Re-examining the role of mood selection type in Spanish heritage speakers’ subjunctive production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Perez-Cortes
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Abstract Verbal morphology is a particularly vulnerable domain in the grammars of Spanish heritage speakers (HSs). Among the most frequently studied phenomena is mood selection, identified as a pervasive locus of variability that affects the production of subjunctive more prominently. The present article explores this area of research by examining the effects of mood selection type on HSs’ subjunctive use. In contrast with previous studies, this investigation controls for propositional modality, focusing its analyses on instances of obligatory and variable subjunctive selection within deontic predicates. Results from a production task revealed that, despite the presence of between-group differences driven by participants’ levels of proficiency, type of selection did not significantly modulate their rates of subjunctive use. These findings challenge previous claims about the extent to which this factor affects Spanish HSs’ performance, and highlight the importance of considering propositional modality when examining the acquisition of mood.

scholarly journals What Can L2ers Tell Us about Codeswitching? Mood Selection in Spanish

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
Nick Feroce ◽  
Ana de Prada Pérez ◽  
Lillian Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Community Norms ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Structures ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

An increasing amount of research shows that bilinguals that engage in codeswitching (CS) may show different patterns of usage and sensitivity to particular linguistic structures depending on community norms. Additionally, proficiency may play a different role in sensitivity to code-switched utterances depending on speaker background, as well as the structure investigated. In this study, we aim to examine how bilinguals not exposed to CS in the community rate CS vs. unilingual sentences involving mood selection in Spanish. In an online acceptability judgment task (AJT), 20 Spanish L2ers rated sentences containing verbs in the indicative and subjunctive mood in restrictive relative clauses manipulated for the specificity of the antecedent in two separate sessions: a Spanish monolingual mode and a CS session. The L2ers did not show evidence of a CS effect and maintained a mood distinction according to the specificity of the antecedent both in unilingual and codeswitched sentences. These results are in contrast with the results previously reported for Spanish heritage speakers (HSs), where a CS effect is attested in the loss of preference for the subjunctive in nonspecific relative clauses in the CS vs. the monolingual Spanish condition. Additionally, this distinction is found at both lower and higher proficiency levels. The differences between these speakers and HSs are consistent with data from previous research on CS effects on phonology and Det–N switches. We argue that exposure to community norms is necessary for the acquisition of patterns not related exclusively to the grammaticality of switch junctures (I-language).

Grammatical gender in Spanish child heritage speakers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes Martinez-Nieto ◽  
Maria Adelaida Restrepo
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Grammatical Structures

Abstract This study examines grammatical gender (GG) production in young Spanish heritage-speakers (HSs) and the potential effect of the children’s language use and their parents’ input. We compared four and eight-year-old HSs to same-age monolingual children on their gender production. We measured GG production in determiners and adjectives via an elicited production task. HSs’ parents reported children’s time in each language and also completed the elicitation task. Results show that HSs’ scored significantly lower than monolinguals in both grammatical structures in which the unmarked masculine default predominates. However, older HSs had higher accuracy than younger HSs. Input from parents is not correlated with HSs’ performance and neither Spanish use nor language proficiency predicts GG performance on HSs. For theories of language acquisition, it is important to consider that although the linguistic knowledge of the HSs may differ from that of monolinguals, their grammar is protracted rather than incomplete.

Over, Under and Around: Spanish Heritage Speakers’ Production (and Avoidance) of Subjunctive Mood

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Giancaspro
Keyword(s):  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study explores the subjunctive mood production of 29 heritage speakers (HSs) of Spanish (17 advanced proficiency and 12 intermediate proficiency) and 14 Spanish-dominant controls (SDCs). All participants completed a Contextualized Elicited Production Task (CEPT), which tested their oral production of both lexically-selected (intensional) and contextually-selected (polarity) mood morphology in Spanish. Between-group analyses of the CEPT reveal that the HSs diverge significantly from the SDCs in subjunctive production, specifically by underproducing, overproducing, and avoiding subjunctive mood morphology. Despite these differences, however, the HSs still exhibited sensitivity to mood, producing significantly more subjunctive mood in expected subjunctive contexts than in expected indicative contexts. Based on HSs’ knowledge of the subjunctive, which both resembles and also diverges from that of the SDCs, it is argued that categorizing HSs as having either acquired or not acquired mood in Spanish is descriptively and conceptually problematic.

On the role of experience and age-related effects: Evidence from the Spanish CP

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study examines and compares the extent to which advanced L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers acquire the syntactic and semantic properties that regulate the grammatical representation of double complementizer questions in Spanish, a CP-related structure not present in English. Results from an aural sentence completion task, an acceptability judgment task, and a preference task indicate significant differences between the two experimental groups and the monolingual controls. However, the heritage speakers outperformed the L2 learners in their target use and interpretation, which suggests a linguistic benefit for earlier exposure and use of Spanish during childhood. We propose that the differences observed among the L2 learners and the heritage speakers can be accounted for in terms of cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language as well as language experience and age of onset of bilingualism as an interrelated dimension in L2 and heritage language development.

How do Spanish heritage speakers in the US assign gender to English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Nofiya Denbaum ◽  
Ana de Prada Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mode Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Abstract Previous studies have observed different gender assignment strategies for English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching (CS). However, these studies have not investigated the role of noun gender canonicity of the Spanish equivalent, they have only examined participants in bilingual speaker mode, and most studies have not explored the role of bilingual language experience. The current study compares gender assignment by heritage speakers of Spanish in a monolingual speaker mode and a bilingual speaker mode, considering the role of noun gender canonicity and CS experience. Results revealed a language mode effect, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with the same feminine nouns in the CS session than those in the Spanish monolingual session where they used a feminine determiner. Further evidence of a language mode effect was found in the effect of noun canonicity and bilingual language experience. Noun canonicity was only significant in the Spanish monolingual session, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with non-canonical nouns. Bilingual language experience was only significant in the CS session, where regular codeswitchers used more masculine default determiners than infrequent codeswitchers and non-codeswitchers, while in Spanish-only, all these groups behaved similarly.

scholarly journals Transfer Effects at the Syntax-Semantics Interface: The Case of Double-que Questions in Heritage Spanish

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-89
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

This study examines the role of transfer from English in the acquisition of double-que questions in Spanish among 17 heritage speakers in the US. Results from an elicited production task, an acceptability judgment task and a preference task revealed significant difficulties in the production and acceptability of double-que questions. In contrast with interface vulnerability approaches suggesting no difficulties at the syntax-semantics interface, the participants showed a decreased level of use of double-que structures and no distinction in their acceptability of statements versus questions. However, results from the preference task showed sensitivity to double-que questions among 10 of 17 heritage speakers. It appears that only when the two structures are presented together were the heritage speakers able to perceive the semantic shift introduced by the double-que. The results suggest that transfer from the other language prevents the complete acquisition of these properties even at high levels of bilingual proficiency.

Examining the Role of Language in Play Among Children With and Without Developmental Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Short ◽  
Rachael Cooper Schindler ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
Maia M. Noeder ◽  
Laura E. Hlavaty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Play Skills ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Better Than

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.

An approach to the clinical manifestation of Rupavriddhi Rupahani Rupantara in Avarana

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Sharanamma . ◽  
Dr. A. S. Prashanth ◽  
Dr. S. G. Chavan
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Clinical Study ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Clinical Manifestation ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Favorable Condition ◽  
Wrong Diagnosis

Ayurveda believes in different pathology which sets in different Srotas to produce different diseases. Whenever a favorable condition and situation arise, diseases will manifest. Nanatmaja Vikara, Anubandha, Gatavata and Avarana are different pathologies explained in Ayurveda. Avarana is one of the most difficult concept to understand teach and incorporate in clinical practice. It is either least observed, diagnosed or goes unidentified due to lack of skill. To understand and analyze the Avarana, Meticulous knowledge of basic concept of Ayurveda is essential. It is assumed that symptoms complex in Avarana leads to misunderstanding, wrong diagnosis and sometimes end with complications. The symptoms produced in Avarana are based on the principles of Rupahani (Karmakshaya), Rupavriddi (Karmavriddhi) and Rupantara (Anya Karma). The present article is an attempt made to have a critical clinical study of role of Avarana in the manifestation of Rupavriddhi, Rupahani, Rupantara.

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