From number agreement to the subjunctive: Evidence for Processability Theory in L2 Spanish

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie L Bonilla
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
Processability Theory ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Spanish Syntax

This article contributes to typological plausibility of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998, 2005) by providing empirical data that show that the stages predicted by PT are followed in the second language (L2) acquisition of Spanish syntax and morphology. In the present article, the PT stages for L2 Spanish morphology and syntax are first hypothesized after a brief description of PT theory. The results of a corpus of conversational data by L2 Spanish learners ( n = 21) are then presented. Implicational scaling confirmed the five stages for the syntax and morphology with 100% scalability. Evidence was also found for the existence of discrete stages 1,2, 3 and 5 for the syntax as well as stages 1–4 for the morphology. Syntax was also found to emerge before morphology for all learners.

Developmental stages in receptive grammar acquisition: A Processability Theory account

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aafke Buyl ◽  
Alex Housen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Grammar Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Processability Theory ◽  
Grammar Knowledge ◽  
The Relationship

This study takes a new look at the topic of developmental stages in the second language (L2) acquisition of morphosyntax by analysing receptive learner data, a language mode that has hitherto received very little attention within this strand of research (for a recent and rare study, see Spinner, 2013). Looking at both the receptive and productive side of grammar acquisition, however, is necessary for a better understanding of developmental systematicity and of the relationship between receptive and productive grammar acquisition more widely, as well as for the construction of a comprehensive theory of second language acquisition (SLA). In the present exploratory study, the receptive acquisition of L2 English grammar knowledge is studied cross-sectionally within a Processability Theory (PT) framework (Pienemann, 1998, 2005b), a theory of L2 grammar acquisition which makes explicit predictions about the order in which L2 learners learn to productively process different morphosyntactic phenomena. Participants are 72 francophone beginning child L2 learners (age 6–9) acquiring English in an immersion program. The learners’ ability to process six morphosyntactic phenomena situated at extreme ends of the developmental hierarchy proposed by PT was tested by means of the ELIAS Grammar Test, a picture selection task. Overall, the developmental orders obtained through implicational scaling for the six target phenomena agreed with PT’s predictions, suggesting that similar mechanisms underlie the acquisition of receptive and productive L2 grammar processing skills.

The development of obligatory liaison in early L2 learners of French

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Frida Splendido
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Observation Period

AbstractStudies on the acquisition of Frenchliaisonhave primarily focused on monolingual children or adult second language (L2) learners in a university context. To bridge the gap between these two populations, the present article focuses on child L2 (cL2) learners – a particularly interesting group, since they are L2 learners who, unlike adults, do not have access to writing. How doesliaisondevelop in cL2 French? Is the development more similar to L1 or L2 acquisition? These questions are explored through longitudinal data from cL2 learners (age of onset: 3;0–3;5,n = 3), with monolingual (n = 2) and bilingual (n = 3) L1 controls. The cL2 data present certain similarities with adult L2 learners, but also with L1 controls. However, productions vary greatly within the L2 group: whereas one of the three learners shows clear development over time, behaving similarly to the L1 children at the end of the observation period, another learner hardly produces anyliaisonsat all.

Developmental dynamics in L1 and L2 acquisition: Processability Theory and generative entrenchment

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANFRED PIENEMANN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Mathematical Concept ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Generative Entrenchment ◽  
Processability Theory ◽  
L1 And L2

This paper has two major objectives: (1) to summarise Processability Theory, a processing-oriented approach to explaining language development and (2) to utilise this theory in the comparison of development in LI and L2 acquisition. Proponents of the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (between L1 and L2) assume that L1 development can be explained with reference to Universal Grammar (UG) which, in their view, is inaccessible to L2 learners. Instead, they claim that a second language develops on the basis of language processing strategies.I will show that the fundamentally different developmental paths inherent in first and second language acquisition can both be explained on the basis of the same language processing mechanics (as specified in Processability Theory). I will demonstrate that the developmental differences between L1 and L2 are caused by the qualitatively different early structural hypotheses which propagate through the acquisition process. The concept of “propagation of structural features” will be viewed as “generative entrenchment,” a logical-mathematical concept, which has proved to be highly productive in examining other kinds of developmental processes.

Morphological variability in the comprehension of agreement: an argument for representation over computation

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corrine McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Qualitative Similarity ◽  
L2 Spanish

Previous accounts of morphological variability disagree over whether its cause is representational or computational in nature. Under a computational account, variability is confined to production; under a representational account, variability extends to comprehension and is qualitatively similar to variability in production. This article presents experimental evidence from the comprehension and production of gender and number agreement in second language (L2) Spanish clitics and adjectives. Intermediate-level participants show variability across comprehension and production; across tasks, masculine defaults are adopted. Advanced-level participants show less variability, although evidence for masculine defaults emerges across tasks. Number agreement proved relatively unproblematic, except in the production of adjective agreement where singular defaults are systematically adopted by intermediate- and advanced-level speakers. The qualitative similarity of variability across comprehension and production supports a representational account; however, previous research disfavours an account based in syntactic deficits. This article argues for a theory of morphological variability that places the representational cause in the morphology, rather than the syntax.

scholarly journals Semantic-informational and formal processing principles in Processability Theory

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN HULSTIJN
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Keynote Paper ◽  
Sufficient Detail ◽  
Great Generality ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Processability Theory

Let me begin my comments on Pienemann's keynote paper by expressing my admiration for the scholar who has developed Processability Theory (PT) over a period of some fifteen years with great determination and perseverance. What in earlier publications (e.g. Pienemann, 1985, 1987) appeared to me to be a rather disparate set of principles aiming to account for a limited set of empirical data (the well known sequence of five word orders of the ZISA study), has now evolved into a coherent theory which meets the demands of falsifiability, as PT's claims are formulated in sufficient detail to allow SLA researchers to put them to empirical test. PT comprises a number of principles of great generality, accounting, in principle, for the acquisition of any structure in any language, thereby exceeding the limits of the ZISA data of natural German L2 acquisition. As such, it is to be hoped that PT will have a healthy influence on the field of SLA research, as this field, in the last few years, has perhaps been dominated too much by the issue of whether L2 learners have access to Universal Grammar.

scholarly journals Describing the Acquisition of the Passive Voice by a Child Learner of Japanese as a Second Language from a Processability Theory Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Junko Iwasaki ◽  
Rhonda Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Canonical Mapping ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Active Voice ◽  
Developmental Skills ◽  
Processability Theory

This longitudinal case study reports on the acquisition of Japanese as a second language (L2) by a child learner with English as his first language (L1) who was acquiring Japanese naturalistically. In particular this study focusses on the acquisition by the child of a non-canonical mapping structure, namely the passive voice in relation to canonical mapping structures (e.g., the active voice) within the framework of the Unmarked Alignment Hypothesis (UAH) and the Lexical Mapping Hypothesis (LMH). These hypotheses are two of the main pillars of the extended Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, Di Biase & Kawaguchi, 2005). When compared to a large body of studies on the L1 acquisition of the passive voice, there have been only few theoretically motivated studies on the L2 acquisition of this structure, and further no studies to date have been undertaken using L2 child informants. The results of the earlier PT-based research (e.g., Wang, 2009) found that the acquisition of the passive voice by adult L2 learners occurred later than did the active voice. The results of the current child Japanese L2 study confirmed this, supporting Kawaguchi’s (2007) claim that the learner’s choice of a syntactic structure is restricted by developmental skills in argument-function mapping as predicted by UAH and LMH. Further, the results indicate that, prior to the emergence of the passive voice, a developmental period for the child to attempt non-canonical mapping existed and that the passive verbal morphology often appeared in a non-target like way until the end of the observation period.

scholarly journals The Lexical Morpheme Acquisition of a Learner of English as a Second Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Burhansyah Burhansyah
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Research Finding ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Distributional Analysis ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Instructional Context ◽  
Processability Theory ◽  
Learning English

The present study aims to examine the acquisition of English lexical morphemes - i.e. past –ed marker and plural –s marker on nouns, in L2 (second language) English within the framework of Processability Theory (henceforth PT). The participant of this research was LE, an Indonesian learner learning English as L2 in an instructional context. The data in the form of essay written by LE was collected longitudinally at four points in time during the period of four months. Based on the data, a distributional analysis was carried out, and then the findings were analysed by using the implicational scaling in accordance with the emergence criterion in order to determine the points of acquisition of the two morphological forms under scrutiny. The research finding indicates that the acquisition points of the lexical morphemes appear to follow PT’s predictions, where the emergence point of past –ed marker and plural –s marker occurred at comparatively the same point in time as hypothesised in PT. Moreover, the finding of this research reveals that the predictions of PT seem to be followed in L2 written English; it indicates PT’s capacity to account for morphological acquisition in both written and spoken language production.        Keywords: processability theory, L2 acquisition, lexical morpheme

Transfer and unlearning of topic prominence by Chinese learners of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Chang ◽  
Lilong Xu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
English Only ◽  
Cognitive States ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Topic Constructions ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

Abstract Chinese allows both gapped and gapless topic constructions without their usage being restricted to specific contexts, while English only allows gapped topic constructions which are used in certain contexts. In other words, Chinese uses ‘topic prominence’, whereas English does not. The contrast between English and Chinese topic constructions poses a learnability problem for Chinese learners of English. This paper uses an empirical study investigating first language (L1) transfer in the case of Chinese learners of English and the extent to which they are able to unlearn topic prominence as they progress in second language (L2) English. Results of an acceptability judgment test indicate that Chinese learners of English initially transfer Chinese topic prominence into their English, then gradually unlearn Chinese topic prominence as their English proficiency improves, and finally unlearn Chinese topic prominence successfully. The results support the Full Transfer Theory (Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 1996. L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research 12. 40–72) and the Variational Learning Model (Yang, Charles. 2004. Universal Grammar, statistics or both? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8. 451–456), but contradict the proposal that the topic prominence can never be transferred but may be unlearned from the beginning in Chinese speakers’ acquisition of English (Zheng, Chao. 2001. Nominal Constructions Beyond IP and Their Initial Restructuring in L2 Acquisition. Guangzhou: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies Ph.D. dissertation). In addition, the type of topic constructions that is used and whether or not a comma is added after the topic have an effect on learners’ transfer and unlearning of topic prominence. It is proposed that the specification of Agr(eement) and T(ense) as well as the presence of expletive subjects in English input can trigger the unlearning of topic prominence for Chinese learners of English.

Case morphology and word order in second language Turkish: Evidence from Greek learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despina Papadopoulou ◽  
Spyridoula Varlokosta ◽  
Vassilios Spyropoulos ◽  
Hasan Kaili ◽  
Sophia Prokou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Case Morphology ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Order Constraints ◽  
On Line

The optional use of morphology attested in second language learners has been attributed either to a representational deficit or to a ‘surface’ problem with respect to the realization of inflectional affixes. In this article we contribute to this issue by providing empirical data from the early interlanguage of Greek learners of Turkish. Three experiments have been conducted, a cloze task, a sentence picture matching task and an on-line grammaticality judgement task, in order to investigate case morphology and its interaction with word order constraints. The findings of all three experiments point towards a variable use of case morphology, which is also observed in previous studies of Turkish as a second language (L2). Moreover, they show clearly that the learners face difficulties with non-canonical word orders as well as with the interaction of word order constraints and Case. On the other hand, the learners performed well on verbal inflections. On the basis of these findings, we argue that the developmental patterns in the early stages of L2 acquisition cannot be attributed to a global lack of functional categories but rather to more localized difficulties, which seem to be related to (a) whether the features in the L2 are grammaticalized in the first language and (b) the way these features are encoded in the morphosyntax of the first language. Moreover, we claim that processing factors and the specific properties of the morphological paradigms affect L2 development.

SECOND LANGUAGE SYNTAX: A GENERATIVE INTRODUCTION. Roger Hawkins. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Pp. xviii + 386. $41.95 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-494
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Specific System ◽  
Modulated Structure ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Introductory Textbook ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
L2 Development

This book is intended as an introduction both to the principles and parameters framework (Chomsky, 1981) and to the second language (L2) acquisition of syntactic representations. Hawkins's basic aim is to present evidence for the view that L2 learners progressively build subconscious mental grammars (i.e., a syntactic system) guided by Universal Grammar—an innate, language-specific system. However, this volume is not just an introductory textbook presenting and summarizing the work of other researchers in this particular field. Indeed, the book has another major aim: Within the context of the most current debates on the L2 acquisition of syntactic knowledge, Hawkins introduces his own theory of L2 development, which he terms Modulated Structure Building.

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