Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:26:02.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Formal Linguistic Approaches to L3/Ln Acquisition: A Focus on Morphosyntactic Transfer in Adult Multilingualism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Jason Rothman  and
Becky Halloran
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The goal of this article is to introduce the reader to contemporary adult multilingual acquisition research within generative linguistics. In much the same way as monolingual and bilingual acquisition studies are approached within this paradigm, generative multilingual research focuses primarily on the psycholinguistic and cognitive aspects of the acquisition process. Herein, we critically present a panoramic view of the research questions and empirical work that have dominated this nascent field, taking the reader through several interrelated epistemological discussions that are at the vanguard of contemporary multilingual morphosyntax work. We finish this article with some thoughts looking towards the near future of adult multilingual acquisition studies.

Type
SECTION B: INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETAL MULTILINGUALISM
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 33 , March 2013 , pp. 51 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B., & Jessner, U. (Eds.). (2001). Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

This volume addresses cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition from a psycholinguistic perspective, focusing on the role of all previously acquired languages and how the established L1 and L2 systems interact with and affect L3 acquisition. Research within this volume considered factors previously found to contribute to cross-linguistic influence in SLA and investigated them in an L3 context, in some cases with preliminary data and in some cases with previous published work. As a whole, it serves to generate discussion of L3/Ln acquisition from a psycholinguistic perspective and provides ample possibilities for further research in this area.

García Mayo, M., & Rothman, J. (2012). L3 Morphosyntax in the generative tradition: the initial stages and beyond. In Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Third language acquisition in adulthood (pp. 9–32). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.

This chapter introduces in detail third language (L3) morphosyntactic acquisition research from a generative perspective. The authors began by introducing generative linguistic theory and its historical application to L1 and L2 acquisition and provide justification for the treatment of L3/Ln learners as an independent case rather than another instance of SLA. They presented a selection of valuable empirical studies done on L3 morphosyntactic acquisition in recent years, and finally discussed how the study of L3 acquisition is beneficial in terms of answering important empirical questions related to generative acquisition theory.

Hammarberg, B. (2010). (Ed.) Processes in third language acquisition. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburg University Press.

This book is a collection of previously published articles featuring case studies of adult multilingual acquisition. The data used comes from a longitudinal corpus of data of nonnative and native speakers who acquired second and third languages through social interaction. It provides a comprehensive look at a series of linguistic phenomena, including patterns and functions of language switching, word search in interaction, hypothetical word construction, and articulatory settings in speech. These phenomena are examined from a cognitive perspective in relation to current models of the speaking process.

Leung, Y.-K. I. (2009). Third language acquisition and Universal Grammar. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

This book is composed of nine chapters on adult L3/Ln acquisition from the UG perspective and includes empirical studies carried out in North America, Europe, and Asia, with a wide range of language pairings. It is a comprehensive assessment of the research agenda of the time, discussing how L3 acquisition poses new theoretical questions, and also making important connections between bilingualism/multilingualism and SLA.

Rothman, J., Cabrelli Amaro, J., & de Bot, K. (2013). Third language (L3) acquisition. In Herschensohn, J. & Young-Scholten, M. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of second language acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This article provides an overview of the fields of L3 acquisition, covering educational, cognitive/processing, formal, and sociolinguistic research done on L3/Ln acquisition over the past few decades with a special emphasis on work within the last decade in particular. In addition to concisely covering the main trends of research, it highlights the contributions multilingual research has made beyond the study of L3/Ln acquisition alone. It also discusses epistemological issues of significant importance to all multilingual researchers; for example, the need for independent proficiency measures for multilingualism as well as the criteria used for inclusion and exclusion for empirical multilingual studies. Finally, it discusses future directions the authors feel the field will and/or should take.

REFERENCES

Bardel, C., & Falk, Y. (2007). The role of the second language in third language acquisition: The case of Germanic syntax. Second Language Research, 23, 459–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (2012). Third language acquisition in adulthood. In Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Third language acquisition in adulthood (pp. 1–6). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J. (2003). The role of typology in the organization of the multilingual lexicon. In Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B., & Jessner, U. (Eds.), The multilingual lexicon (pp. 103–116). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B., & Jessner, U. (Eds.). (2001). Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K., & Jaensch, C. (2012). What is so special about multilingualism? Plenary talk at the Third Language Acquisition: A Focus on Cognitive Approaches, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.Google Scholar
De Angelis, G. (2005). Multilingualism and non-native language transfer: An identification problem. International Journal of Multilingualism, 2, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, G. (2007). Third or additional language acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Angelis, G., & Selinker, L. (2001). Interlanguage transfer and competing linguistic systems in the multilingual mind. In Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B., & Jessner, U. (Eds.), Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives (pp. 42–58). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falk, Y., & Bardel, C. (2010). The study of the role of the background languages in third language acquisition: The state of the art. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 48, 185–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falk, Y., & Bardel, C. (2011). Object pronouns in German L3 syntax: Evidence for the L2 status factor. Second Language Research, 27, 59–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1, 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fodor, J. (1983). Modularity of mind: An essay on faculty psychology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García Mayo, M. P. (2006). Synthetic compounding in the English interlanguage of Basque-Spanish bilinguals. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3, 231–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García Mayo, M., & Rothman, J. (2012). L3 Morphosyntax in the generative tradition: the initial stages and beyond. In Cabrelli Amaro, J., Flynn, S., & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Third language acquisition in adulthood (pp. 9–32). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giancaspro, D., & Halloran, B. (2012 ). Examining L3 transfer models: The acquisition of differential object marking in L3 Brazilian Portuguese. Presentation at the Third Language Acquisition: A Focus on Cognitive Approaches, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.Google Scholar
Guijarro-Fuentes, P., & Marinis, T. (2007). Acquiring phenomena at the syntax/semantics interface in L2 Spanish: The personal preposition a. EUROSLA Yearbook, 7, 67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammarberg, B. (2010). The languages of the multilingual: Some conceptual and terminological issues. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 48, 91–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammarberg, B. (2010). (Ed.) Processes in third language acquisition. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburg University Press.Google Scholar
Hermas, A. (2010).Language acquisition as computational resetting: Verb movement in L3 initial state. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7, 343–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iverson, M. (2010). Informing the age of acquisition debate: L3 as a litmus test. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 48, 221–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of language: Brain, meaning, grammar, evolution. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaensch, C. (2008). Defective adjectival inflection in non-native German: Prosodic transfer or missing surface inflection? EUROSLA Yearbook, 8, 259–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaensch, C. (2011). L3 acquisition of German adjectival inflection-a generative account. Second Language Research, 27, 83–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaensch, C. (2013). Third language acquisition: Where are we now? Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3, 73–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judy, T. (2011). L1/L2 parametric directionality matters: More on the null subject parameter in L2 acquisition. EUROSLA Yearbook, 11, 165–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judy, T., & Rothman, J. (2010). From a superset to a subset grammar and the semantic compensation hypothesis: Subject pronouns and anaphora resolution evidence in L2 English. In Franich, K., Iserman, K. M., & Keil, L. L. (Eds.), BUCLD 34: Proceedings of the 34th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 197–208). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Klein, C. (1995). Second versus third language acquisition: Is there a difference? Language Learning, 45, 419–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, W., & Perdue, C. (1997). The basic variety (or: Couldn't natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research, 13, 301–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, Y.-K. I. (2005). L2 vs. L3 initial state: A comparative study of the acquisition of French DPs by Vietnamese monolinguals and Cantonese–English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 8, 39–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, Y-K. I. (2006). Full transfer vs. partial transfer in L2 and L3 acquisition. In Slabakova, R., Montrul, S., & Prévost, P. (Eds.), Inquiries in linguistic development: In honor of Lydia White (pp. 157–187). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, Y-K. I. (2007a). L3 acquisition: Why it is interesting to generative linguists. Second Language Research, 23, 95–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, Y-K. I. (2007b). Second language (L2) and third language (L3) French article acquisition by native speakers of Cantonese. International Journal of Multilingualism, 4, 117–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, Y.-K. I. (2009). Third language acquisition and Universal Grammar. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lozano, C. (2002). The interpretation of overt and null pronouns in non-native Spanish. Durham Working Papers in Linguistics, 8, 53–66.Google Scholar
Montalbetti, M. (1984). After binding. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). MIT, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2004). Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers: A case of morpho-syntactic convergence. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7, 125–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., & Bowles, M. (2009). Back to basics: Differential object marking under incomplete acquisition in Spanish heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12, 363–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Dias, R., & Santos, H. (2011). Clitics and object expression in the L3 acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese: Structural similarity matters for transfer. Second Language Research, 27, 21–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M. (2004). A neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potowski, K., & Rothman, J. (2011). Bilingual youth: Spanish in English-speaking societies (Preface). In Potowski, K. & Rothman, J. (Eds.), Bilingual youth: Spanish speakers in English-speaking societies (pp. 3–6). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J. (2009). Pragmatic deficits with syntactic consequences: L2 pronominal subjects and the syntax-pragmatics interface. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 951–973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J. (2010). On the typological economy of syntactic transfer: Word order and relative clause attachment preference in L3 Brazilian Portuguese. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 48, 245–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J. (2011). L3 syntactic transfer selectivity and typological determinacy: The typological primacy model. Second Language Research, 27, 107–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J. (2013). Cognitive economy, non-redundancy and typological primacy in L3 acquisition: Evidence from initial stages of L3 romance. In Baauw, S., Dirjkoningen, F., & Pinto, M. (Eds.), Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2011 (pp. 217–247). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Rothman, J., & Cabrelli Amaro, J. (2010). What variables condition syntactic transfer? A look at the L3 initial state. Second Language Research, 26, 189–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J., Cabrelli Amaro, J., & de Bot, K. (2013). Third language (L3) acquisition. In Herschensohn, J. & Young-Scholten, M. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 372–393). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rothman, J., Iverson, M., & Judy, T. (2011). Some notes on the generative study of L3 acquisition. Second Language Research, 27, 5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B. D., & Sprouse, R. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, 12, 40–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vainikka, A., & Young Scholten, M. (1996). The early stages in adult L2 syntax: Additional evidence from Romance speakers. Second Language Research, 12, 140–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wexler, K., & Manzini, R. (1987). Parameters and learnability in binding theory. In Roeper, T. & Williams, E. (Eds.), Parameter setting (pp. 41–76). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (2003). Second language acquisition and universal grammar. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolff, E. (2000). Language and society. In Heine, B. & Nurse, D. (Eds.), African languages: An introduction (pp. 298–247). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar