Clitic-doubled left dislocation and focus fronting in L2 Spanish: A case of successful acquisition at the syntax–discourse interface

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roumyana Slabakova ◽  
Paula Kempchinsky ◽  
Jason Rothman
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Semantic Property ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
Left Dislocation ◽  
Clitic Left Dislocation ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
The Relationship

This experimental study tests the Interface Hypothesis by looking into processes at the syntax–discourse interface, teasing apart acquisition of syntactic, semantic and discourse knowledge. Adopting López’s (2009) pragmatic features [±a(naphor)] and [±c(ontrast)], which in combination account for the constructions of dislocation and fronting, we tested clitic left dislocation and fronted focus in the comprehension of English native speakers learning Spanish. Furthermore, we tested knowledge of an additional semantic property: the relationship between the discourse anaphor and the antecedent in clitic left dislocation (CLLD). This relationship is free: it can be subset, superset, part/whole. Syntactic knowledge of clitics was a condition for inclusion in the main test. Our findings indicate that all learners are sensitive to the semantic constraints. While the near-native speakers display native-like discourse knowledge, the advanced speakers demonstrated some discourse knowledge, and intermediate learners did not display any discourse knowledge. The findings support as well as challenge the Interface Hypothesis.

Look before you move

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 396-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Leal
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Rating Task ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Visual Rating ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Left Dislocation ◽  
Clitic Left Dislocation ◽  
Discourse Interface

The present study examines whether, as proposed by the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), the syntax-discourse interface is especially vulnerable to non-native optionality even at very advanced levels. I focus on the acquisition of Clitic Left Dislocation in Spanish (CLLD), a structure that involves both syntax and discourse, when it combines with other structures at the left periphery (iterative topics, Fronted Focus, and wh-constructions). CLLD is a realization of topicalization requiring the integration of syntactic and discourse knowledge. This study provides data from an audio-visual rating task completed by 120 learners of Spanish of different proficiency levels and 27 monolingual native speakers. Results showed evidence that the most advanced learners had acquired the restrictions of these structures in a native-like way and supports López’s (2009) syntactic analysis of CLLD, whereby CLLD is generated through movement so that the pragmatic features [+anaphor]/[+contrast] can be assigned to the dislocated element.

An investigation of unaccusativity and word order in Mexican Spanish

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron B. Roggia
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Cutoff Point ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Mexican Spanish ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Auxiliary Selection ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Verb Categories

Abstract Studies of unaccusativity and word order in Spanish have yielded conflicting results. This study further investigates unaccusativity by testing the ability of the ‘Auxiliary Selection Hierarchy’ (Sorace 2000) to account for word orders with intransitive predicates in Mexican Spanish. The results of an oral production task show significant word order differences between verb categories and locate an unergative/unaccusative cutoff point midway along the hierarchy, situating unaccusativity in Spanish as being similar to Italian but trending in the direction of Dutch or French. Other variables affecting the word order are identified and ranked, including subject heaviness, definiteness, and the location of adverbial phrases. Greater inter-speaker variation at the syntax-discourse interface when compared with the syntax-lexicon interface shows that the Interface Hypothesis has application to native speakers of Spanish. The results of this study are important for current research on unaccusativity and syntactic interfaces.

LEFT DISLOCATION IN NEAR-NATIVE FRENCH

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Left Dislocation ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Discourse Organization ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Discourse Interface

The present study is concerned with the upper limits of SLA—specifically, mastery of the syntax-discourse interface in successful endstate learners of second-language (L2) French (near-native speakers). Left dislocation (LD) is a syntactic means of structuring spoken French discourse by marking topic. Its use requires speakers to coordinate syntactic and pragmatic or discursive knowledge, an interface at which L2 learners have been shown to encounter difficulties (e.g., Sorace, 1993; Sorace & Filiaci, 2006). The data come from (a) an 8.5-hr corpus that consists of recordings of 10 dyadic conversations between near-native and native speakers of French and (b) two contextualized paper and audio tasks that tested intuitions and preferences regarding LD. Analyses of the near-native speakers’ production of LDs, the syntactic properties of their LDs, and their use of LDs to promote different types of discourse referents to topic status suggest that their mastery of this aspect of discourse organization converges on that of native speakers.

The acquisition of Focus in L2 Spanish

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Leal ◽  
Emilie Destruel ◽  
Bradley Hoot
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Information Focus ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Recent Experimental Work

This paper examines the strategies used by speakers of Spanish as a second language (L2) for marking Information Focus, a phenomenon found at the syntax–discourse interface. Sorace and colleagues have proposed the Interface Hypothesis, according to which the syntax–discourse interface poses unique challenges for bilinguals (Sorace, 2011). With respect to Spanish, there exists a gap between the theoretical and empirical literatures on Focus realization; the former suggests that Focus must appear in sentence-final position, yet recent experimental work challenges this claim, showing that Focus commonly remains in situ. Using a speeded production task, we compared the response patterns of L2 Spanish speakers to that of natives in order to bring additional evidence to bear on the debate. Results revealed an asymmetry: L2 learners converged with native speakers on Subject Focus but not on Object Focus, where proficiency mediated overall divergences, indicating a change toward more nativelike Focus-marking strategies over time. We discuss our findings in light of the Interface Hypothesis and existing theories of Focus marking in Spanish.

scholarly journals Divergência seletiva no estádio final de aquisição de L2: Dados sobre a construção com there em inglês

2018 ◽  
pp. 254-275
Author(s):  
Joana Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Input Hypothesis ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Drag And Drop

This study investigates the acquisition of there-constructions (with verbs other than be) in L2 English by native speakers of European Portuguese (EP) and French. Its main purpose is to test two opposing hypotheses on the end-state of L2 acquisition at the interfaces: the Interface Hypothesis (IH) and the L1+input Hypothesis (LIH). The former proposes that internal interfaces are, generally, unproblematic at the end-state of L2 acquisition, whereas external interfaces, like the syntax-discourse interface, are areas of permanent optionality due to processing inefficiencies associated with bilingualism. The latter, in contrast, advocates that structures at external interfaces generate problems at a near-native level iff their properties are different in the L1 and the L2 and they are infrequent in the input. By administering 2 untimed drag and drop tasks, 3 speeded acceptability judgement tasks and 1 syntactic priming task to a total of 80 participants, we tested the types of overt expletives, the types of intransitive verbs and the types of discourse contexts compatible with thereconstructions in advanced and near-native English. The results confirm the IH, but suggest that the LIH is not completely wrong.

L2 acquisition of Bulgarian clitic doubling: A test case for the Interface Hypothesis

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan P. Ivanov
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Case ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Clitic Doubling ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Discourse Interface

The purpose of this study is to expand the testing ground of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2006) by investigating the degree to which second language (L2) learners of Bulgarian with English as their first language (L1) had acquired the pragmatic function of clitic doubling as a topicality marker. Advanced and intermediate L2 speakers of Bulgarian, as well as a control group of Bulgarian native speakers, participated in the experiment. The experimental materials included a proficiency test and a pragmatic felicity task. The results showed that the intermediate participants did not differentiate between the felicitous and the infelicitous options in the pragmatic felicity task in a target-like manner as their responses either did not exhibit a statistically significant difference or favored the response closest to the L1. However, the advanced L2 learners had successfully acquired the pragmatic meaning of clitic doubling in Bulgarian and performed in a native-like manner. The study highlights the fact that successful learning at the syntax–discourse interface cannot be excluded, and more research – exploring as many interface conditions as possible – needs to be carried out in order to validate the Interface Hypothesis as a legitimate constraint that permanently hinders native-like performance.

scholarly journals Divergência seletiva no estádio final de aquisição de L2: Dados sobre a construção com there em inglês

2019 ◽  
pp. 254-275
Author(s):  
Joana Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Input Hypothesis ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Drag And Drop

This study investigates the acquisition of there-constructions (with verbs other than be) in L2 English by native speakers of European Portuguese (EP) and French. Its main purpose is to test two opposing hypotheses on the end-state of L2 acquisition at the interfaces: the Interface Hypothesis (IH) and the L1+input Hypothesis (LIH). The former proposes that internal interfaces are, generally, unproblematic at the end-state of L2 acquisition, whereas external interfaces, like the syntax-discourse interface, are areas of permanent optionality due to processing inefficiencies associated with bilingualism. The latter, in contrast, advocates that structures at external interfaces generate problems at a near-native level iff their properties are different in the L1 and the L2 and they are infrequent in the input. By administering 2 untimed drag and drop tasks, 3 speeded acceptability judgement tasks and 1 syntactic priming task to a total of 80 participants, we tested the types of overt expletives, the types of intransitive verbs and the types of discourse contexts compatible with thereconstructions in advanced and near-native English. The results confirm the IH, but suggest that the LIH is not completely wrong.

scholarly journals Do indirect requests communicate politeness? An experimental study of conventionalized indirect requests in French email communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Ruytenbeek
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Written Communication ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Request Form ◽  
Email Communication ◽  
Indirect Requests ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article addresses the relationship between linguistic politeness and addressee status in the performance of written requests in French. According to a first view, conventionalized Can you followed by a verbal phrase (in short, Can you VP?) “indirect requests” (IRs) are preferred because they enable speakers to convey politeness effects absent in imperatives. According to an alternative view, Can you VP? is the standard polite request form in written communication because it avoids impoliteness implications. To test these two competing hypotheses, I carried out a production task experiment with 122 native speakers of Belgian French writing email requests. In this experiment, addressee status was manipulated. An important finding is that higher addressee status does not increase the frequency of Can you VP? requests. Instead of using Can you VP? more often when they address higher status people, the participants used specific politeness markers such as formal greetings and the V-form of address. These results disconfirm the hypothesis that Can you VP? is used to convey extra politeness effects and suggests instead that people use such IRs to avoid the risk of being considered impolite.

Quantity judgment and the mass-count distinction across languages: Advances, problems, and future directions for research

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Barner ◽  
Alan Bale
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Scientific Enterprise ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Quantity Judgment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Linguistic Cognition

We review advances in the experimental study of the mass-count distinction and highlight problems that have emerged. First, we lay out what we see to be the scientific enterprise of studying the syntax and semantics of mass-count distinction, and the assumptions we believe must be made if additional progress is to occur, especially as the empirical facts continue to grow in number and complexity. Second, we discuss the new landscape of cross-linguistic results that has been created by widespread use of the quantity judgment task, and what these results tell us about the nature of the mass-count distinction. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the mass-count distinction and non-linguistic cognition, and in particular the object-substance distinction.

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