scholarly journals Early child second language acquisition: French gender in German children

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 656-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
JÜRGEN M. MEISEL
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Assignment Test ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
German Children ◽  
French Gender

This study investigates the acquisition of grammatical gender in French by German L1 children (age of onset of acquisition (AO) 2;8-4,0). The analysis of spontaneous production data of 24 children gathered longitudinally and a gender assignment test administered to 8 of these children at ages 6;7-8;3 and to 9 children (AO 2,11-3;8) at ages 3;2-5;1 revealed that some of them resembled L1 learners whereas others behaved like adult L2 learners. The turning point is at around AO 3;6. AO is thus a crucial factor determining successive language acquisition.

scholarly journals Age and Second Language Acquisition in Adulthood: The Learning Experiences and Perceptions of Women Immigrants

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
The Social

Although considerable evidence indicates that age of onset for second language acquisition is related to second-language proficiency outcomes among adult learners Jew studies have actually looked at how adult learners of different ages experience and perceive second language acquisition. This study presents 30 women immigrant learners' accounts of their experiences and perceptions of learning English as a second language in the Canadian context. Findings from this study reveal the complexity of adult L2 acquisition, which involves factors pertaining not only to the learners themselves, but also to the social context in which the second language is learned. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the second language curriculum development and classroom practice.

Complexity in Instructed Heritage Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Julio Torres
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Language Studies

Abstract In this article, I reflect on the role of linguistic complexity in instructed heritage language (HL) acquisition by specifically examining morphosyntactic linguistic complexity as it relates to factors such as transparency, saliency, and communicative value. First, I critically evaluate previous proposals on linking formal HL studies to pedagogy by arguing that learning in instructed contexts is a complex task that requires research on a number of variables including linguistic complexity. Second, I summarize the lessons learned in the field of instructed second language acquisition with regard to complexity in additional language learning. Third, by reviewing an empirical study on the development of Spanish gender assignment and agreement in writing, I provide a few arguments for investigating the interplay between linguistic complexity and the prior language experience that HL learners bring into the learning environment. Informed by findings from instructed second language studies, I propose that instructed HL studies also examine how linguistic complexity is potentially interwoven with type of instruction and individual differences.

The development of gender in simultaneous and successive bilingual acquisition of French – Evidence for AOA and input effects

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 674-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONAS GRANFELDT
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Longitudinal Development ◽  
Rate Of Development ◽  
Error Patterns ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Gender ◽  
French Gender

This study investigates the effects of Age of Onset of Acquisition (AOA) and the quality and quantity of input on the longitudinal development of gender in the acquisition of French by simultaneous (2L1) and successive bilinguals (cL2). Three aspects of French gender are studied: the abstract GENDER feature, gender assignment and gender concord. The findings show that amount and quality of input correlate significantly with the rate of development of gender assignment. Group-level analyses on gender concord show that there is no significant difference between the L1 and the 2L1 groups and that error patterns are different in the 2L1 and cL2 groups. We conclude that while it is clear from the data that the development of gender assignment is primarily dependent on input conditions the question is more open with respect to gender concord. For concord a combination of AOA, the L1 acquisitional timetable, and input are important factors.

Missing Surface Inflection or Impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Prévost ◽  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Surface Morphology ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Abstract Level

In this article, two accounts of the variable use of inflection in adult second language (L2) acquisition are examined. The Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (MSIH) proposes that L2 learners have unconscious knowledge of the functional projections and features underlying tense and agreement. However, learners sometimes have a problem with realization of surface morphology, such that they resort to non-finite forms (e.g. Haznedar and Schwartz, 1997; Prévost and White, 1999). The Impaired Representation Hypothesis (IRH) claims that L2 inflection is essentially impaired, due to lack of functional categories, features or feature strength (e.g. Eubank, 1993/94; Meisel, 1997). These views make different predictions for adult L2 acquisition. Spontaneous production data from two adult learners of French and two adult learners of German are examined. The data show that finite forms do not occur in non-finite contexts, that learners exhibit syntactic reflexes of finiteness and that inflected forms largely show accurate agreement. These results suggest that adult L2 learners represent finiteness and agreement at an abstract level, rather than being impaired in this domain, supporting the MSIH.

The development of aspectual marking in Cantonese-English bilingual children

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-179
Author(s):  
Zoe Pei‐sui Luk ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Language And Cognition ◽  
Development Analysis

AbstractThe present study investigates whether the tense-aspect development of Cantonese-English bilingual children conforms to the Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen and Shirai 1994. Discourse motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles.Studies in Second Language Acquisition16(2). 133–156.), which has been shown to predict the development of monolingual children of many different languages well, and whether the two languages influence each other during development. Analysis of longitudinal production data from three Cantonese-English bilinguals (Yip and Matthews 2000. Syntactic transfer in a Cantonese-English bilingual child.Bilingualism: Language and Cognition3(3). 193–208.) shows that the development of bilingual children resemble that of monolingual children and generally follow the Aspect Hypothesis, but to a lesser degree. Interactions were also observed in that the acquisition of the Cantonese progressive markerganwas accelerated by the-ingin the bilingual children, and transfer from Cantonese to English allowed them to use the English past tense marking with verbs of different lexical aspect early in their development, deviating from the prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis.

The acquisition of determiners in child L2 German

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Schönenberger
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Sensitive Phase ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
German Children ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Abstract The object of this study is to test Meisel’s (2009) hypothesis that there is a sensitive phase in language acquisition that ends around age 4. Early L2 acquisition may therefore already show differences from L1 acquisition. To test this hypothesis, determiner production in the naturalistic speech of four successive bilingual Turkish-German children recorded during free-play situations was compared to that of monolingual German children discussed in the literature. The successive bilinguals had an age of onset of German between 3 and 4 years and were studied over a period of 20 months. Determiner production was examined because Turkish, as opposed to German, does not have an article system. Determiner omission and incorrect article use were considered. A clear difference emerged in determiner omission, but not in article misuse. After some initial variability in determiner production, determiner omission by the monolingual children was found to gradually fall below 10 per cent, while a plateau effect could be observed in the bilingual children. There was no clear evidence for article misuse in either the L1 or the child L2 data. Our findings about determiner omission suggest that early L2 acquisition differs from L1 acquisition. It is unclear, however, whether the child L2 learners will persist in omitting determiners from obligatory contexts, since data collection was ended while the children were still in the process of acquiring German

The second language acquisition of number and gender in Swahili: A Feature Reassembly approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti Spinner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Feature Reassembly ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Formal Features

Much of the recent discussion surrounding the second language acquisition of morphology has centered on the question of whether learners can acquire new formal features. Lardiere’s (2008, 2009) Feature Reassembly approach offers a new direction for research in this area by emphasizing the challenges presented by crosslinguistic differences in the overt expression of formal features. In this study, I examine the acquisition of number and gender in Swahili by speakers of English and explore how the data can be described by a number of current approaches, including the Full Transfer Full Access Hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1996), the Representational Deficit Hypothesis (e.g. Hawkins and Chan, 1997), and the Feature Reassembly approach. The results of an elicited production task and a written gender-assignment task indicate that learners have difficulty detecting the number feature on Swahili noun prefixes, and because of this they are initially unsuccessful at marking plurals. The findings are best described under a Feature Reassembly approach. I suggest some directions for expanding the Feature Reassembly approach in future research.

scholarly journals Verb placement in second language acquisition: Experimental evidence for the different behavior of auxiliary and lexical verbs

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSJE VERHAGEN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Production Data ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Verb Placement ◽  
Sentence Matching

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the acquisition of verb placement by Moroccan and Turkish second language (L2) learners of Dutch. Elicited production data corroborate earlier findings from L2 German that learners who do not produce auxiliaries do not raise lexical verbs over negation, whereas learners who produce auxiliaries do. Data from elicited imitation and sentence matching support this pattern and show that learners can have grammatical knowledge of auxiliary placement before they can produce auxiliaries. With lexical verbs, they do not show such knowledge. These results present further evidence for the different behavior of auxiliary and lexical verbs in early stages of L2 acquisition.

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