Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T12:39:38.692Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

28 - Using Artificial Languages to Study Third Language Learning and Processing

from Part VI - Research Methods in L3/Ln

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2023

By
Sarah Grey
Edited by
Jennifer Cabrelli ,
Adel Chaouch-Orozco ,
Jorge González Alonso ,
Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares ,
Eloi Puig-Mayenco  and
Jason Rothman
Jennifer Cabrelli
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Adel Chaouch-Orozco
Affiliation:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Jorge González Alonso
Affiliation:
Universidad Nebrija, Spain and UiT, Arctic University of Norway
Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Eloi Puig-Mayenco
Affiliation:
King's College London
Jason Rothman
Affiliation:
UiT, Arctic University of Norway and Universidad Nebrija, Spain
Get access

Summary

Artificial linguistic systems are useful for investigating aspects of adult language learning. These systems are typically composed of a lexicon and a set of grammatical rules. Such systems provide advantages for the study of third language acquisition. For example, they enable researchers to control the amount and type of language exposure as well as crosslinguistic similarity to learners’ known languages. This chapter discusses the use of artificial linguistic systems as a methodological tool for investigating topics in adult third language learning, including the effects of first- and second-language transfer on third language learning and potential bilingual advantages in grammar learning. The chapter considers three subtypes of artificial linguistic systems: artificial languages, semi-artificial languages, and mini-languages. In the chapter, I discuss research that has used these artificial systems to examine third language learning/processing, advantages of the systems, and their validity in adult language learning research.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Third Language Acquisition , pp. 724 - 743
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amato, M. S., & MacDonald, M. C. (2010). Sentence Processing in an Artificial Language: Learning and Using Combinatorial Constraints. Cognition, 116(1), 143–148.Google Scholar
Antoniou, M., Liang, E., Ettlinger, M., & Wong, P. C. M. (2015). The Bilingual Advantage in Phonetic Learning. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(4), 683–695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardel, C., & Falk, Y. (2012). The L2 Status Factor and the Declarative/Procedural Distinction. In Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Third Language Acquisition in Adulthood (pp. 61–78). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Batterink, L., & Neville, H. (2013). Implicit and Explicit Second Language Training Recruit Common Neural Mechanisms for Syntactic Processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(6), 936–951.Google Scholar
Berkes, É., & Flynn, S. (2012).Further Evidence in Support of the Cumulative-Enhancement Model. In Cabrelli, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Third Language Acquisition in Adulthood (pp. 143–164). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Bowden, H. W., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C., & Ullman, M. T. (2013). Native-Like Brain Processing of Syntax Can Be Attained by University Foreign Language Learners. Neuropsychologia, 51(13), 2492–2511.Google Scholar
Buffington, J., & Morgan-Short, K. (2019). Declarative and Procedural Memory as Individual Differences in Second Language Aptitude. In Wen, Z., Skehan, P., Biedroń, A., Li, S., & Sparks, R. L. (Eds.), Language Aptitude: Advancing Theory, Testing, Research, and Practice (pp. 215–237). New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caffarra, S., Molinaro, N., Davidson, D., & Carreiras, M. (2015). Second Language Syntactic Processing Revealed through Event-Related Potentials: An Empirical Review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 51, 31–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cenoz, J. (2003). The Additive Effect of Bilingualism on Third Language Acquisition: A Review. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7(1), 71–87.Google Scholar
Cenoz, J. (2013). The Influence of Bilingualism on Third Language Acquisition: Focus on Multilingualism. Language Teaching, 46, 71–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, J. G. (2017). Explicit Instruction, Bilingualism, and the Older Adult Learner. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(1), 29–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culbertson, J., & Schuler, K. (2019). Artificial Language Learning in Children. Annual Review of Linguistics, 5, 353–373.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2014). The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Escudero, P., Mulak, K. E., Fu, C. S. L., & Singh, L. (2016). More Limitations to Monolingualism: Bilinguals Outperform Monolinguals in Implicit Word Learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1218.Google Scholar
Ettlinger, M., Morgan‐Short, K., Faretta‐Stutenberg, M., & Wong, P. (2016). The Relationship between Artificial and Second Language Learning. Cognitive Science, 40(4), 822–847.Google Scholar
Faretta-Stutenberg, M., & Morgan-Short, K. (2018). The Interplay of Individual Differences and Context of Learning in Behavioral and Neurocognitive Second Language Development. Second Language Research, 34(1), 67–101.Google Scholar
Ferman, S., & Karni, A. (2010). No Childhood Advantage in the Acquisition of Skill in Using an Artificial Language Rule. PloS One, 5(10), article e13648.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flynn, S., Foley, C., & Vinnitskaya, I. (2004). The Cumulative-Enhancement Model for Language Acquisition: Comparing Adults’ and Children’s Patterns of Development in First, Second and Third Language Acquisition of Relative Clauses. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1(1), 3–16.Google Scholar
Folia, V., Uddén, J., De Vries, M., Forkstam, C., & Petersson, K. M. (2010). Artificial Language Learning in Adults and Children. Language Learning, 60(S2), 188–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friederici, A. D., Steinhauer, K., & Pfeifer, E. (2002). Brain Signatures of Artificial Language Processing: Evidence Challenging the Critical Period Hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(1), 529–534.Google Scholar
Gabriele, A., Alemán Bañón, J., Hoffman, L., et al. (2021). Examining Variability in the Processing of Agreement in Novice Learners: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 4(7), 1106–1140.Google Scholar
González Alonso, J., & Rothman, J. (2017). Coming of Age in L3 Initial Stages Transfer Models: Deriving Developmental Predictions and Looking towards the Future. International Journal of Bilingualism, 21(6), 683–697.Google Scholar
González Alonso, J., Alemán Bañón, J., DeLuca, V., et al. (2020). Event Related Potentials at Initial Exposure in Third Language Acquisition: Implications from an Artificial Mini-Grammar Study. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 56, article 100939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grey, S. (2020). What Can Artificial Languages Reveal about Morphosyntactic Processing in Bilinguals? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23, 81–86.Google Scholar
Grey, S., & Tagarelli, K. M. (2018). Psycholinguistic Methods. In Phakiti, A., De Costa, P., Plonsky, L., & Starfield, S. (Eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology (pp. 287–312). London: Palgrave MacMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grey, S., Williams, J. N., & Rebuschat, P. (2014). Incidental Exposure and L3 Learning of Morphosyntax. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36, 611–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grey, S., Williams, J. N., & Rebuschat, P. (2015). Individual Differences in Incidental Language Learning: Phonological Working Memory, Learning Styles, and Personality. Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 44–53.Google Scholar
Grey, S., Sanz, C., Morgan-Short, K., & Ullman, M. T. (2018). Bilingual and Monolingual Adults Learning an Additional Language: ERPs Reveal Differences in Syntactic Processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(5), 970–994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, J. G., & Timmer, K. (2017). Bilingualism and Working Memory Capacity: A Comprehensive Meta-analysis. Second Language Research, 33(3), 325–340.Google Scholar
Hamrick, P. (2015). Declarative and Procedural Memory Abilities as Individual Differences in Incidental Language Learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 44, 9–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamrick, P., & Sachs, R. (2018). Establishing Evidence of Learning in Experiments Employing Artificial Linguistic Systems. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(1), 153–169.Google Scholar
Hayakawa, S., Ning, S., & Marian, V. (2020). From Klingon to Colbertian: Using Artificial Languages to Study Word Learning. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 74–80.Google Scholar
Kaan, E. (2007). Event-Related Potentials and Language Processing: A Brief Overview. Language and Linguistics Compass, 1(6), 571–591.Google Scholar
Kaan, E., & Swaab, T. Y. (2003). Repair, Revision, and Complexity in Syntactic Reanalysis: An Electrophysiological Differentiation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15, 98–110.Google Scholar
Kapa, L. L., & Colombo, J. (2014). Executive Function Predicts Artificial Language Learning. Journal of Memory and Language, 76, 237–252.Google Scholar
Kaushanskaya, M. (2012). Cognitive Mechanisms of Word Learning in Bilingual and Monolingual Adults: The Role of Phonological Memory. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15(3), 470–489.Google Scholar
Kutas, M., & Federmeier, K. D. (2011). Thirty Years and Counting: Finding Meaning in the N400 Component of the Event-Related Brain Potential. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 621–647.Google Scholar
Lado, B. (2017). Aptitude and Pedagogical Conditions in the Early Development of a Nonprimary Language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38(3), 679–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lado, B., Bowden, H. W., Stafford, C., & Sanz, C. (2017). Two Birds, One Stone, or How Learning a Foreign Language Makes You a Better Language Learner. Hispania, 100(3), 361–378.Google Scholar
Linck, J. A., Osthus, P., Koeth, J., & Bunting, M. F. (2014). Working Memory and Second Language Comprehension and Production: A Meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 861–883.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K. (2014). Electrophysiological Approaches to Understanding Second Language Acquisition: A Field Reaching Its Potential. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 34, 15–36.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K. (2020). Insights into the Neural Mechanisms of Becoming Bilingual: A Brief Synthesis of Second Language Research with Artificial Linguistic Systems. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 87–91.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Sanz, C., Steinhauer, K., & Ullman, M. T. (2010). Second Language Acquisition of Gender Agreement in Explicit and Implicit Training Conditions: An Event-Related Potential Study. Language Learning, 60(1), 154–193.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C., & Ullman, M. T. (2012). Explicit and Implicit Second Language Training Differentially Affect the Achievement of Native-Like Brain Activation Patterns. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(4), 933–947.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Faretta-Stutenberg, M., Brill-Schuetz, K. A., Carpenter, H., & Wong, P. (2014). Declarative and Procedural Memory as Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17(1), 56.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Deng, Z., Brill-Schuetz, K. A., et al. (2015). A View of the Neural Representation of Second Language Syntax through Artificial Language Learning Under Implicit Contexts of Exposure. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 37(2), 383–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mueller, J. L., Hahne, A., Fujii, Y., & Friederici, A. D. (2005). Native and Nonnative Speakers’ Processing of a Miniature Version of Japanese as Revealed by ERPs. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(8), 1229–1244.Google Scholar
Nation, R., & McLaughlin, B. (1986). Novices and Experts: An Information Processing Approach to the “Good Language Learner” Problem. Applied Psycholinguistics, 7(1), 41–55.Google Scholar
Nayak, N., Hansen, N., Krueger, N., & McLaughlin, B. (1990). Language-Learning Strategies in Monolingual and Multilingual Adults. Language Learning, 40(2), 221–244.Google Scholar
Nevat, M., Ullman, M. T., Eviatar, Z., & Bitan, T. (2017). The Neural Bases of the Learning and Generalization of Morphological Inflection. Neuropsychologia, 98, 139–155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paradis, M. (2009). Declarative and Procedural Determinants of Second Languages (vol. 40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Pili‐Moss, D. (2021). Cognitive Predictors of Child Second Language Comprehension and Syntactic Learning. Language Learning, 71(3), 907–945.Google Scholar
Pili-Moss, D., Brill-Schuetz, K. A., Faretta-Stutenberg, M., & Morgan-Short, K. (2020). Contributions of Declarative and Procedural Memory to Accuracy and Automatization during Second Language Practice. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(3), 639–651.Google Scholar
Poepsel, T. J., & Weiss, D. J. (2016). The Influence of Bilingualism on Statistical Word Learning. Cognition, 152, 9–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rebuschat, P., & Williams, J. N. (2012). Implicit and Explicit Knowledge in Second Language Acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 33(4), 829–856.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (2010). Implicit Artificial Grammar and Incidental Natural Second Language Learning: How Comparable Are They? Language Learning, 60(S2), 245–263.Google Scholar
Rothman, J. (2011). L3 Syntactic Transfer Selectivity and Typological Determinacy: The Typological Primacy Model. Second Language Research, 27(1), 107–127.Google Scholar
Rothman, J. (2015). Linguistic and Cognitive Motivations for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of Third Language (L3) Transfer: Timing of Acquisition and Proficiency Considered. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(2), 179–190.Google Scholar
Rothman, J., González Alonso, J. & Puig-Mayenco, E. (2019). Third Language Acquisition and Linguistic Transfer (vol. 163). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ruiz, S., Tagarelli, K. M., & Rebuschat, P. (2018). Simultaneous Acquisition of Words and Syntax: Effects of Exposure Condition and Declarative Memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, article 1168.Google Scholar
Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual Education Enhances Third Language Acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 23–44.Google Scholar
Sanz, C., Park, H. I., & Lado, B. (2015). A Functional Approach to Cross-Linguistic Influence in Ab Initio L3 Acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(2), 236–251.Google Scholar
Sengottuvel, K., Vasudevamurthy, A., Ullman, M. T., & Earle, F. S. (2020). Learning and Consolidation of Declarative Memory in Good and Poor Readers of English as a Second Language. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, article 715.Google Scholar
Siegelman, N., & Arnon, I. (2015). The Advantage of Starting Big: Learning from Unsegmented Input Facilitates Mastery of Grammatical Gender in an Artificial Language. Journal of Memory and Language, 85, 60–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skehan, P. (2014). Individual Differences in Second Language Learning. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2017). The Scalpel Model of Third Language Acquisition. International Journal of Bilingualism, 21(6), 651–665.Google Scholar
Stafford, C. A., Bowden, H. W., & Sanz, C. (2012). Optimizing Language Instruction: Matters of Explicitness, Practice, and Cue Learning. Language Learning, 62(3), 741–768.Google Scholar
Stafford, C. A., Sanz, C., & Bowden, H. W. (2010). An Experimental Study of Early L3 Development: Age, Bilingualism and Classroom Exposure. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7(2), 162–183.Google Scholar
Swaab, T. Y., Ledoux, K., Camblin, C. C., & Boudewyn, M. A. (2012). Language-Related ERP Components. In Kappenman, E. S & Luck, S. J (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Event-Related Potential Components (pp. 397–440). Oxford: Oxford Academic.Google Scholar
Tagarelli, K. M. (2014). The Neurocognition of Adult Second Language Learning: An FMRI Study. Doctoral dissertation. Washington, DC: Georgetown University.Google Scholar
Tagarelli, K. M., Borges Mota, M., & Rebuschat, P. (2015). Working Memory, Learning Conditions and the Acquisition of L2 Syntax. In Zhisheng, M., Borges Mota, M., & McNeil, A. (Eds.), Working Memory in Second Language Acquisition and Processing: Theory, Research, and Commentary. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Tagarelli, K. M., Ruiz, S., Moreno Vega, J. L., & Rebuschat, P. (2016). Variability in Second Language Learning: The Roles of Individual Differences, Learning Conditions, and Linguistic Complexity. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(2), 293–316.Google Scholar
Ullman, M. T. (2001). The Neural Basis of Lexicon and Grammar in First and Second Language: The Declarative/Procedural Model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(1), 105–122.Google Scholar
Ullman, M. T. (2020). The Declarative/Procedural Model: A Neurobiologically Motivated Theory of First and Second Language. In VanPatten, B., Keating, G. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition (3rd ed.; pp. 128–161). New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & Tokowicz, N. (2010). Event-Related Brain Potentials and Second Language Learning: Syntactic Processing in Late L2 Learners at Different L2 Proficiency Levels. Second Language Research, 26(1), 43–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, K., Christiansen, M. H., Petersson, K. M., Indefrey, P., & Hagoort, P. (2016). FMRI Syntactic and Lexical Repetition Effects Reveal the Initial Stages of Learning a New Language. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(26), 6872–6880.Google Scholar
Westergaard, M., Mitrofanova, N., Mykhaylyk, R., & Rodina, Y. (2017). Crosslinguistic Influence in the Acquisition of a Third Language: The Linguistic Proximity Model. International Journal of Bilingualism, 21(6), 666–682.Google Scholar
Williams, J. N. (2005). Learning without Awareness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 269–304.Google Scholar
Williams, J. N., & Kuribara, C. (2008). Comparing a Nativist and Emergentist Approach to the Initial Stage of SLA: An Investigation of Japanese Scrambling. Lingua, 118, 522–553.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×