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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The syntax–discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition: Off-line and on-line performance

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
On Line ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
L1 English

This study investigates ultimate attainment at the syntax–discourse interface in adult second-language (L2) acquisition. In total, 91 L1 (first-language) English, L1 Dutch and L1 Russian advanced-to-near-native speakers of German and 63 native controls are tested on an acceptability judgement task and an on-line self-paced reading task. These centre on discourse-related word order optionality in German. Results indicate that convergence at the syntax–discourse interface is in principle possible in adult L2 acquisition, both in off-line knowledge and on-line processing, even for L1 English speakers, whose L1 does not correspond to L2 German in discourse-to-syntax mappings. At the same time, non-convergence of the L1 Dutch groups and differences in the L2 groups' performance between tasks suggest that asymmetries in L1–L2 discourse configurations and computational difficulties in mapping discourse onto syntax constrain L2 performance.

The acquisition of object movement in Dutch: L1 transfer and near-native grammars at the syntax–discourse interface

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Smeets
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Object Movement ◽  
Target Performance ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
L1 English

This article investigates near-native grammars at the syntax–discourse interface by examining the second language (L2) acquisition of two different domains of object movement in Dutch, which exhibit syntax–discourse or syntax–semantics level properties. English and German near-native speakers of Dutch, where German but not English allows the same mapping strategies as Dutch in the phenomena under investigation, are tested on two felicity judgment tasks and a truth value judgment task. The results from the English participants show sensitivity to discourse information on the acceptability of non-canonical word orders, but only when the relevant discourse cues are sufficiently salient in the input. The acquisition of semantic effects on object movement was native-like for a large subset of the participants. The German group performed on target in all experiments. The results are partially in line with previous studies reporting L2 convergence at the syntax–discourse interface, but suggest that input effects should also be taken into account. Furthermore, the differences between the first language (L1) English and the L1 German group suggests that non-target performance at the syntax–discourse interface is not caused by general bilingual difficulties in integrating discourse information into syntax. The article elaborates on factors that contribute to (in)complete acquisition at the syntax–discourse interface.

Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110176
Author(s):  
Timothy Gupton ◽  
Silvia Sánchez Calderón
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Discourse Interface

We examine the second language (L2) acquisition of variable Spanish word order by first language (L1) speakers of English via the acquisition of unaccusative and transitive predicates in various focus-related contexts. We employ two bimodal linguistic tasks: (1) acceptability judgment task (B-AJT) and (2) appropriateness preference task (B-APT). Both present contextualized prompts similar to previous studies, followed by response options with accompanying audio to control for intonation and pauses. Results suggest a number of key findings: (1) by the high intermediate level, L2ers acquire the relevant syntactic and syntax information structure interface competencies for both predicate types; (2) native speakers and L2 groups exhibit optionality, and only differ in nuanced ways; and (3) advanced learners show signs of acquiring syntactic and syntax–information structure competencies in numerous contexts, but display minor differences regarding optionality with corrective focus, an interface incorporating multiple interfaces (syntax–prosody pragmatics). Unlike the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis (IH), this subtle, non-native-like divergence is characterized by divergent knowledge of optionality similar to that found among native speakers. Attempting to understand more completely the development of native-speaker optionality, we also conduct a corpus study of child-directed Spanish from CHILDES and find that, although syntactic theory explains much of the data, it cannot account for all of the variability in the data. Results suggest that children are exposed to apparent optionality from the earliest stages.

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.

scholarly journals Será a interface sintaxe-discurso necessariamente um locus de opcionalidade em L2? O caso da inversão locativa em inglês L2

2017 ◽  
pp. 347-386
Author(s):  
Joana Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Intransitive Verb ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
The One ◽  
Locative Inversion

This study investigates the acquisition of locative inversion in L1 European Portuguese (EP) – L2 English and L1 French – L2 English. Its purpose is to test two opposing hypotheses on the end-state of L2 acquisition at the syntaxdiscourse interface: the Interface Hypothesis (IH) and the L1+input Hypothesis (LIH). The former proposes that the syntax-discourse/pragmatics interface is a locus of residual, but permanent, optionality, because L2 speakers are less than optimally efficient at integrating syntactic and contextual information in real-time language use as a by-product of bilingualism. The latter, in contrast, sustains that structures at this interface generate problems at highly advanced levels of proficiency iff their properties are different in the L1 and the L2 and the evidence available in the input is not transparent (e.g., because the structure is rare). By administering 2 untimed drag and drop tasks, 2 speeded acceptability judgement tasks and 1 syntactic priming task to a total of 80 participants, we tested, on the one hand, the type of intransitive verb allowed in locative inversion and, on the other, the type of discourse context in which this inversion is admitted. The results disconfirm the LIH and confirm (most of) the IH’s predictions.

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