scholarly journals What Can L2ers Tell Us about Codeswitching? Mood Selection in Spanish

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
Nick Feroce ◽  
Ana de Prada Pérez ◽  
Lillian Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Community Norms ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Structures ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

An increasing amount of research shows that bilinguals that engage in codeswitching (CS) may show different patterns of usage and sensitivity to particular linguistic structures depending on community norms. Additionally, proficiency may play a different role in sensitivity to code-switched utterances depending on speaker background, as well as the structure investigated. In this study, we aim to examine how bilinguals not exposed to CS in the community rate CS vs. unilingual sentences involving mood selection in Spanish. In an online acceptability judgment task (AJT), 20 Spanish L2ers rated sentences containing verbs in the indicative and subjunctive mood in restrictive relative clauses manipulated for the specificity of the antecedent in two separate sessions: a Spanish monolingual mode and a CS session. The L2ers did not show evidence of a CS effect and maintained a mood distinction according to the specificity of the antecedent both in unilingual and codeswitched sentences. These results are in contrast with the results previously reported for Spanish heritage speakers (HSs), where a CS effect is attested in the loss of preference for the subjunctive in nonspecific relative clauses in the CS vs. the monolingual Spanish condition. Additionally, this distinction is found at both lower and higher proficiency levels. The differences between these speakers and HSs are consistent with data from previous research on CS effects on phonology and Det–N switches. We argue that exposure to community norms is necessary for the acquisition of patterns not related exclusively to the grammaticality of switch junctures (I-language).

The use of default forms in codeswitching

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana de Prada Pérez ◽  
Nicholas Feroce ◽  
Lillian Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Restrictive Relative Clauses ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract This paper examines the effects that codeswitching (CS) has on mood selection in restrictive relative clauses in the Spanish of heritage speakers (HSs). Spanish HS participants completed an online acceptability judgment task in which they rated monolingual (i.e., unilingual) and codeswitched sentences containing verbs in indicative and subjunctive mood in restrictive relative clauses manipulated for specificity of the antecedent. The results indicated an association of the subjunctive with non-specificity in monolingual sentences that was lost in the codeswitched sentences, although this effect was modulated by proficiency. These results are discussed in terms of the use of default forms in CS.

How similar are adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVINA MONTRUL
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

ABSTRACTRecent studies of heritage speakers, many of whom possess incomplete knowledge of their family language, suggest that these speakers may be linguistically superior to second language (L2) learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. This study reexamines this claim by focusing on knowledge of clitic pronouns and word order in 24 L2 learners and 24 Spanish heritage speakers. Results of an oral production task, a written grammaticality judgment task, and a speeded comprehension task showed that, overall, heritage speakers seem to possess more nativelike knowledge of Spanish than their L2 counterparts. Implications for theories that stress the role of age and experience in L2 ultimate attainment and for the field of heritage language acquisition and teaching are discussed.

On the role of experience and age-related effects: Evidence from the Spanish CP

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study examines and compares the extent to which advanced L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers acquire the syntactic and semantic properties that regulate the grammatical representation of double complementizer questions in Spanish, a CP-related structure not present in English. Results from an aural sentence completion task, an acceptability judgment task, and a preference task indicate significant differences between the two experimental groups and the monolingual controls. However, the heritage speakers outperformed the L2 learners in their target use and interpretation, which suggests a linguistic benefit for earlier exposure and use of Spanish during childhood. We propose that the differences observed among the L2 learners and the heritage speakers can be accounted for in terms of cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language as well as language experience and age of onset of bilingualism as an interrelated dimension in L2 and heritage language development.

Re-examining the role of mood selection type in Spanish heritage speakers’ subjunctive production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Perez-Cortes
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Abstract Verbal morphology is a particularly vulnerable domain in the grammars of Spanish heritage speakers (HSs). Among the most frequently studied phenomena is mood selection, identified as a pervasive locus of variability that affects the production of subjunctive more prominently. The present article explores this area of research by examining the effects of mood selection type on HSs’ subjunctive use. In contrast with previous studies, this investigation controls for propositional modality, focusing its analyses on instances of obligatory and variable subjunctive selection within deontic predicates. Results from a production task revealed that, despite the presence of between-group differences driven by participants’ levels of proficiency, type of selection did not significantly modulate their rates of subjunctive use. These findings challenge previous claims about the extent to which this factor affects Spanish HSs’ performance, and highlight the importance of considering propositional modality when examining the acquisition of mood.

Narrow presentational focus in heritage Spanish and the syntax‒discourse interface

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley Hoot
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Specific Vulnerability ◽  
Discourse Pragmatics ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract The grammars of bilinguals have been found to differ from those of monolinguals especially with regard to phenomena that involve the interface of syntax and discourse/pragmatics. This paper examines one syntax‒discourse interface phenomenon – presentational focus – in the grammars of heritage speakers of Spanish. The results of a contextualized acceptability judgment task indicate that lower proficiency heritage speakers show some variability in the structures they accept to realize focus, whereas higher proficiency heritage bilinguals pattern with monolinguals. These results suggest that some explanations of domain-specific vulnerability in bilingual grammars, including the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), may need to be revised.

scholarly journals Transfer Effects at the Syntax-Semantics Interface: The Case of Double-que Questions in Heritage Spanish

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-89
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

This study examines the role of transfer from English in the acquisition of double-que questions in Spanish among 17 heritage speakers in the US. Results from an elicited production task, an acceptability judgment task and a preference task revealed significant difficulties in the production and acceptability of double-que questions. In contrast with interface vulnerability approaches suggesting no difficulties at the syntax-semantics interface, the participants showed a decreased level of use of double-que structures and no distinction in their acceptability of statements versus questions. However, results from the preference task showed sensitivity to double-que questions among 10 of 17 heritage speakers. It appears that only when the two structures are presented together were the heritage speakers able to perceive the semantic shift introduced by the double-que. The results suggest that transfer from the other language prevents the complete acquisition of these properties even at high levels of bilingual proficiency.

Early language experience facilitates the processing of gender agreement in Spanish heritage speakers

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVINA MONTRUL ◽  
JUSTIN DAVIDSON ◽  
ISRAEL DE LA FUENTE ◽  
REBECCA FOOTE
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Monitoring Task ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

We examined how age of acquisition in Spanish heritage speakers and L2 learners interacts with implicitness vs. explicitness of tasks in gender processing of canonical and non-canonical ending nouns. Twenty-three Spanish native speakers, 29 heritage speakers, and 33 proficiency-matched L2 learners completed three on-line spoken word recognition experiments involving gender monitoring, grammaticality judgment, and word repetition. All three experimental tasks required participants to listen to grammatical and ungrammatical Spanish noun phrases (determiner–adjective–noun) but systematically varied the type of response required of them. The results of the Gender Monitoring Task (GMT) and the Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) revealed significant grammaticality effects for all groups in accuracy and speed, but in the Word Repetition Task (WRT), the native speakers and the heritage speakers showed a grammaticality effect, while the L2 learners did not. Noun canonicity greatly affected processing in the two experimental groups. We suggest that input frequency and reduced language use affect retrieval of non-canonical ending nouns from declarative memory in L2 learners and heritage speakers more so than in native speakers. Native-like processing of gender in the WRT by the heritage speakers is likely related to context of acquisition and particular experience with oral production.

scholarly journals Relativas cortadoras: mover e cortar? Ou cortar antes de mover?

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-175
Author(s):  
Ana Espírito Santo
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Null Element ◽  
Syntactic Derivation ◽  
Acceptability Judgment ◽  
Object Relative

With this article, we aim at providing an answer to two main theoretical questions: what is the syntactic derivation of European Portuguese P-chopping relative clauses? And what is the nature of the phonetically and semantically null element that integrates them? We also attempt to identify constants that allow us to predict other lexical contexts for the occurrence of P-chopping relative clauses other than the ones already described in the literature. We support our conclusions with the data collected in an acceptability judgment task that included 76 native speakers. Our proposal is a derivation for P-chopping relative clauses similar to the existing one for direct object relative clauses, assuming that the null element that integrates them has the properties of a variable.

scholarly journals Mood Selection in Relative Clauses by French–Spanish Bilinguals: Contrasts and Similarities between L2 and Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Anahí Alba de la Fuente ◽  
Maura Cruz Enríquez ◽  
Hugues Lacroix
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Task Modality

In this paper, we explore three issues related to the acquisition of mood selection in Spanish relative clauses by second language (L2) and heritage (HL) speakers of Spanish: (1) whether HL speakers are more native-like than L2 learners; (2) whether the speakers’ performance differs depending on task modality (written vs. oral), since HL speakers are known to perform better in oral tasks and L2 learners tend to do better in written tasks; and (3) whether knowledge of French as an L1/dominant language (DL) has an impact on the acquisition of Spanish subjunctive, since both languages include this mood in their grammars, but it is used more productively in Spanish. Results from a sentence combination felicity task (SCFT) in Spanish—in written and oral forms—and a written elicited production task (EPT) in French, administered to advanced L2 and HL speakers of Spanish whose L1/DL is French and two monolingual (Spanish and French) control groups, revealed that L2 learners pattern more closely with the control group than HL speakers in the SCFT, both written and orally. In the EPT, all bilingual speakers display higher levels of subjunctive use than the control group, showing a potential influence from the L2/weaker language on the L1/DL.

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