1999 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Author(s):  
Anne-Mieke Janssen-van Dieten
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The One

There is an increasing awareness that the number of non-native speakers in the category of 'adult, highly educated, advanced L2-learners' is rapidly increasing. This paper presents an analysis of what it means to teach them a second language - whether it is Dutch or any other second language. It is argued that, on the one hand, conceptions about language learning and teaching are insufficiendy known, and that, on the other hand, there are many widespread misconceptions that prevent language teachers from catering adequately for people's actual communicative needs, and from providing tailor-made solutions to these problems.

English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yilan Liu ◽  
Sue Ann S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results and Conclusions:</i></b> Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable “nin,” and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.

scholarly journals Immediate and Distracted Imitation in Second-Language Speech: Unreleased Plosives In English

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Rojczyk ◽  
Andrzej Porzuczek ◽  
Marcin Bergier
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Boundary ◽  
Linguistic Difference ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Significant Rate ◽  
No Release

The paper investigates immediate and distracted imitation in second-language speech using unreleased plosives. Unreleased plosives are fairly frequently found in English sequences of two stops. Polish, on the other hand, is characterised by a significant rate of releases in such sequences. This cross-linguistic difference served as material to look into how and to what extent non-native properties of sounds can be produced in immediate and distracted imitation. Thirteen native speakers of Polish first read and then imitated sequences of words with two stops straddling the word boundary. Stimuli for imitation had no release of the first stop. The results revealed that (1) a non-native feature such as the lack of the release burst can be imitated; (2) distracting imitation impedes imitative performance; (3) the type of a sequence interacts with the magnitude of an imitative effect

scholarly journals Second language attainment and first language attrition: The case of VOT in immersed Dutch–German late bilinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Stoehr ◽  
Titia Benders ◽  
Janet G van Hell ◽  
Paula Fikkert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
At Home ◽  
Late Bilinguals

Speech of late bilinguals has frequently been described in terms of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from the native language (L1) to the second language (L2), but CLI from the L2 to the L1 has received relatively little attention. This article addresses L2 attainment and L1 attrition in voicing systems through measures of voice onset time (VOT) in two groups of Dutch–German late bilinguals in the Netherlands. One group comprises native speakers of Dutch and the other group comprises native speakers of German, and the two groups further differ in their degree of L2 immersion. The L1-German–L2-Dutch bilinguals ( N = 23) are exposed to their L2 at home and outside the home, and the L1-Dutch–L2-German bilinguals ( N = 18) are only exposed to their L2 at home. We tested L2 attainment by comparing the bilinguals’ L2 to the other bilinguals’ L1, and L1 attrition by comparing the bilinguals’ L1 to Dutch monolinguals ( N = 29) and German monolinguals ( N = 27). Our findings indicate that complete L2 immersion may be advantageous in L2 acquisition, but at the same time it may cause L1 phonetic attrition. We discuss how the results match the predictions made by Flege’s Speech Learning Model and explore how far bilinguals’ success in acquiring L2 VOT and maintaining L1 VOT depends on the immersion context, articulatory constraints and the risk of sounding foreign accented.

scholarly journals Probing rhythmic patterns in english-L2

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58
Author(s):  
Ronaldo Mangueira Lima Junior ◽  
Guilherme Duarte Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
The Other ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Categorical Classification

Languages are traditionally classified as mora-timed, syllable-timed or stress-timed in relation to their rhythmic patterns. The distinction between syllable-timed and stress-timed languages, however, lacks solid evidence in the literature. Syllable-timed languages typically have similar duration across unstressed and stressed syllables, whereas stress-timed languages tend to have similar inter-stress intervals, and unstressed syllables are shorter than stressed syllables. According to this categorical classification, English is a stress-timed language, thus having more reduction in unstressed vowels. Brazilian Portuguese, on the other hand, is typically classified as syllable-timed, and thus has little reduction of unstressed vowels. If these categorical rhythmic differences are correct, then acquiring the rhythmic patterns of English should be a challenging task to Brazilian learners, who are not expected to produce unstressed vowels with as much reduction as English native speakers. However, recent studies have found that the typology of rhythm is best understood as not categorical, but rather gradient, and that Brazilian Portuguese has a mixed classification, with more stress timing than would be expected from a traditional and categorical perspective. We therefore hypothesize that Brazilian learners of English should not have major difficulties reducing unstressed vowels, even when exposed to the second language later in life. To test this hypothesis, we analyze production data of native speakers of English (control group) and of Brazilian advanced learners of English. 

scholarly journals Antecedent Retrieval with Repeated Name Anaphors in Japanese: Topic and Subject

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 663
Author(s):  
Shinichi Shoji
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Native Japanese Speakers ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Reading Experiment

The present study tested whether repeated-name anaphors in Japanese elicit different effects in retrieving antecedents, depending on the anaphors being either a topic anaphor appended with the topic marker wa or a non-topic anaphor with the nominative marker ga. Early studies have shown that pronoun anaphors facilitate faster retrieval of their antecedents relative to repeated name anaphors, when the anaphors are grammatical subjects that refer to salient antecedents. In Japanese, however, grammatical subjects can be further classified into topic-subjects marked by wa and non-topic subjects marked by ga. Therefore, different antecedent-retrieval patterns may be possible between topic-wa and topic-ga even when they both were repeated-name anaphors. In addition, the present study investigated this issue with native English speakers who were learners of Japanese. Because their first language, English, does not overtly mark an entity as topic or non-topic, it was predicted that they might be relatively insensitive to anaphors’ topic-hood and may not show different effects between topic-wa and non-topic-ga. A self-paced reading experiment showed that native Japanese speakers retrieved antecedents faster for repeated-name topic-wa anaphors than for non-topic-ga. On the other hand, native English speakers showed only marginally faster retrieval of antecedents for topic anaphors compared with to non-topic anaphors.

Prosodic Disambiguation in First and Second Language Production: English and Korean

2021 ◽  
pp. 002383092110420
Author(s):  
Hyunah Baek
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Phonetic Cues

This study investigates the use of prosodic cues for syntactic ambiguity resolution by first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers. In a production experiment, sentences with relative clause attachment ambiguity were elicited in three language conditions: native English speakers’ L1 productions as well as Korean-English bilingual speakers’ L1 Korean and L2 English productions. The results show that English uses both boundary marking (pause) and relative word prominence (elevated pitch and intensity) for disambiguation, while Korean mainly relies on boundary marking (pre-boundary lengthening and pause). The bilingual speakers have learned to use the English phonological categories such as pitch accents for disambiguation, but their use of phonetic cues to realize these categories still differed from that of native English speakers. In addition, they did not show a significant use of boundary cues. These results are discussed in relation to the typological differences between the prosody of English and of Korean.

The processing of case in near-native Spanish

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Jegerski
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Differential Object Marking ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Case Marker ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Case Markers ◽  
Ditransitive Constructions

This article reports a study that sought to determine whether non-native sentence comprehension can show sensitivity to two different types of Spanish case marking. Sensitivity to case violations was generally more robust with indirect objects in ditransitive constructions than with differential object marking of animate direct objects, even among native speakers of Spanish, which probably reflects linguistic differences in the two types of case. In addition, the overall outcome of two experiments shows that second language (L2) processing can integrate case information, but that, unlike with native processing, attention to a case marker may depend on the presence of a preverbal clitic as an additional cue to the types of postverbal arguments that might occur in a stimulus. Specifically, L2 readers showed no sensitivity to differential object marking with a in the absence of clitics in the first experiment, with stimuli such as Verónica visita al/el presidente todos los meses ‘Veronica visits the[ACC/NOM]president every month’, but the L2 readers in the second experiment showed native-like sensitivity to the same marker when the object it marked was doubled by the clitic lo, as in Verónica lo visita al/el presidente todos los meses. With indirect objects, on the other hand, sensitivity to case markers was native-like in both experiments, although indirect objects were also always doubled by the preverbal clitic le. The apparent first language / second language contrast suggests differences in processing strategy, whereby non-native processing of morphosyntax may rely more on the predictability of forms than does native processing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document