scholarly journals Comparing heritage speakers and late L2-learners of European Portuguese

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Lúcia Santos ◽  
Cristina Flores
Keyword(s):  
Redundancy Resolution ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Property ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Adverb Placement

Abstract This study compares the performance of Portuguese-German heritage children and adult L2 speakers of European Portuguese whose L1 is German with respect to two aspects of grammar, adverb placement and VP-ellipsis, which depend on a core syntactic property of the language, verb movement. The results show that both groups have acquired V-to-I and adverb placement, showing no influence of a V2 grammar. Performance in the VP-ellipsis task is more complex: heritage children produce VP-ellipsis at the level of controls, as opposed to L2 speakers; however, both L2 and heritage speakers show that cross-linguistic influence may produce a preference for pronoun substitution over VP-ellipsis in a task asking for redundancy resolution. Nevertheless, given that overall results show that heritage children perform at the level of L1 children, we take our results to support approaches to heritage bilingualism which suggest the development of an intact grammar in childhood.

scholarly journals Comparing the Outcomes of Early and Late Acquisition of European Portuguese: An Analysis of Morpho-syntactic and Phonetic Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Flores ◽  
Esther Rinke ◽  
Anabela Rato
Keyword(s):  
Minority Language ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
L2 Learners

The present paper compares the linguistic competence of German-Portuguese bilinguals with upper-intermediate German L2 learners (L2ers) of EP (European Portuguese) and with monolingual Portuguese speakers. The bilingual speakers are heritage speakers (HSs), who were raised bilingually with EP as the minority language and German as the majority language. The aim of our comparison is to verify in which way different input sources and maturational effects shape the speakers’ linguistic knowledge. The findings of two studies, one focused on the morpho-syntactic knowledge of clitics and the other on global accent, corroborate the assumption that L2ers and HSs behave differently, despite superficial similarities observed in the morpho-syntactic study. In contrast to that of the L2ers’, the accent of the HSs is perceived as being native-like, whereas their morpho-syntactic competence is mainly shaped by their dominant exposure to colloquial Portuguese and reduced contact with formal registers.

scholarly journals Auditory Processing of Gender Agreement across Relative Clauses by Spanish Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Daniel Vergara ◽  
Gilda Socarrás
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Processing research on Spanish gender agreement has focused on L2 learners’ and—to a lesser extent—heritage speakers’ sensitivity to gender agreement violations. This research has been mostly carried out in the written modality, which places heritage speakers at a disadvantage as they are more frequently exposed to Spanish auditorily. This study contributes to the understanding of the differences between heritage and L2 grammars by examining the processing of gender agreement in the auditory modality and its impact on comprehension. Twenty Spanish heritage speakers and 20 intermediate L2 learners listened to stimuli containing two nouns with gender mismatches in the main clause, and an adjective in the relative clause that only agreed in gender with one of the nouns. We measured noun-adjective agreement accuracy through participants’ responses to an auditory task. Our results show that heritage speakers are more accurate than L2 learners in the auditory processing of gender agreement information for comprehension. Additionally, heritage speakers’ accuracy is modulated by their Spanish language proficiency and age of onset. Participants also exhibit higher accuracies in cases in which the adjective agrees with the first noun. We argue that this is an ambiguity resolution strategy influenced by the experimental task.

Interpretation of reflexive anaphora in second language VP-ellipsis: Relevance Theory and paradigms of explanation

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xosé Rosales Sequeiros
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Comprehension Strategies ◽  
Processing Cost ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Processing Effort ◽  
Maximal Relevance ◽  
The Impact

This article explores second language (L2) learners’ interpretation of reflexive anaphora in VP-Ellipsis by critiquing the work of Ying (2003), who applies Relevance Theory to explain elliptical anaphora. It argues against four claims made in his analysis: that L2 learners apply maximal relevance in anaphoric interpretation; that a procedural account of the impact of referential sentences on VP-ellipsis disambiguation is appropriate; that an account of anaphoric interpretation preferences should be based on processing cost; and that differences in experimental results between intermediate and advanced L2 learners are due to the use of different comprehension strategies (see Sperber, 1994). Instead, it argues: that it is not maximal but rather optimal relevance that is at work; that the key in disambiguating anaphora in VP-elliptical sentences is the achievement of an optimally relevant interpretation; that the role of contextual assumptions in anaphora resolution is to enable L2 learners to derive enough contextual effects to make it worth their effort and, in doing so, identifying (as a side effect) what they take to have been the intended referent; and that what is crucial in the use of comprehension strategies is not processing effort, but rather consistency with the second principle of relevance. Overall, all these factors provide the basis for an alternative and more comprehensive explanation of the experimental results discussed by Ying.

Assessing Differences and Similarities between Instructed Heritage Language Learners and L2 Learners in Their Knowledge of Spanish Tense-Aspect and Mood (TAM) Morphology

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Silvia Perpiñán
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Classic Problem ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 Acquisition

The acquisition of the aspectual difference between the preterit and imperfect in the past tense and the acquisition of the contrast between subjunctive and indicative mood are classic problem areas in second language (L2) acquisition of Spanish by English-speaking learners (Collentine, 1995, 1998, 2003; Salaberry, 1999; Slabakova & Montrul, 2002; Terrell, Baycroft & Perrone, 1987). Similarly, Spanish heritage speakers in the U.S exhibit simplification of the preterit/imperfect contrast and incomplete acquisition/attrition of subjunctive morphology (Merino, 1983; Montrul, 2002, 2007; Potowski, Jegerski & Morgan-Short, 2009; Silva-Corvalán, 1994). This raises the question of whether the linguistic knowledge of a developing L2 learner is similar to incomplete L1 acquisition in heritage language (HL) learners. Because heritage speakers are exposed to the heritage language from infancy whereas L2 learners begin exposure much later, Au et al. (2002, 2008) have claimed that heritage speakers are linguistically superior to L2 learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. The present study reexamines this claim by focusing on the interpretation of tense, aspect and mood (TAM) morphology in 60 instructed HL learners and 60 L2 learners ranging from low to advanced proficiency in Spanish. Results of four written tasks showed differences between the groups both in tense and aspect and in mood morphology, depending on proficiency levels. Implications of these findings for heritage language instruction are discussed.

Who did what to whom, and what did we already know?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Ionin ◽  
Maria Goldshtein ◽  
Tatiana Luchkina ◽  
Sofya Styrina
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
Narrow Focus ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Prior Literature

Abstract This paper reports on an experimental investigation of what second language (L2) learners and heritage speakers of Russian know about the relationship between word order and information structure in Russian. The participants completed a bimodal acceptability judgment task, rating the acceptability of SVO and OVS word orders in narrow-focus contexts, under neutral prosody. Heritage speakers behaved like the control group of baseline speakers, preferring SVO order in answer to object questions, and OVS order in answer to subject questions. In contrast, L2 learners preferred SVO order regardless of the context. While the heritage speaker group was more proficient than the L2 group, proficiency alone cannot account for differences in performance: specifically, with regard to acceptance of OVS order for subject narrow focus, heritage speakers improved with proficiency, but L2 learners did not. It is proposed that heritage speakers have an advantage in this domain due to early age of acquisition (cf. Montrul, 2008). This finding is consistent with prior literature on narrow focus with heritage speakers of other languages, and suggests that this phenomenon is not particularly vulnerable in heritage languages.

scholarly journals Eye-movement benchmarks in Heritage Language reading

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Olga Parshina ◽  
Anna K. Laurinavichyute ◽  
Irina A. Sekerina
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Reading Patterns ◽  
Eye Movements During Reading

AbstractThis eye-tracking study establishes basic benchmarks of eye movements during reading in heritage language (HL) by Russian-speaking adults and adolescents of high (n = 21) and low proficiency (n = 27). Heritage speakers (HSs) read sentences in Cyrillic, and their eye movements were compared to those of Russian monolingual skilled adult readers, 8-year-old children and L2 learners. Reading patterns of HSs revealed longer mean fixation durations, lower skipping probabilities, and higher regressive saccade rates than in monolingual adults. High-proficient HSs were more similar to monolingual children, while low-proficient HSs performed on par with L2 learners. Low-proficient HSs differed from high-proficient HSs in exhibiting lower skipping probabilities, higher fixation counts, and larger frequency effects. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the weaker links account of bilingual language processing as well as the divergent attainment theory of HL.

scholarly journals Comparing anaphora resolution in early and late Brazilian Portuguese-European Portuguese bidialectal bilinguals

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-461
Author(s):  
Tammer Castro ◽  
Jason Rothman ◽  
Marit Westergaard
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Anaphora Resolution ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
High Degree

The present study examines anaphora resolution in two groups of speakers exposed to Brazilian and European Portuguese (BP and EP, respectively), considering the different null subject distribution in these languages. Our research question is whether late BP-EP bilinguals (age of EP onset: 29.1) and heritage BP speakers raised in Portugal (age of EP onset 5.6), tested in both dialects, will pattern like the native controls or display some effects of EP in their native BP or vice-versa. This is an interesting question in light of the Interface Hypothesis, which claims that external interfaces should be subject to general bilingualism effects irrespective of language pairing and age (Sorace, 2011). The results show that age has an effect, as the heritage speakers do not perform like the late learners, and that the high degree of typological proximity between the two languages could hinder bidialectal acquisition.

Verb movement in the L2 acquisition of English by adult native speakers of French

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 35-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Ayoun
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
School Students ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
Adverb Placement ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This study investigates the acquisition of English verb movement phenomena by two groups of adult French native speakers: a group of secondary school students and a group of university students. A group of English native speakers served as controls. Participants were administered a written questionnaire composed of a controlled production task, a grammaticality judgment task, and a preference/grammaticality judgment task, to test acquisition of the syntactic properties associated with the verb movement parameter (Pollock 1989, 1997). Instead of substantiating the anecdotal evidence that suggests that adverb placement errors persist into very advanced stages of English L2 acquisition, the present data support the successful acquisition of English adverb placement by French native speakers. It is argued that the advanced group has acquired the appropriate L2 parametric value as measured by the controlled production task; while results on the other two tasks are explained by performance effects.

scholarly journals Morphosyntactic knowledge of clitics by Portuguese heritage bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
ESTHER RINKE ◽  
CRISTINA FLORES
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Almost All

This paper focuses on the linguistic competence of adult Portuguese–German bilinguals in their heritage language, European Portuguese (EP), which they acquired at home in early childhood in the context of German as the majority language. Based on a grammaticality judgment test, we investigate their morphosyntactic knowledge of clitics. The central questions are whether possible deviations from native monolinguals may be traced back to a) lack of contact with the formal register; b) reduced input after preschool age; and c) cross-linguistic influence. The results reveal qualitative differences between the heritage speakers and a group of monolingual controls in almost all test conditions. We conclude that although the linguistic knowledge of the heritage bilinguals investigated in this study differs from that of monolinguals, it is not “deficient” but “different” and “innovative”, because it is primarily based on the spoken variety of the language and because it promotes linguistic changes which are inherent in the speech of native monolinguals.

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