Transfer and typological proximity in the context of second language processing

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Håkansson ◽  
Manfred Pienemann ◽  
Susan Sayehli
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Intermediate Structure ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 Influence

In this article, the issue of cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition is examined from a processing perspective. Applying Processability Theory as the theoretical framework we claim that second language (L2) learners can only produce forms they are able to process. We thus argue that the first language (L1) influence on the L2 is developmentally moderated. Data were collected from German L2 learners with Swedish as their L1. Twenty informants participated in the study, 10 in their first year of German (13 years of age) and 10 in their second year of German (14 years of age). Both languages involved are typologically very close but not mutually intelligible. The results show that Swedish learners of German do not transfer the verb-second structure from their L1 to the L2 even though this structure is identical in both languages.Instead they start out with canonical word order and subsequently produce an intermediate structure (adv NPsubjV X), which is ungrammatical in the L1 and the L2. These observations support the idea of a developmentally moderated transfer. The results clearly contradict the predictions from the ‘full transfer/full access’ hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1994; 1996).

scholarly journals Specific Referential Contexts Shape Efficiency in Second Language Processing: Three Eye-Tracking Experiments With 6- and 10-Year-Old Children in Spanish Immersion Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 128-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey Lew-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Biological Gender

ABSTRACTEfficiency in real-time language processing generally poses a greater challenge to adults learning a second language (L2) than to children learning a first language (L1). A notoriously difficult aspect of language for L2 learners to master is grammatical gender, and previous research has shown that L2 learners do not exploit cues to grammatical gender in ways that resemble L1 speakers. But it is not clear whether this problem is restricted to grammatical gender or whether it reflects a broader difficulty with processing local relations between words. Moreover, we do not know if immersive L2 environments, relative to typical L2 classrooms, confer advantages in learning regularities between words. In three eye-tracking experiments, 6- and 10-year-old children who were enrolled in Spanish immersion elementary schools listened to sentences with articles that conveyed information about the grammatical gender (Experiment 1), biological gender (Experiment 2), and number of referents in the visual field (Experiment 3). L1 children used articles to guide their attention to target referents in all three experiments. L2 children did not take advantage of articles as cues to grammatical gender, but succeeded in doing so for biological gender and number. Interpretations of these findings focus on how learning experiences interact with the nature of specific referential contexts to shape learners’ efficiency in language processing.

Meta-analysis of the neural representation of first language and second language

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAJANI SEBASTIAN ◽  
ANGELA R. LAIRD ◽  
SWATHI KIRAN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
First Language ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Meta Analyses

ABSTRACTThis study reports an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of published functional neuroimaging studies of bilingualism. Four parallel meta-analyses were conducted by taking into account the proficiency of participants reported in the studies. The results of the meta-analyses suggest differences in the probabilities of activation patterns between high proficiency and moderate/low proficiency bilinguals. The Talairach coordinates of activation in first language processing were very similar to that of second language processing in the high proficient bilinguals. However, in the low proficient group, the activation clusters were generally smaller and distributed over wider areas in both the hemispheres than the clusters identified in the ALE maps from the high proficient group. These findings draw attention to the importance of language proficiency in bilingual neural representation.

scholarly journals SPOKEN AND WRITTEN REPRESENTATION OF NUMBER IN L2 CATALAN INDEFINITE DETERMINER PHRASES

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-350
Author(s):  
Liliana Tolchinski ◽  
Naymé Salas ◽  
Joan Perera
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
First Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Similar Time ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
The Relationship

The study explores the relationship that second language (L2) learners of Catalan establish between the spoken and the written representation of number inflection within an indefinite-article Determiner Phrase (DP); and it also addresses first language (L1) influence in this processo Five- to eight-year-olds, speakers of varieties of Chinese and Moroccan Arabic, with differing degrees of literacy instruction in their home countries —but similar time of residence in Catalonia— participated in the study. The children carried out individual semi-structured tasks designed to evaluate comprehension and production of changes in number inflections (un cotxe ‘a car’; uns cotxes ‘a-pl cars ’). Results showed that, irrespective of children’s language background, comprehension preceded production of singular and plural indefinite-article DPs; spoken representation was easier than written representation of number changes; and production of plural indefinite-article DPs was more difficult than its singular counterpart. Despite typological differences between the languages compared, both groups of L2 learners, even the Catalan control group, underwent similar processes.

Relativization strategies in SLA

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-476
Author(s):  
Eleonora Luzi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Functional Difference ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Restrictive Relative Clauses

This article examines the process of acquisition of relative clauses in second language (L2) Italian. Despite the fact that linguistic research clearly evidences a distinction between restrictive relative clauses and non-restrictive relative clauses, second language acquisition studies have so far investigated the acquisition of relative clauses disregarding this fundamental and functional difference. Based on the analysis of oral data of 96 L2 Italian students of two different Common European Framework of Reference proficiency levels (B1 and C2), this study examines occurrences of target language relative clauses and of other strategies of relativization (i.e. coordinated sentences), analysing proficiency and first language (L1) influence on distribution. The significant differences in the distribution of alternative relativization strategies between the two groups and the non-restrictive function of coordinated sentences lead to the hypothesis that there are two distinct patterns of acquisition: one for restrictive and another for non-restrictive relative clauses.

Second Language Processing and Linguistic Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
String Structure ◽  
Set Up

The distinction between representations and processes is central to most models of the cognitive science of language. Linguistic theory informs the types of representations assumed, and these representations are what are taken to be the targets of second language acquisition. Epistemologically, this is often taken to be knowledge, or knowledge-that. Techniques such as Grammaticality Judgment tasks are paradigmatic as we seek to gain insight into what a learner’s grammar looks like. Learners behave as if certain phonological, morphological, or syntactic strings (which may or may not be target-like) were well-formed. It is the task of the researcher to understand the nature of the knowledge that governs those well-formedness beliefs. Traditional accounts of processing, on the other hand, look to the real-time use of language, either in production or perception, and invoke discussions of skill or knowledge-how. A range of experimental psycholinguistic techniques have been used to assess these skills: self-paced reading, eye-tracking, ERPs, priming, lexical decision, AXB discrimination, and the like. Such online measures can show us how we “do” language when it comes to activities such as production or comprehension. There has long been a connection between linguistic theory and theories of processing as evidenced by the work of Berwick (The Grammatical Basis of Linguistic Performance). The task of the parser is to assign abstract structure to a phonological, morphological, or syntactic string; structure that does not come directly labeled in the acoustic input. Such processing studies as the Garden Path phenomenon have revealed that grammaticality and processability are distinct constructs. In some models, however, the distinction between grammar and processing is less distinct. Phillips says that “parsing is grammar,” while O’Grady builds an emergentist theory with no grammar, only processing. Bayesian models of acquisition, and indeed of knowledge, assume that the grammars we set up are governed by a principle of entropy, which governs other aspects of human behavior; knowledge and skill are combined. Exemplar models view the processing of the input as a storing of all phonetic detail that is in the environment, not storing abstract categories; the categories emerge via a process of comparing exemplars. Linguistic theory helps us to understand the processing of input to acquire new L2 representations, and the access of those representations in real time.

Variation, individual differences and second language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwen Patricia Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Academic Year

Abstract Research on second language acquisition has located individual variation, without clarifying whether language processing prompts learners to differ systematically in the production of syntax and morphology. To address this issue, the study examined the hypothesis on variation in Processability Theory. This theory predicts that, within second language development, individual learners vary systematically in how they respond to developmental conflicts. Specifically, learners have distinct types, which are evident in their use of options and 'trailers' (structures which emerge late). Longitudinal spoken data were collected over one academic year from six adolescent ESL learners. The results revealed different learner types in terms of syntactic options and trailers. However, the learners had less clear types for the morphological options, used unpredicted options, and lacked consistency in their use of syntactic and morphological trailers. The paper suggests that learners vary in processing due to diverse orientations towards the acquisition of either syntax or morphology.

Exploring the depths of second language processing with eye tracking: An introduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-255
Author(s):  
Aline Godfroid ◽  
Paula Winke ◽  
Kathy Conklin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Research Partnerships ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Computer Scientists

In this paper, we review how eye tracking, which offers millisecond-precise information about how language learners orient their visual attention, can be used to investigate a variety of processes involved in the multifaceted endeavor of second language acquisition (SLA). In particular, we review the last 15 years of research in SLA, in which applied linguists have exploited the information gleaned from eye-tracking metrics to advance the field. As we explain, eye-tracking researchers within SLA have diversified which aspects of SLA they investigate and are entering new territory by pairing eye-tracking metrics with other data-collection methods for data-triangulation purposes. Eye tracking in SLA is also an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, for which research partnerships with computer scientists hold special promise in the areas of automated language assessment and the evaluation of cognitive functioning and processing. We describe how the papers in this special issue on eye tracking in Second Language Research push the boundaries by: (a) ensuring greater standardization of how eye tracking is used in SLA (Godfroid and Hui, 2020); (b) embedding eye-tracking metrics within a mixed-methods design for more valid and complete data interpretation (Andringa, 2020; Michel et al., 2020); (c) using eye trackers to investigate the nuanced differences in cognitive processes involved across multimodal input and feedback types in SLA (Conklin et al., 2020; McDonough et al., 2020).

Construct operationalization, L1 effects, and context in second language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN JUFFS
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Second Language Processing

Cunnings (2016) provides welcome insights into differences between native speaker (NS) sentence processing, adult non-native speaker processing (NNS), and working memory capacity (WMC) limitations. This commentary briefly raises three issues: construct operationalization; the role of first language (L1); and context.

Psycholinguistic techniques in second language acquisition research

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Marinis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Online Experiments ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Software Packages ◽  
Selection Of

This article presents the benefits of using online methodologies in second language acquisition (SLA) research. It provides a selection of online experiments that have been widely used in first and second language processing studies that are suitable for SLA research and most importantly discusses the hardware and software packages and other equipment required for the setting-up of a psycholinguistics laboratory, the advantages and disadvantages of the software packages available and what financial costs are involved. The aim of the article is to inspire researchers in second language acquisition to embark on research using online methodologies.

scholarly journals Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: exploring some differences and similarities

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Usa ◽  
English Dominant

This study compares the linguistic knowledge of adult second language (L2) learners, who learned the L2 after puberty, with the potentially ‘eroded’ first language (L1) grammars of adult early bilinguals who were exposed to the target language since birth and learned the other language simultaneously, or early in childhood (before age 5). I make two main claims: (1) that the L1 grammar of bilinguals at a given stabilized state (probably endstate) resembles the incomplete (either developing or stabilized) grammars typical of intermediate and advanced stages in L2 acquisition; and (2) that despite similar patterns of performance, when language proficiency is factored in, early bilinguals are better than the L2 learners, probably due to exposure to primary linguistic input early in childhood. I offer empirical evidence from an experimental study testing knowledge of the syntax and semantics of unaccusativity in Spanish, conducted with English-speaking L2 learners and English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers living in the USA. I consider recent treatments of unaccusativity and language attrition within the generative framework (Sorace, 1999; 2000a; 2000b), that offer a unifying account of the formal parallels observed between these two populations I discuss how input, use and age may explain differences and similarities in the linguistic attainment of the two groups.

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