[WS119] Native language influence in second language acquisition

 

Authors : Julia Herschensohn and Martha Young-Scholten

Title : Native language influence in second language acquisition

From 1950s Contrastive Analysis (Lado 1957), native language (NL) influence or transfer—of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicon, pragmatics—has been and continues to be a primary issue in the field of second language acquisition (L2A). However, its importance is complemented by the other influences that affect L2A such as universal linguistic properties, frequency of usage and social considerations. The proposed workshop will reexamine the issue of NL transfer from three perspectives: two two-hour sessions of verbal communications will explore initial transfer and endstate transfer respectively, while a third two-hour session will invite a roundtable of L2 scholars with differing theoretical perspectives to evaluate the role of NL in L2A.

A special issue (Second Language Research 12.1, 1996) focusing on the initial state of the L2 learner with respect to morphosyntactic knowledge prompted varied responses (e.g. Schwartz & Sprouse, Vainikka & Young-Scholten) and the establishment of transfer (or no transfer) as a key factor in analyzing interlanguage competence. The initial state of the adult second language learner was taken as an unknown—is it a tabula rasa as for L1 infants, a version of the native grammar, or something in between? Nearly twenty years later, it is appropriate to revisit the role of transfer in the initial state in Workshop Session 1.

If one considers complete NL transfer as an option for the initial state, what remains of the NL in a learner whose L2 has stabilized, and has resulted in the endstate of a highly advanced speaker? The ultimate state learner (cf. Lardiere 2007) may have had years of input and have achieved nativelike abilities in a range of areas, yet persist in nonnativelike behaviors. Workshop Session 2 will investigate areas of transfer, both positive and negative, in endstate learners.

Finally, a roundtable meeting bringing together well-known L2 scholars with differing theoretical perspectives will constitute Workshop Session 3. These perspectives will encompass phonological development, neurolinguistic processing, social interaction, processability accounts of sequencing, generative UG approaches to morphosyntax, and connectionist views of lexical learning.

References

Lado, R. 1957. Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: Michigan UP.

Lardiere, D. 2007. Ultimate attainment in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum.

Schwartz, B. & Sprouse, R. 1996. L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research 12: 40-72.

Vainikka, A. & Young-Scholten, M. 1996 Gradual development of L2 phrase structure.  Second Language Research 12: 7-39.

 

 

 

22.07.2013   10:30-12:30

Title: Native language influence in second language acquisition: Nominal features and discourse constraints
Chair: Bonnie SCHWARTZ

10:30 - 11:00 Maria-José EZEIZABARRENA et al.
Some morphosyntactic specificities in the early Basque of simultaneous and successive bilinguals
> read abstract...
11:00 - 11:30 Viviane DÉPREZ et al.
Specificity matters even when definiteness transfers
> read abstract...
11:30 - 12:00 John WINWARD
Patterns in article production by learners with non-DP L1
> read abstract...
12:00 - 12:30 Tokiko OKUMA
L2A of discourse and semantic functions of pronouns
> read abstract...

22.07.2013   14:00-16:00

Title: Roundtable: Differing perspectives on native language influence in second language acquisition
Chair: Julia HERSCHENSOHN & Martha YOUNG-SCHOLTEN

14:00 - 14:20 Bonnie SCHWARTZ
Roundtable
14:20 - 14:40 Donna LARDIERE
Roundtable
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14:40 - 15:00 Randal HOLME
Roundtable
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15:00 - 15:20 Julia HERSCHENSOHN et al.
Roundtable
> read abstract...
15:20 - 15:40 Richard INGHAM
The diachrony of a child L2 variety: later Anglo-Norman
> read abstract...
15:40 - 16:00 Cheryl FRENCK-MESTRE
Roundtable
> read abstract...

22.07.2013   16:30-18:30

Title: Roundtable: Differing perspectives on native language influence in second language acquisition (continued)
Chair: Julia HERSCHENSOHN & Martha YOUNG-SCHOLTEN

16:30 - 16:50 Ellen BROSELOW
Roundtable
> read abstract...
16:50 - 17:10 Martha YOUNG-SCHOLTEN
Roundtable
17:10 - 18:30 all et al.
Roundtable + audience discussion

23.07.2013   10:30-12:30

Title: Native language influence in second language acquisition: Word order and processing
Chair: Viviane DÉPREZ

10:30 - 11:00 Natalie BOLL-AVETISYAN et al.
Can stress ‘deafness’ be countered after extensive exposure to an L2?
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11:00 - 11:30 Nuria SAGARRA
Proficiency and sentential position effects on L1 transfer
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11:30 - 12:00 Cécile DECAT et al.
Lingering Transfer effects in highly proficient L2 speakers: behavioural and psycholinguistic evidence
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12:00 - 12:30 Cristina FLORES et al.
Transfer effects in heritage speakers and late L2-learners of European Portuguese: verb movement, VP ellipsis and adverb placement
> read abstract...

23.07.2013   14:00-16:00

Title: Native language influence in second language acquisition: Posters
Chair: Nuria SAGARRA

14:00 - 16:00 Alexander KAUTZSCH
(poster in workshop)
Is it British or American? The acquisition of a non-native accent by advanced German learners
> read abstract...
14:00 - 16:00 all et al.
Posters session
14:00 - 16:00 Daniel GUTZMANN et al.
(poster in workshop)
Native language influence on PP acquisition in German
> read abstract...
14:00 - 16:00 Evie MALAIA et al.
(poster in workshop)
Cognitive effort during reading in late bilinguals: an EEG study
> read abstract...
14:00 - 16:00 Hortènsia CURELL
(poster in workshop)
Expression of motion in English L2 by advanced foreign learners
> read abstract...
14:00 - 16:00 Natalia KARTUSHINA et al.
(poster in workshop)
Native language transfer revisited: L2 phonological development in advanced learners
> read abstract...
14:00 - 16:00 Sandrine ZUFFEREY et al.
(poster in workshop)
The role of L1 transfer in misuse of discourse connectives by advanced L2 learners: evidence from eye movement
> read abstract...

Posters

Alexander KAUTZSCH
Is it British or American? The acquisition of a non-native accent by advanced German learners
> read abstract...
Daniel GUTZMANN et al.
Native language influence on PP acquisition in German
> read abstract...
Evie MALAIA et al.
Cognitive effort during reading in late bilinguals: an EEG study
> read abstract...
Hortènsia CURELL
Expression of motion in English L2 by advanced foreign learners
> read abstract...
Natalia KARTUSHINA et al.
Native language transfer revisited: L2 phonological development in advanced learners
> read abstract...
Sandrine ZUFFEREY et al.
The role of L1 transfer in misuse of discourse connectives by advanced L2 learners: evidence from eye movement
> read abstract...