This study compared word-prosodic abilities of early second language learners (eL2) and monolingual learners of German. We examined the production of word-initial and word-final clusters and the placement of stress and analyzed potential effects of cross-linguistic influence (CLI). Monolingual German-speaking children (n = 38) and eL2-learners of German (n = 26; age of onset to German 24 to 41 months) aged between 53 and 60 months completed a pseudoword repetition task following the metrical and phonotactic constraints of German. We collected background information via parental questionnaires. The eL2-learners acquired 12 different L1s. To explore the effects of CLI, we grouped the heritage languages by the number of consonants permitted in word-initial and word-final position, the segmental make-up of clusters, and stress patterns. The production accuracy of word-initial clusters and word stress was very high, indicating a high degree of maturation and showing no effects of CLI. In contrast, the production accuracy of word-final clusters was lower and effects of CLI were found, presumably related to smaller sonority distances compared to word-initial clusters. The study contributes empirically to the under-investigated area of eL2 word-prosodic development.
{"title":"The acquisition of consonant clusters and word stress by early second language learners of German","authors":"Angela Grimm, Ulrike Domahs","doi":"10.1075/lab.21026.gri","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21026.gri","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study compared word-prosodic abilities of early second language learners (eL2) and monolingual learners of\u0000 German. We examined the production of word-initial and word-final clusters and the placement of stress and analyzed potential\u0000 effects of cross-linguistic influence (CLI). Monolingual German-speaking children (n = 38) and eL2-learners of\u0000 German (n = 26; age of onset to German 24 to 41 months) aged between 53 and 60 months completed a pseudoword\u0000 repetition task following the metrical and phonotactic constraints of German. We collected background information via parental\u0000 questionnaires. The eL2-learners acquired 12 different L1s. To explore the effects of CLI, we grouped the heritage languages by\u0000 the number of consonants permitted in word-initial and word-final position, the segmental make-up of clusters, and stress\u0000 patterns. The production accuracy of word-initial clusters and word stress was very high, indicating a high degree of maturation\u0000 and showing no effects of CLI. In contrast, the production accuracy of word-final clusters was lower and effects of CLI were\u0000 found, presumably related to smaller sonority distances compared to word-initial clusters. The study contributes empirically to\u0000 the under-investigated area of eL2 word-prosodic development.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138979188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Listeners use linguistic cues to anticipate upcoming words, but not all do so to the same extent. While we know that monolingual children use prediction during spoken language processing from a young age and that adult L2 speakers may sometimes be slower, very few studies have focused on bilingual or multilingual children. Moreover, previous research suggests that literacy boosts anticipation in spoken language processing, but this has not been tested yet in bi/multilinguals. We investigated linguistic prediction and its relation to reading and vocabulary skills in 38 eight- to twelve-year-old bilingual and multilingual children who speak different heritage languages and Italian as the majority language, in comparison to 32 age-matched monolingual Italian children. Using a visual world eye tracking method, we tested children’s ability to anticipate nouns based on morphosyntactic cues (gender- and number-marked articles) in Italian. The results show efficient prediction in both groups, although monolinguals were faster than bi/multilinguals. While we found a positive relation between predictive language processing and reading in monolingual children, there were no reliable effects in bilingual and multilingual children. Future work is required to better understand the relation between prediction and literacy in this population.
{"title":"Prediction during spoken language processing in monolingual and multilingual children","authors":"Jasmijn E. Bosch, F. Foppolo","doi":"10.1075/lab.22099.bos","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22099.bos","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Listeners use linguistic cues to anticipate upcoming words, but not all do so to the same extent. While we know\u0000 that monolingual children use prediction during spoken language processing from a young age and that adult L2 speakers may\u0000 sometimes be slower, very few studies have focused on bilingual or multilingual children. Moreover, previous research suggests\u0000 that literacy boosts anticipation in spoken language processing, but this has not been tested yet in bi/multilinguals. We\u0000 investigated linguistic prediction and its relation to reading and vocabulary skills in 38 eight- to twelve-year-old bilingual and\u0000 multilingual children who speak different heritage languages and Italian as the majority language, in comparison to 32 age-matched\u0000 monolingual Italian children. Using a visual world eye tracking method, we tested children’s ability to anticipate nouns based on\u0000 morphosyntactic cues (gender- and number-marked articles) in Italian. The results show efficient prediction in both groups,\u0000 although monolinguals were faster than bi/multilinguals. While we found a positive relation between predictive language processing\u0000 and reading in monolingual children, there were no reliable effects in bilingual and multilingual children. Future work is\u0000 required to better understand the relation between prediction and literacy in this population.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"20 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138978699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reviewers for Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism in 2022 and 2023","authors":"","doi":"10.1075/lab.00036.edi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.00036.edi","url":null,"abstract":"<div></div>","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138532345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giuditta Smith, Roberta Spelorzi, Antonella Sorace, Maria Garraffa
Abstract The phenomenon of language change in contact has been explored most significantly in speakers of a language who migrate, while fewer studies explore how language is affected across different generations. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of inter-generational attrition on the production of clitic pronouns and clitic clusters. 86 adult speakers of Italian took part in the study: homeland residents, long-term UK residents, and heritage speakers born and living in the UK from Italian families. Participants were tested on the production of different instances of clitic pronouns including clusters, a novelty of the study, and differences in response distribution were analysed with General Additive Models. Results reveal that the homeland population shows a strong preference for the production of clitics and clitic clusters, long-term residents retain a preference for clitics but not clusters, and heritage speakers disfavour the use of both clitics and clusters across the board, preferring the use of lexical items. This neat pattern of use across generations of migrants suggests a loss of the specificity and preference of clitics through language transmission between different generations of speakers of Italian removed from the homeland and immersed in a non-clitic language.
{"title":"Inter-generational attrition","authors":"Giuditta Smith, Roberta Spelorzi, Antonella Sorace, Maria Garraffa","doi":"10.1075/lab.23002.smi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.23002.smi","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The phenomenon of language change in contact has been explored most significantly in speakers of a language who migrate, while fewer studies explore how language is affected across different generations. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of inter-generational attrition on the production of clitic pronouns and clitic clusters. 86 adult speakers of Italian took part in the study: homeland residents, long-term UK residents, and heritage speakers born and living in the UK from Italian families. Participants were tested on the production of different instances of clitic pronouns including clusters, a novelty of the study, and differences in response distribution were analysed with General Additive Models. Results reveal that the homeland population shows a strong preference for the production of clitics and clitic clusters, long-term residents retain a preference for clitics but not clusters, and heritage speakers disfavour the use of both clitics and clusters across the board, preferring the use of lexical items. This neat pattern of use across generations of migrants suggests a loss of the specificity and preference of clitics through language transmission between different generations of speakers of Italian removed from the homeland and immersed in a non-clitic language.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"39 6","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134901631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elly Koutamanis, Gerrit Jan Kootstra, Ton Dijkstra, Sharon Unsworth
Abstract We examined the extent to which cognate facilitation effects occurred in simultaneous bilingual children’s production and comprehension and how these were modulated by language dominance and language context. Bilingual Dutch-German children, ranging from Dutch-dominant to German-dominant, performed picture naming and auditory lexical decision tasks in single-language and dual-language contexts. Language context was manipulated with respect to the language of communication (with the experimenter and in instructional videos) and by means of proficiency tasks. Cognate facilitation effects emerged in both production and comprehension and interacted with both dominance and context. In a single-language context, stronger cognate facilitation effects were found for picture naming in children’s less dominant language, in line with previous studies on individual differences in lexical activation. In the dual-language context, this pattern was reversed, suggesting inhibition of the dominant language at the decision level. Similar effects were observed in lexical decision. These findings provide evidence for an integrated bilingual lexicon in simultaneous bilingual children and shed more light on the complex interplay between lexicon-internal and lexicon-external factors modulating the extent of lexical cross-linguistic influence more generally.
{"title":"Cognate facilitation in single- and dual-language contexts in bilingual children’s word processing","authors":"Elly Koutamanis, Gerrit Jan Kootstra, Ton Dijkstra, Sharon Unsworth","doi":"10.1075/lab.23009.kou","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.23009.kou","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We examined the extent to which cognate facilitation effects occurred in simultaneous bilingual children’s production and comprehension and how these were modulated by language dominance and language context. Bilingual Dutch-German children, ranging from Dutch-dominant to German-dominant, performed picture naming and auditory lexical decision tasks in single-language and dual-language contexts. Language context was manipulated with respect to the language of communication (with the experimenter and in instructional videos) and by means of proficiency tasks. Cognate facilitation effects emerged in both production and comprehension and interacted with both dominance and context. In a single-language context, stronger cognate facilitation effects were found for picture naming in children’s less dominant language, in line with previous studies on individual differences in lexical activation. In the dual-language context, this pattern was reversed, suggesting inhibition of the dominant language at the decision level. Similar effects were observed in lexical decision. These findings provide evidence for an integrated bilingual lexicon in simultaneous bilingual children and shed more light on the complex interplay between lexicon-internal and lexicon-external factors modulating the extent of lexical cross-linguistic influence more generally.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"79 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135615990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study investigates Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Italian speakers from two dialectal areas–North and South Italy–learning Spanish. Southern Italo-Romance varieties exhibit a DOM system through a-marking, like Spanish, whereas the Northern varieties, like Standard Italian, only allow DOM with pronouns. Given the structural differences and similarities among these typologically close languages, we ask whether a stigmatized oral regional variety has the potential to transfer in the acquisition of additional languages. Participants (n = 103) completed an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and an oral production task testing DOM in [±animate, ±definite] DP contexts. The results revealed differences modulated by proficiency in the written AJT that moderately favored the Northern learners and in the oral production task that favored the Southern learners. These findings suggest that low-prestige varieties may not have the full potential to transfer at early stages of acquisition due to their inhibition in formal contexts, but that they can emerge in less formal tasks. We argue that current theoretical models that prioritize linguistic proximity as the primary source of transfer at initial stages of L3 acquisition are unable to capture revealing patterns from understudied sociolinguistic contexts that bring new light to the study of multilingualism.
{"title":"Does your regional variety help you acquire an additional language?","authors":"Sílvia Perpiñán, Silvina Montrul","doi":"10.1075/lab.22057.per","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22057.per","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Italian speakers from two dialectal areas–North and\u0000 South Italy–learning Spanish. Southern Italo-Romance varieties exhibit a DOM system through a-marking, like\u0000 Spanish, whereas the Northern varieties, like Standard Italian, only allow DOM with pronouns. Given the structural differences and\u0000 similarities among these typologically close languages, we ask whether a stigmatized oral regional variety has the potential to\u0000 transfer in the acquisition of additional languages. Participants (n = 103) completed an acceptability judgment\u0000 task (AJT) and an oral production task testing DOM in [±animate, ±definite] DP contexts. The results revealed differences\u0000 modulated by proficiency in the written AJT that moderately favored the Northern learners and in the oral production task that\u0000 favored the Southern learners. These findings suggest that low-prestige varieties may not have the full potential to transfer at\u0000 early stages of acquisition due to their inhibition in formal contexts, but that they can emerge in less formal tasks. We argue\u0000 that current theoretical models that prioritize linguistic proximity as the primary source of transfer at initial stages of L3 acquisition are\u0000 unable to capture revealing patterns from understudied sociolinguistic contexts that bring new light to the study of\u0000 multilingualism.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136033419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guro Busterud, Anne Dahl, Dave Kush, Kjersti Faldet Listhaug
Abstract This article explores cross-linguistic influence and the relationship between surface structure and underlying syntactic structure in L3 acquisition of verb placement in L1 Norwegian L2 English learners of L3 German or French, respectively. In these languages, verb placement varies systematically. Previous research has found transfer from both L1 and L2 in similar language combinations. Using an acceptability judgment task, we tested verb placement in non-subject-initial and subject-initial sentences. Findings indicate that L3 French learners performed better on non-subject-initial sentences compared to subject-initial sentences, whereas the opposite was the case in L3 German. We argue that our findings can be explained by a generative account of verb movement and are compatible with an analysis where verbs do not move, or do not move far enough, in the L3 learners’ underlying syntactic representation. Following the assumption that verb movement is a costly operation, we argue that the syntactic operation verb movement is constrained by principles of economy in L3 acquisition, and that economy plays a role in determining cross-linguistic influence in multilingual acquisition. Our account is compatible with a uniform analysis of the acquisition of verb movement in L1, L2 and L3, and underlines the qualitative similarities in different acquisition processes.
{"title":"Verb placement in L3 French and L3 German","authors":"Guro Busterud, Anne Dahl, Dave Kush, Kjersti Faldet Listhaug","doi":"10.1075/lab.22058.bus","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22058.bus","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article explores cross-linguistic influence and the relationship between surface structure and underlying syntactic structure in L3 acquisition of verb placement in L1 Norwegian L2 English learners of L3 German or French, respectively. In these languages, verb placement varies systematically. Previous research has found transfer from both L1 and L2 in similar language combinations. Using an acceptability judgment task, we tested verb placement in non-subject-initial and subject-initial sentences. Findings indicate that L3 French learners performed better on non-subject-initial sentences compared to subject-initial sentences, whereas the opposite was the case in L3 German. We argue that our findings can be explained by a generative account of verb movement and are compatible with an analysis where verbs do not move, or do not move far enough, in the L3 learners’ underlying syntactic representation. Following the assumption that verb movement is a costly operation, we argue that the syntactic operation verb movement is constrained by principles of economy in L3 acquisition, and that economy plays a role in determining cross-linguistic influence in multilingual acquisition. Our account is compatible with a uniform analysis of the acquisition of verb movement in L1, L2 and L3, and underlines the qualitative similarities in different acquisition processes.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136033181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper investigates the role of structural priming in cross-linguistic influence, a well-established yet poorly understood characteristic of bilingual language development. More specifically, we test the proposal that cross-linguistic influence may be conceptualized as between-language priming, that is, as the result of prior linguistic exposure ( Serratrice, 2016 ) and shared syntactic representations between languages ( Hartsuiker et al., 2004 ). In Experiment 1, we primed bilingual English-Dutch children between languages using possessive structures (e.g., the astronaut’s dog, the dog of the astronaut ). In Experiment 2, we compared the same group of children with bilingual Spanish-Dutch and monolingual Dutch children using within-language priming. Within-language priming was stronger than between-language priming. In both experiments, we examined the relation between priming behaviour and individual differences in language exposure, use and proficiency. Experiment 1 found between-language priming with long-lasting effects modulated by proficiency. The results of Experiment 2 were consistent with inverse priming effects in within-language priming modulated – to a degree – by properties of the bilingual children’s other language. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the proposal that between-language priming is a plausible mechanism underpinning cross-linguistic influence and that bilingual children develop shared syntactic representations for structures which are similar across their two languages.
摘要:本文探讨了结构启动在跨语言影响中的作用，这是双语语言发展的一个公认但却鲜为人知的特征。更具体地说，我们测试了跨语言影响可能被概念化为语言间启动的提议，即作为先前语言暴露(Serratrice, 2016)和语言之间共享句法表征(Hartsuiker et al.， 2004)的结果。在实验1中，我们使用所有格结构(例如，宇航员的狗，宇航员的狗)在语言之间启动双语英语-荷兰儿童。在实验2中，我们使用语言内启动对同一组儿童与西班牙-荷兰双语儿童和单语荷兰儿童进行了比较。语言内启动强于语言间启动。在这两个实验中，我们研究了启动行为与语言暴露、使用和熟练程度的个体差异之间的关系。实验1发现语言间启动的持久效应受熟练程度的调节。实验2的结果与语言内启动的逆启动效应一致，该效应在一定程度上受双语儿童其他语言特性的调节。综上所述，这些发现与以下观点一致:语言间启动是支持跨语言影响的合理机制，双语儿童对两种语言中相似的结构形成了共同的句法表征。
{"title":"Shared syntax and cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children","authors":"Sharon Unsworth","doi":"10.1075/lab.22093.uns","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22093.uns","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the role of structural priming in cross-linguistic influence, a well-established yet poorly understood characteristic of bilingual language development. More specifically, we test the proposal that cross-linguistic influence may be conceptualized as between-language priming, that is, as the result of prior linguistic exposure ( Serratrice, 2016 ) and shared syntactic representations between languages ( Hartsuiker et al., 2004 ). In Experiment 1, we primed bilingual English-Dutch children between languages using possessive structures (e.g., the astronaut’s dog, the dog of the astronaut ). In Experiment 2, we compared the same group of children with bilingual Spanish-Dutch and monolingual Dutch children using within-language priming. Within-language priming was stronger than between-language priming. In both experiments, we examined the relation between priming behaviour and individual differences in language exposure, use and proficiency. Experiment 1 found between-language priming with long-lasting effects modulated by proficiency. The results of Experiment 2 were consistent with inverse priming effects in within-language priming modulated – to a degree – by properties of the bilingual children’s other language. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the proposal that between-language priming is a plausible mechanism underpinning cross-linguistic influence and that bilingual children develop shared syntactic representations for structures which are similar across their two languages.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"2014 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136294332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Individual variation in heritage language (HL) outcomes does not seem to be random. Instead, this variation can be related to the specific exposure and use patterns heritage speakers (HSs) have with their languages in the contexts they reside. In this study, we present data from 38 child HSs of Persian in English dominant contexts (in New Zealand and the UK), their mothers as well as a control group of age-matched monolinguals in Iran. All participants completed a film-retelling task from which their lexical sophistication (LS) and clausal density (CD) were measured. In addition, the HSs’ mothers completed a sociolinguistic questionnaire for their children which was used to calculate proxies for language experiences. Out of the two linguistic measures, the HSs differed from monolinguals only in LS scores. Regarding the relationship between HSs’ linguistic scores and language experiences, Random Forest analyses showed HL literacy to be the most important variable for the CD scores; while it was the HSs’ age-at-testing for LS. The mothers’ scores were only important for the HSs’ LS scores. This study contributes to the ongoing discussions on the nature of HL development, outcomes and individual variation.
{"title":"Lexical and morphosyntactic variation in Persian heritage language outcomes","authors":"Khadij Gharibi, Fatih Bayram, Gustavo Guajardo","doi":"10.1075/lab.21052.gha","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21052.gha","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Individual variation in heritage language (HL) outcomes does not seem to be random. Instead, this variation can be related to the specific exposure and use patterns heritage speakers (HSs) have with their languages in the contexts they reside. In this study, we present data from 38 child HSs of Persian in English dominant contexts (in New Zealand and the UK), their mothers as well as a control group of age-matched monolinguals in Iran. All participants completed a film-retelling task from which their lexical sophistication (LS) and clausal density (CD) were measured. In addition, the HSs’ mothers completed a sociolinguistic questionnaire for their children which was used to calculate proxies for language experiences. Out of the two linguistic measures, the HSs differed from monolinguals only in LS scores. Regarding the relationship between HSs’ linguistic scores and language experiences, Random Forest analyses showed HL literacy to be the most important variable for the CD scores; while it was the HSs’ age-at-testing for LS. The mothers’ scores were only important for the HSs’ LS scores. This study contributes to the ongoing discussions on the nature of HL development, outcomes and individual variation.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136294630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract A substantial body of research has investigated null arguments in L2 Chinese, showing that they can be native-like. However, recent linguistic research has demonstrated convincingly that some ‘missing’ arguments in Chinese should be viewed not as ‘null’ arguments but as a result of movement and ellipsis. These advances necessitate a revaluation of the issue of ‘null’ arguments in previous L2 studies which largely overlooked the role of ellipsis in accounting for missing arguments in L2 Chinese. To fill the lacuna, this study recognises the above recent advances and examines whether missing objects in English speakers’ L2 Chinese parallel sentences are a result of verb raising and VP ellipsis and are genuinely native-like. Results of a picture-description task and an acceptability judgement task suggest that although L2ers, like native Chinese speakers, can accept and produce missing objects in Chinese, their native-like performance is driven by mechanisms different from those of native Chinese speakers (i.e., the missing objects are erroneously used as null objects in L2 Chinese). The findings advance our understanding of L1 vs. L2 different mechanisms for phonetically unrealised objects in Chinese, suggesting that what looks native-like in L2 may not necessarily be native-like.
{"title":"What looks native-like may not necessarily be native-like","authors":"Lilong Xu, Boping Yuan","doi":"10.1075/lab.22090.xu","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22090.xu","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A substantial body of research has investigated null arguments in L2 Chinese, showing that they can be native-like. However, recent linguistic research has demonstrated convincingly that some ‘missing’ arguments in Chinese should be viewed not as ‘null’ arguments but as a result of movement and ellipsis. These advances necessitate a revaluation of the issue of ‘null’ arguments in previous L2 studies which largely overlooked the role of ellipsis in accounting for missing arguments in L2 Chinese. To fill the lacuna, this study recognises the above recent advances and examines whether missing objects in English speakers’ L2 Chinese parallel sentences are a result of verb raising and VP ellipsis and are genuinely native-like. Results of a picture-description task and an acceptability judgement task suggest that although L2ers, like native Chinese speakers, can accept and produce missing objects in Chinese, their native-like performance is driven by mechanisms different from those of native Chinese speakers (i.e., the missing objects are erroneously used as null objects in L2 Chinese). The findings advance our understanding of L1 vs. L2 different mechanisms for phonetically unrealised objects in Chinese, suggesting that what looks native-like in L2 may not necessarily be native-like.","PeriodicalId":48664,"journal":{"name":"Linguistic Approaches To Bilingualism","volume":"111 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134912463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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