Transfer vs. dynamic cross-linguistic interactions

In their keynote paper “The Full Transfer/Full Access model and L3 cognitive states” Schwartz & Sprouse (2021, henceforth S&S) present a thorough overview of third language (L3) acquisition transfer models by pinpointing their strong points as well as flaws of a conceptual and empirical nature. Their analysis is anchored in a principled distinction between models that are classified as representing wholesale transfer vs. those that are referred to as piecemeal or property-by-property transfer models. S&S side with the former, and level their criticism towards the latter approach. In this commentary, I would like to challenge this binary approach to debating the nature of transfer by taking an outsider’s position, i.e. that of a researcher working in a framework other than the generative one, in which the keynote paper is embedded. I will start by addressing some of the controversial points raised by S&S and then broaden the perspective by discussing the concept of transfer in L3 acquisition in the light of dynamic cross-language interactions and exploring alternative avenues in L3 research with data support from various linguistic domains.

Theory of Uncertainty Analysis With Application to Naval Hydrodynamics (Keynote Paper)

The modern methodology for quantifying the quality of experimental data is uncertainty analysis. This paper is a review of current methods with some examples primarily from naval hydrodynamics. The methods described are applicable to fluids engineering. The paper discusses the history of uncertainty analysis, US and international standards on uncertainty analysis, verification and validation standards for computational fluid dynamics, and instrument calibration. One important result is that random loading in force calibration can produce a lower uncertainty estimate than sequential loading.