scholarly journals Brief inductive learning but not explicit instruction of a new grammar can produce a Whorfian effect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyan Xue ◽  
John Williams
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Inductive Learning ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Trained Group ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Brief Training

It is known that brief training on new vocabulary and metaphors can shift how we represent concepts and categorize stimuli even when we are not using the language. But it remains unknown whether brief training on grammar can also produce such ‘Whorfian’ effects. Besides, previous studies have neglected how the way in which the language was learned might be a factor. To fill these gaps, Mandarin native speakers learned a new grammatical marker of transitivity through either inductive training or explicit instruction. In subsequent non-verbal matching task the inductively trained group based their judgments on the number of entities involved in motion events to a greater extent than controls naïve to the grammar, but the explicitly trained group did not, despite showing equivalent knowledge of the grammar in a grammaticality judgment task. We interpret the effects in terms of dynamic and unconscious top-down feedback from grammar to lower-level perceptual processes.

AGE OF ONSET, TYPE OF EXPOSURE, AND ULTIMATE ATTAINMENT OF L2 MORPHO-SYNTACTIC SENSITIVITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-823
Author(s):  
Eun-Kyoung Rosa Lee
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Third Person

AbstractThe present study examined whether early immersive L2 exposure in a foreign language learning context can yield long-term advantages in L2 morpho-syntactic sensitivity. Participants were 40 Korean university students with high English proficiency, who had either attended an English kindergarten or begun learning English in a classroom, and a control group of native English speakers. All participants performed a speeded aural grammaticality judgment task that included the following features: articles, subcategorization, plural -s, third-person -s. Results showed that the English-kindergarten group outperformed the late-classroom group in terms of accuracy for ungrammatical sentences, while the two groups did not differ significantly on grammatical sentences and in reaction time measures. The learners altogether scored higher in plural -s and third-person -s compared to articles. While the native speakers showed near-perfect accuracy and fast reaction times, the highly proficient learners were at near-chance level in detecting morpho-syntactic errors during online L2 aural processing.

L2 Grammar and L2 Processing in the Acquisition of Spanish Prepositional Relative Clauses

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVIA PERPIÑÁN
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
The One

This paper investigates the acquisition of prepositional relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Arabic speakers to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other. An oral production task and an on-line self-paced grammaticality judgment task were analyzed. Results indicated that the acquisition of oblique relative clauses is a problematic area for L2 learners. Divergent results compared to native speakers in production and grammatical intuitions were found; however, L2 reading time data showed the same real-time effects that native speakers had, suggesting that the problems with this construction are not necessarily linked to processing deficits. These results are interpreted as evidence for the ability to apply universal processing principles in a second language, and the relative independence of the processing domain and the production system.

Examining the impact of task demands on morphological variability in native and non-native Spanish*

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz López Prego ◽  
Alison Gabriele
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Perfect Performance ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact

The study tests representational and computational accounts of morphological variability in English-speaking learners of Spanish by examining performance on gender and number agreement under different task demands. Second language (L2) learners took either a Speeded grammaticality judgment task (GJT) or an Untimed GJT. The tasks targeted agreement violations of two types: errors in the use of ‘default’ morphology and errors involving ‘feature clashes’ (McCarthy, 2008). In addition, three groups of native speakers took the Speeded GJT at three different presentation rates to examine whether native speakers under a processing burden perform similarly to learners. Natives in the fastest speed performed better with feature clash errors for both gender and number. Learners showed the same pattern for number, but performed better with default errors in gender, suggesting different effects of processing demands for properties unique to the L2. On the Untimed GJT, a subset of advanced learners showed perfect performance with both gender and number.

Verb movement in the L2 acquisition of English by adult native speakers of French

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 35-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Ayoun
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
School Students ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
Adverb Placement ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This study investigates the acquisition of English verb movement phenomena by two groups of adult French native speakers: a group of secondary school students and a group of university students. A group of English native speakers served as controls. Participants were administered a written questionnaire composed of a controlled production task, a grammaticality judgment task, and a preference/grammaticality judgment task, to test acquisition of the syntactic properties associated with the verb movement parameter (Pollock 1989, 1997). Instead of substantiating the anecdotal evidence that suggests that adverb placement errors persist into very advanced stages of English L2 acquisition, the present data support the successful acquisition of English adverb placement by French native speakers. It is argued that the advanced group has acquired the appropriate L2 parametric value as measured by the controlled production task; while results on the other two tasks are explained by performance effects.

Verb movement in French L2 acquisition

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Ayoun
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Parameter Resetting

This study investigates the acquisition of verb movement phenomena in the interlanguage of English native speakers learning French as a second language. Participants (n=83), who were enrolled in three different classes, were given a grammaticality judgment task and a production task. The French native speakers' results (n=85) go against certain theoretical predictions for negation and adverb placement in nonfinite contexts, as well as for quantification at a distance. The production task results, but not the grammaticality judgment results, support the hypothesis that the effects of parameter resetting successfully appear in the interlanguage of adult L2 learners.

The diffusion of impositional innovations in the Estonian object-marking system

Diachronica ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-344
Author(s):  
Martin Ehala
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
School Students ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Weak Contact

This study aims to specify to what extent the variation introduced in the Estonian object-marking system by Russian-dominant Estonian L2 speakers is spreading to the native usage of Estonian. 669 secondary school students completed a written production task and a grammaticality judgment task on object marking. The results indicate that the object-marking variation is contact-induced and that the group of fluent bilinguals acts as a bridge for impositional innovations to enter and to be accepted by native speakers. The findings also suggest that multiple causal forces influence the diffusion of innovations. While any single causal factor may drive diffusion if it is strong enough, the process is greatly facilitated when different causal factors contribute to the same direction. In this case, fairly weak contact is sufficient to induce diffusion.

scholarly journals From a simple to a complex aspectual system: Feature reassembly in L2 acquisition of Chinese imperfective markers by English speakers

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832091143
Author(s):  
Yanyu Guo
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Imperfective Aspect ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Feature Reassembly ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
English Speaking

This article reports on an empirical study on the acquisition of Chinese imperfective markers ( zai, - zheP and - zheR) by English-speaking learners at three proficiency levels. Compared to English, Chinese has a richer imperfective aspect in terms of markers (forms) and features (meanings). Results are presented from a grammaticality judgment task, a sentence–picture matching task and a sentence completeness judgment task. We find that advanced learners are successful in reassembling additional semantic features (e.g. the [+durative] feature of zai and the [+atelic] feature of -zheP) when the first language (L1) and second language (L2) functional categories to which the to-be-added features belong are the same. However, advanced learners have problems in differentiating between the interpretations of the progressive zai and the resultant-stative - zheR, and are not sensitive to the incompleteness effect of - zheP, which indicates that discarding L1-transferred features is arduous for learners. Our findings, in general, support the predictions of the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2009). In addition, there is some evidence obtained for L1 influence, which persists at an advanced stage.

scholarly journals Heritage Language Learners and Automaticity: The Use of "por" and "para"

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie J. Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Declarative Knowledge ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Growing Body

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of the Spanish prepositions por and para (P&P) by heritage-language (HL) learners to analyze whether they demonstrate automaticity in their application, as is common with L1 Spanish speakers (i.e. “it just sounds right”), or if they rely on the conscious, declarative knowledge of the prescriptive uses of these prepositions, as is common with speakers for whom Spanish is an L2. Upper and lower HL learners and upper and lower FL learners (non-HL learners) were asked to complete a cloze test and a grammaticality judgment task and were asked to explain their judgments. The explanations given by students provide a glimpse into the type of knowledge, whether declarative or procedural, that students tap into when using P&P. This study found that while FL learners relied on declarative knowledge in the application of P&P, HL learners demonstrated a level of automaticity and procedural knowledge in their use of these prepositions. This suggests that HL learners have internalized the uses of P&P though communicative exposure throughout their childhood, which may be more effective than the explicit instruction FL learners have received on these structures. This study aims to add to the growing body of literature on heritage language processes and development.

WE COULD HAVE LOVED AND LOST, OR WE NEVER COULD HAVE LOVE AT ALL

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Conroy ◽  
Linda Cupples
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Syntactic Information ◽  
Late Closure ◽  
Category Frequency

This study investigated sentence-processing strategies adopted by advanced nonnative speakers (NNSs) and native speakers (NSs) of English in the context of an English structure with which NNSs reportedly have an acquisition difficulty (e.g., Swan & Smith, 2001)—namely, modal perfect (MP). Participants read MP sentences such as He could have worked at the shoe factory and closely related analogous sentences (e.g., He could have work at the shoe factory), and reading times and errors were measured in an online grammaticality-judgment task. It was hypothesized that NSs would have a processing preference for MP sentences compared to the analogues, reflecting the primacy of syntactic information in NS processing and a preference for late closure, whereas NNSs would show no such preference because they rely less on syntactic information when processing sentences. The results revealed, however, that both NSs and NNSs read MP sentences more quickly and with fewer errors than the closely related analogues, consistent with a processing preference for MP sentences. Both groups were also influenced by word-category frequency information, which moderated, but did not fundamentally alter, their syntactic preference for MP. The significance of these findings is discussed in terms of models of second-language sentence processing and NNSs’ reported MP acquisition difficulty.

Initial processing of morphological marking in nonnative language acquisition

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 139-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Hinz ◽  
Carina Krause ◽  
Rebekah Rast ◽  
Ellenor M. Shoemaker ◽  
Marzena Watorek
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Novel Target ◽  
Initial Processing ◽  
Nominal Morphology ◽  
New System

This paper addresses the question of how learners break into a novel morpho-syntactic system, extract elements of this new system from the input they receive, process them, and begin to acquire the new system. The data for this project were collected as part of a large European project (VILLA – Varieties of Initial Learners in Language Acquisition) comparing the processes of perception, comprehension, and production during the acquisition of a novel target language (Polish) in adults of different source languages within the first hours of instruction under controlled input conditions. Two experiments, a grammaticality judgment task and an oral question-answer task, were conducted longitudinally to investigate learners’ perception and use of Polish nominal morphology in two groups of adults (French and German native speakers) after 4.5 hours and after 10.5 hours of instruction. In addition to contributing new insights into the role of the source language in the initial stages of acquisition, results speak to the influence of overall exposure to the input, and reveal interesting interactions between factors such as the frequency of a lexical item in the input and its transparency relative to the learner’s source language.

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