Effects of Spanish pragmatic and lexical constraints in the interpretation of L2 English anaphora

This study examined the interpretation of English anaphora by native Spanish speakers and potential transfer of Spanish pragmatic and lexical requirements into English. It further evaluated whether appropriate contextual information might prime the preferred English interpretation of such constructions. Pragmatic and lexical rules governing co-indexation in Spanish and English anaphora constructions differ substantially and operate quite differently in the two languages. Spanish pragmatic rules require obligatory disjoint reference for subject pronominals in finite complement subjunctive clauses and pre-posed adjunct clauses. The lexical properties of verbs and anaphora in reflexive, reciprocal, and intransitive constructions in Spanish require obligatory retention of the anaphora element. English has no such pragmatic or lexical requirements. The study appraised the effects of the different pragmatic co-indexation requirements and different lexical requirements on the interpretation of English anaphora by native Spanish speakers. An act-out task, a corresponding written task, and a grammaticality judgement task in English were administered to adult native English speakers and adult native Spanish speakers categorized as intermediate and advanced learners of English. Subjects were instructed to match pronominals with appropriate referents in English subjunctives and pre-posed adjuncts. They were further required to judge the acceptability of sentences containing anaphora elements in English reflexives, reciprocals, and intransitives. Results indicated that subjects in general ignored pragmatic and lexical requirements of the first language in favour of the second language requirements governing anaphora. Less proficient subjects apparently encountered some processing difficulty when interpretation of sentences with anaphora was required within limited time constraints. The use of contextual information was also evident in the interpretation of some constructions.

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DO LEARNERS LIGHTEN UP?

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263116000279 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 801-832 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Megan Solon

Keyword(s):

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Learning Situation ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Speech Learning ◽

Phonetic Realization ◽

L1 English

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners’ first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish of 85 native English speakers from various levels of study and compares L2 productions to those of native Spanish speakers as well as to learners’ L1 English. Additionally, laterals produced in specific contexts are compared to examine learners’ acquisition of L2 allophonic patterning, as Spanish contains a subset of the lateral allophones that exist in English. Results suggest development toward nativelike norms in the phonetic details of Spanish /l/ and in allophonic patterning. These findings have implications for existing theoretical accounts of L2 speech learning, which cannot adequately account for the learning situation examined.

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The effects of script on visual search

Interlanguage studies bulletin (Utrecht) ◽

10.1177/026765838700300202 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 102-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

David Green ◽

Paul Meara

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Search Strategy ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Chinese Speakers ◽

English Orthography ◽

Letter Search ◽

The Way

Native English speakers search short strings of letters differently from the way they search strings of nonalphanumeric symbols. Experiment 1 demonstrates the same contrast for native Spanish speakers. Letter search, therefore, is not a result of the peculiarities of English orthography. Since visual search is sensitive to the nature of the symbols being processed, different scripts should produce different effects. Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed such differences for Arabic and Chinese scripts. Furthermore, these experiments showed no evidence that native Arabic and native Chinese speakers adapt their search strategy when dealing with letters. Implications of these findings are considered.

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DISCOVERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTEXT AND ALLOPHONES IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263110000276 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 581-606 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Christine E. Shea ◽

Suzanne Curtin

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

English Learners ◽

First Language ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Conditioning Factors ◽

Word Position ◽

Distributional Information ◽

Word Onset

The identification of stressed syllables by adult second-language (L2) Spanish learners was examined for evidence of influence of an allophonic alternation driven by word position and stress. The Spanish voiced stop-approximant alternation, whereby stops occur in stressed-syllable and word onsets, was utilized. If L2 learners track the distribution of this alternation, they should tend to link stops to stressed syllables in word-onset position and approximants to unstressed, word-medial position. Low- and high-intermediate-level first-language English learners of Spanish as well as native Spanish and monolingual English speakers listened to a series of nonce words and determined which of the two consonant-vowel (CV) syllables they perceived as stressed. In Experiment 1, onset allophone and vowel stress were crossed. In Experiment 2, the onset allophone alternated and a vowel unmarked for prominence was used. The results show that the monolingual English and low-intermediate groups were more likely to perceive syllables with stressed vowels as stressed, regardless of the allophone onset. In contrast, listeners with greater Spanish proficiency performed similarly to native Spanish speakers and were more likely to perceive stress on syllables with stop onsets, a pattern that follows the distributional information of Spanish. This finding suggests that learning the interplay between allophonic distributions and their conditioning factors is possible with experience and that knowledge of this relationship plays a role in the acquisition of L2 allophones.

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Thinking in a Foreign language reduces the causality bias

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021818755326 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 72 (1) ◽

pp. 41-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marcos Díaz-Lago ◽

Helena Matute

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Learning Task ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Contingency Learning ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Associative Processes ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

The Impact

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of a foreign language on the causality bias (i.e., the illusion that two events are causally related when they are not). We predict that using a foreign language could reduce the illusions of causality. A total of 36 native English speakers participated in Experiment 1, 80 native Spanish speakers in Experiment 2. They performed a standard contingency learning task, which can be used to detect causal illusions. Participants who performed the task in their native tongue replicated the illusion of causality effect, whereas those performing the task in their foreign language were more accurate in detecting that the two events were causally unrelated. Our results suggest that presenting the information in a foreign language could be used as a strategy to debias individuals against causal illusions, thereby facilitating more accurate judgements and decisions in non-contingent situations. They also contribute to the debate on the nature and underlying mechanisms of the foreign language effect, given that the illusion of causality is rooted in basic associative processes.

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PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING OF STRESS BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS LEARNING SPANISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263121000309 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

Ramsés Ortín ◽

Miquel Simonet

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Phonological Processing ◽

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Recall Task ◽

English Speakers ◽

Auditory Stimuli ◽

L2 Learners ◽

L1 English ◽

Processing Stress

Abstract One feature of Spanish that presents some difficulties to second language (L2) learners whose first language (L1) is English concerns lexical stress. This study explores one aspect of the obstacle these learners face, weak phonological processing routines concerning stress inherited from their native language. Participants were L1 English L2 learners of Spanish. The experiment was a sequence-recall task with auditory stimuli minimally contrasting in stress (target) or segmental composition (baseline). The results suggest that learners are more likely to accurately recall sequences with stimuli contrasting in segmental composition than stress, suggesting reduced phonological processing of stress relative to a processing baseline. Furthermore, an increase in proficiency—assessed by means of grammatical and lexical tests—was found to be modestly associated with an increase in the accuracy of processing stress. We conclude that the processing routines of native English speakers lead to an acquisitional obstacle when learning Spanish as a L2.

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English and Japanese interlanguage comprehension strategies: An analysis based on the competition model

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716400009371 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 47-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Yoshinori Sasaki

Keyword(s):

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

English Word ◽

Competition Model ◽

Comprehension Strategies ◽

English Speakers ◽

Response Patterns ◽

Native Japanese Speakers ◽

Japanese Speakers ◽

Japanese Word

ABSTRACTIn an experiment based on the competition model, 12 native Japanese speakers (J1 group) and 12 native English speakers studying Japanese (JFL group) were requested to report sentence subjects after listening to Japanese word strings which consisted of one verb and two nouns each. Similarly, 12 native English speakers (E1 group) and 12 native Japanese speakers studying English (EFL group) reported the sentence subjects of English word strings. In each word string, syntactic (word order) cues and lexical-semantic (animacy/inanimacy) cues converged or diverged as to the assignment of the sentence subjects. The results show that JFL-Ss (experimental subjects) closely approximated the response patterns of J1-Ss, while EFL-Ss showed evidence of transfer from their first language, Japanese. The results are consistent with the developmental precedence of a meaning-based comprehension strategy over a grammar-based one.

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Shrinking Your Deictic System: How Far Can You Go?

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575497 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Mila Vulchanova ◽

Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes ◽

Jacqueline Collier ◽

Valentin Vulchanov

Keyword(s):

First Language ◽

Group Living ◽

Spanish Speakers ◽

Control Group ◽

Language Attrition ◽

Native Spanish Speakers ◽

Language Competence ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Language Exposure ◽

Open Question

Languages around the world differ in terms of the number of adnominal and pronominal demonstratives they require, as well as the factors that impact on their felicitous use. Given this cross-linguistic variation in deictic demonstrative terms, and the features that determine their felicitous use, an open question is how this is accommodated within bilingual cognition and language. In particular, we were interested in the extent to which bilingual language exposure and practice might alter the way in which a bilingual is using deictic demonstratives in their first language. Recent research on language attrition suggests that L2 learning selectively affects aspects of the native language, with some domains of language competence being more vulnerable than others. If demonstratives are basic, and acquired relatively early, they should be less susceptible to change and attrition. This was the hypothesis we went on to test in the current study. We tested two groups of native Spanish speakers, a control group living in Spain and an experimental group living in Norway using the (Spatial) Memory game paradigm. Contra to our expectations, the results indicate a significant difference between the two groups in use of deictic terms, indicative of a change in the preferred number of terms used. This suggests that deictic referential systems may change over time under pressure from bilingual language exposure.

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Educational failure or success

Australian Review of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1075/aral.36.3.05dix ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 302-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Sally Dixon

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

First Language ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

English Speakers ◽

Standard English ◽

Students First ◽

Use Of Assessment

Within the Australian education system, Aboriginal students’ use of non-standard English features is often viewed simplistically as evidence of non-attainment of literacy and oral-English milestones. One reason for this is the widespread use of assessment tools which fail to differentiate between native- English speakers and students who are learning English as a second language. In these assessments, non-standard English features are framed as ‘mistakes’ and low scores taken as evidence of ‘poor’ performance. This paper will contrast a mistake-oriented analysis with one that incorporates knowledge of the students’ first language. It will clearly show that when consideration is given to the first language, a more nuanced picture of English proficiency emerges: one that is attuned to the specific second language learning pathway and thus far better placed to inform both assessment and classroom instruction.i

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English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English

Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica ◽

10.1159/000510940 ◽

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

Introduction: 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. Objective: 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. Methods: 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. Results and Conclusions: 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.

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The Production of New and Similar Vowels by Adult German Learners of English

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263100010792 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 131-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 123

Author(s):

Ocke-Schwen Bohn ◽

James Emil Flege

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

English Language ◽

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Control Group ◽

Language Experience ◽

English Vowels ◽

L1 English ◽

Positive Effect

The study reported in this paper examined the effect of second language (L2) experience on the production of L2 vowels for which acoustic counterparts are either present or absent in the first language (L1). The hypothesis being tested was that amount of L2 experience would not affect L1 German speakers' production of the “similar” English vowels /i, l, ∈/, whereas English language experience would enable L1 Germans to produce an English-like /æ/, which has no counterpart in German. The predictions were tested in two experiments that compared the production of English /i, l, ∈, æ/ by two groups of L1 German speakers differing in English language experience and an L1 English control group. An acoustic experiment compared the three groups for spectral and temporal characteristics of the English vowels produced in /bVt/ words. The same tokens were assessed for intelligibility in a labeling experiment. The results of both experiments were largely consistent with the hypothesis. The experienced L2 speakers did not produce the similar English vowels /i, l, ∈/ more intelligibly than the inexperienced L2 speakers, not did experience have a positive effect on approximating the English acoustic norms for these similar vowels. The intelligibility results for the new vowel /æ/ did not clearly support the model. However, the acoustic comparisons showed that the experienced but not the inexperienced L2 speakers produced the new vowel /æ/ in much the same way as the native English speakers.

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