Clitics and object expression in the L3 acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese: Structural similarity matters for transfer

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Rejanes Dias ◽  
Hélade Santos
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Null Objects ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
L1 And L2

This article addresses the role of previously acquired languages in the acquisition of a third language (L3) in two experimental studies on object expression in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Participants were English-speaking learners of BP as L3 with knowledge of Spanish as a second language (L2) and Spanish-speaking learners of BP with knowledge of English as L2. Like Spanish, BP has object clitic pronouns, but there are important differences between the two languages with respect to the rates of clitics used in spoken and written registers, null objects and the position of clitics with respect to the verb. English, by contrast, lacks object clitics. Study 1 tested use of clitics and other objects in an oral production task. Study 2 tested knowledge of clitic placement in a written acceptability judgment task. The general results of the two studies show that acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese object expression is not very problematic but there are transfer effects from Spanish (as L1 and L2) in the two experimental groups. This result suggests that structural similarity or cross-linguistic correspondences matter in L3 acquisition.

Interpretation of NPs in generic and existential contexts in L3 Brazilian Portuguese

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Ionin ◽  
Elaine Grolla ◽  
Hélade Santos ◽  
Silvina A. Montrul
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Third Language ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
L1 English

This paper examines the interpretation of NPs in generic and existential contexts in the acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese (BrP) as a third language (L3) by learners who speak English and a Romance language (Spanish, French or Italian). The paper examines whether transfer / cross-linguistic influence is from English, Spanish/French/Italian, or both, and whether it matters which language is the learners’ first language (L1) vs. their second language (L2). An Acceptability Judgment Task of NP interpretation in BrP is administered to L1-English L2-Spanish/French/Italian and L1-Spanish L2-English learners of BrP as an L3, as well as to a control group of native speakers of BrP. The findings point to a nuanced picture of transfer in L3 acquisition, in which both languages can serve as the source of transfer, but transfer from a previously learned Romance language is more pronounced than transfer from English, both for L1-English L2-Romance and L1-Spanish L2-English L3-learners of BrP.

scholarly journals On some null subject parameter-related properties in the L3 acquisition of brazilian portuguese (Sobre algumas propriedades relacionadas ao parâmetro do sujeito nulo na aquisição do português brasileiro como L3 )

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Rejane Dias ◽  
Hélade Santos
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
L1 English

As language undergoing language change, Brazilian Portuguese presents characteristics of both pro-drop and non-pro drop systems. This study investigates the acquisition of two properties assumed to be related to the null subject parameter—clitic-climbing and the that-t effect—by adult learners of Brazilian Portuguese who speak a pro-drop language (Spanish) (n = 11) and a non pro-drop language (English) (n =19) as either L1 or L2. Results of an acceptability judgment task showed that the non-native speakers overall converged on the grammars of the Brazilian Portuguese control group (n =19), but there were transfer effects from Spanish for the L1-Spanish speaking learners and from both Spanish and English in the L1-English speaking learners. We discuss the implications of these findings for the role of transfer in L3 acquisition.KEYWORDS: Null subject parameter. L3 acquisition. Brazilian Portuguese. RESUMO O português brasileiro, por estar em processo de mudanças, apresenta características tanto de sistemas pro-drop quanto de sistemas não pro-drop. Este estudo investiga a aquisição de duas propriedades que se assume que estão relacionadas ao parâmetro do sujeito nulo – a subida de clítico e o efeito that-t– por adultos aprendizes do português brasileiro, falantes de uma língua pro-drop (espanhol) (n = 11) e de uma língua não pro-drop (inglês) (n = 19), seja como L1 ou como L2. Os resultados de um teste de julgamento de aceitabilidade mostraram que, em geral, os falantes não nativos tenderam à/se aproximaram da gramática do grupo de controle formado por falantes de português brasileiro (n = 19). Porém, observaram-se efeitos de transferência do espanhol para os aprendizes falantes nativos de espanhol e transferências de ambas as línguas, espanhol e inglês, para os aprendizes falantes nativos de inglês. Discutimos as implicações destes resultados para o papel da transferência na aquisição de L3.PALAVRAS-CHAVES: Parâmetro do sujeito nulo. Aquisição de L3. Português brasileiro.

Source(s) of syntactic cross-linguistic influence (CLI): The case of L3 acquisition of English possessives by Mazandarani–Persian bilinguals

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nader Fallah ◽  
Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽  
Ali Mohammad Fazilatfar
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Third Language ◽  
The Third ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L3 Acquisition

This study investigates the role of previously acquired linguistic systems, Mazandarani and Persian, in the acquisition of third language (L3) English at the initial stages. The data have been obtained from 31 students (age 13–14 years), testing the placement of attributive possessives in a grammaticality judgment task, an element rearrangement task and an elicited oral imitation task. The participants consist of three groups: The first two groups have Mazandarani as the first language (L1) and Persian as the second language (L2), but differ from each other with respect to the language of communication, Mazandarani and Persian, respectively. The third group has Persian as the L1 and Mazandarani as the L2, with Persian as the language of communication. English and Mazandarani pattern similarly in the target structures. That is to say, possessors precede possessed nouns and possessive adjectives come before nouns. In contrast, in Persian, possessives occur post-nominally. The results of this study reveal that none of the proposals tested (e.g. the L1 Factor, Hermas, 2010, 2014a, 2014b; the L2 Status Factor, Bardel and Falk, 2007; Falk and Bardel, 2011; the Cumulative Enhancement Model (CEM), Flynn et al., 2004; the Typological Proximity Model (TPM), Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015) could account for the results obtained. This study provides support that at the initial stages of L3 acquisition, syntactic transfer originates from the language of communication, irrespective of order of acquisition.

Transfer at the initial stages of L3 Brazilian Portuguese: A look at three groups of English/Spanish bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID GIANCASPRO ◽  
BECKY HALLORAN ◽  
MICHAEL IVERSON
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

This study examines three formal linguistic acquisition models of third language (L3) acquisition in the context of Brazilian Portuguese (BP), specifically examining Differential Object Marking (DOM). The main goal is to determine which of the models is best able to predict and explain syntactic transfer in three experimental groups: mirror-image groups of first/second language (L1/L2) English/Spanish bilinguals (i) L1 English/L2 Spanish and (ii) L1 Spanish/L2 English, and (iii) heritage Spanish/English bilinguals. The data provide evidence to support the Typological Primacy Model (Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2013), which predicts Spanish transfer irrespective of its status as an L1, L2 or bilingual first language (2L1). Additionally, the heritage speaker and L1 English group results, taken together, provide evidence for Iverson's (2009) claim that comparing such populations adds independent supportive evidence that the acquisition of linguistic features or properties in an L2 acquired past puberty is not subject to a maturational critical period.

The syntax and interpretation of embedded null subjects in Chinese, and their acquisition by English-speaking learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 191-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Xia Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Government ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Matrix Subject

This article reports an investigation of embedded null subjects in both L1 and L2 Chinese. Chinese null embedded subjects can refer either to a matrix subject or to a discourse entity. In the Government-Binding (GB) framework, these two possibilities resulted from the null subject being either pro or a variable. Neither pro nor a variable is compatible with the assumptions of the more recent Minimalist Program, however. This article proposes an alternative account for null embedded subjects in Chinese that is consistent with the Minimalist Program: deletion of the anaphor ziji and deletion of a topic under identity with appropriate antecedents. It then reports a study of knowledge of such deletion in the Chinese of L2 speakers. Although the existing literature has found that embedded null subjects are allowed by L2 learners of Chinese at early stages of development, no research has investigated whether they are interpreted in a target-like way by L2 speakers. A picture judgment task and a written interpretation task showed that English-speaking learners of high-intermediate proficiency in Chinese allow an embedded null subject to refer to the matrix subject, but not to a discourse entity. It is only at advanced proficiency that L2 speakers allow co-reference with both a matrix subject and a discourse entity. The implications of these results are discussed.

scholarly journals Frequency effects of L2 English on the processing of the passive in L1 Brazilian Portuguese / Efeitos de frequência da L2 inglês no processamento da passiva em L2 português brasileiro

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
Mara Passos Guimarães
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Task Type ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Written Production ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract: This study investigated the influence of experience with L2 English in the processing of passives in L1 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) by high-proficiency bilinguals and BP monolinguals. Based on the premise that high L2 proficiency is indicative of widespread representational sharing (BERNOLET; HARTSUIKER; PICKERING, 2013) and on the observation that the passive is significantly more productive in English than in BP (GUIMARÃES; SOUZA, 2016), bilinguals’ processing of the construction is expected to be facilitated by L2 exposure. Subjects performed an acceptability judgment task and two sentence elicitation tasks. Both groups considered the passive as acceptable as the active, with no significant differences between the two groups’ judgments of the passive. Differences were found in the oral production of passives between bilinguals and monolinguals, but not in written production: task type influenced the production of monolinguals in that passive productivity fell significantly from the written to the oral task. The difference in productivity levels of the passive between bilinguals and monolinguals is attributed to bilinguals’ exposure to the construction’s distributional properties in the L2, supporting models of bilingual shared representations (HARTSUIKER; PICKERING; VELTKAMP, 2004).Keywords: bilingualism; frequency effects; L2 proficiency; passive construction; acceptability judgment; written production; oral production.Resumo: Este estudo investigou a influência da experiência com L2 inglês no processamento de passivas em L1 português brasileiro (PB) por bilíngues de alta proficiência e monolíngues do PB. Baseando-se na premissa de que alta proficiência em L2 é indicativa de compartilhamento generalizado de representações (BERNOLET; HARTSUIKER; PICKERING, 2013) e na observação de que a passiva é significativamente mais produtiva em inglês do que no PB (GUIMARÃES; SOUZA, 2016)propomos uma visão construcional da construção, na qual ela é tomada como entidade teórica independente. Apesar de sintaticamente congruente no português brasileiro (PB, espera-se que o processamento da construção por bilíngues seja facilitado pela exposição à L2.  A compreensão da construção foi observada através de uma tarefa de julgamento de aceitabilidade de sentenças, enquanto a produção foi observada a partir de duas tarefas de descrição de imagens (uma escrita e outra oral). Tanto bilíngues quando monolíngues julgaram a passiva tão aceitável quanto a ativa, sem diferença significativa nos julgamentos entre os dois perfis linguísticos. Apesar de as passivas terem sido menos frequentes do que as ativas nas tarefas de produção, o tipo de tarefa influenciou o número de ocorrências de passivas dentre os monolíngues: sua produção foi similar à dos bilíngues na tarefa escrita, mas significativamente menor na tarefa oral. A diferença nos níveis de produtividade de passivas entre bilíngues e monolíngues é atribuída à exposição dos bilíngues às propriedades distribucionais da construção na L2, corroborando modelos de compartilhamento representacional bilíngue (HARTSUIKER; PICKERING; VELTKAMP, 2004).Palavras-chave: bilinguismo; efeitos de frequência; proficiência em L2; construção passiva; julgamento de aceitabilidade; produção escrita; produção oral.

Asymmetric transfer and development of temporal-aspectual sentence-final particles in English-Cantonese bilinguals’ L3 Mandarin grammars

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyu Guo ◽  
Boping Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Bilingual Learners ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Source Selection ◽  
Content Acquisition ◽  
Language L ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Final Particles

Abstract Aiming to shed new light on the discussion on transfer at initial stages of third language (L3) acquisition and development at later stages, this article reports on an empirical study of L3 acquisition of Mandarin temporal-aspectual sentence-final particles (SFPs) le, ne and láizhe by English speaking and English-Cantonese bilingual learners, at both low and high proficiency levels. Cantonese is typologically and structurally closer to Mandarin than English is. Our findings show obvious facilitative effects on le by its Cantonese counterpart in English-Cantonese bilingual learners’ L3 Mandarin, which supports the L3 models that advocate the deterministic role of structural similarity in the transfer source selection. A transfer asymmetry is observed between the cases of le and láizhe. No transfer effects are found in the L3 Mandarin data of láizhe, even though it has an equivalent SFP in Cantonese. This discrepancy is argued to be attributable to input factors and misleading forms. Moreover, patterns observed over different proficiency levels indicate that the quality and quantity of input and the register property of a particular SFP can greatly affect initial transfer and later development of L3 acquisition.

scholarly journals Crosslinguistic influence in the acquisition of a third language: The Linguistic Proximity Model

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 666-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit Westergaard ◽  
Natalia Mitrofanova ◽  
Roksolana Mykhaylyk ◽  
Yulia Rodina
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Third Language Acquisition ◽  
Generalized Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

Aims and Objectives: The main goal of the present study is to investigate effects of crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition by simultaneous bilinguals. We address the following research questions: Do both languages contribute to crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition, or is one of them chosen as the sole source of influence? Is crosslinguistic influence always from the typologically more similar language? Is crosslinguistic influence always facilitative, or can it also be non-facilitative? Methodology: The paper reports on a grammaticality judgment task with two word order conditions, both related to verb movement (verb-second in Norwegian and subject-auxiliary inversion in English). Data and Analysis: An experiment was carried out with three groups of 11-14-year-old participants, Norwegian-Russian bilinguals ( n=22), Norwegian-speaking monolinguals ( n=46), and Russian-speaking monolinguals ( n=31). The data were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed effects logistic regression allowing us to estimate the effects of condition ( Adv-V, Aux-S), language (Norwegian, Norwegian-Russian, Russian) and their interaction on the correctness of judgments. Findings: The analysis reveals that while L1 Norwegian children over-accept ungrammatical sentences in English with a word order that reflects verb movement (V2), bilingual Norwegian-Russian children notice these errors significantly more often, just like L1 Russians. At the same time, the bilinguals score lower than L1 Russian children on grammatical trials, suggesting the presence of non-facilitative influence from Norwegian. Originality: This study argues for the Linguistic Proximity Model, which proposes incremental property-by-property learning and allows for both facilitative and non-facilitative influence from one or both of the previously acquired languages. Significance: The Linguistic Proximity Model and supporting experimental data contribute to existing models in third language acquisition by indicating that not just typological proximity but also structural similarity at an abstract level should be considered an important factor in third language acquisition.

scholarly journals Polarity-item anything in L3 English: Where does transfer come from when the L1 is Catalan and the L2 is Spanish?

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloi Puig-Mayenco ◽  
Heather Marsden
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Polarity Item ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Third Language ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Different Response

This study explores the source of transfer in third language (L3) English by two distinct groups of Catalan–Spanish bilinguals, simultaneous bilinguals and late bilinguals. Our study addresses two research questions: (1) Does transfer come from the first language (L1), the second language (L2), or both? and (2) Does age of acquisition of the L2 affect how transfer occurs? We compare beginner and advanced English speakers from both L3 groups with beginner and advanced L1-Spanish L2-English speakers, and find that, on an acceptablity judgment task that investigates knowledge of the distribution of polarity item anything, the two L3 groups demonstrate a different response pattern from the L2 group. The results suggest that both L3 groups transfer from Catalan, and not from their L2, Spanish. Additionally, the cross-sectional nature of the study shows that negative transfer from the initial stages of acquisition is overcome to different extents by the L3 vs. the L2 groups. We conclude that the results show strong evidence against the L2 status factor (Bardel and Falk, 2007, 2012) and the cumulative enhancement (Flynn et al., 2004) models of L3 acquisition, while they can be accounted for by the typological primacy model (Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2015), although other models that predict L1 transfer in L3 acquisition are not ruled out. Further, our findings show no effect of age of acquisition of the L2 on L3 development.

A functional approach to cross-linguistic influence in ab initio L3 acquisition

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
CRISTINA SANZ ◽  
HAE IN PARK ◽  
BEATRIZ LADO
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Role Assignment ◽  
Third Language ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Immersion Experience ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English

The present study follows the role of the first (L1, English) and second (L2, Japanese or Spanish) languages in ab initio third language (L3, Latin) acquisition. Participants (N = 25) were L2 classroom learners without immersion experience. In order to complement previous generativist studies and to offer a fuller developmental account of how transfer operates at the morphosyntactic level, the Competition Model (CM) was adopted as theoretical framework. Positive changes in overall accuracy and sentence processing patterns in role assignment in L3 Latin show L3 development as largely modulated by the L1, suggesting that higher levels of L2 resonance are necessary for integrated patterns of L1 and L2 cues to emerge.

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