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In:Bilingualism through the Prism of Psycholinguistics: In honour of Albert Costa
Edited by Mikel Santesteban, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia and Cristina Baus
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 17] 2023
► pp. 205–233

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Chapter 7
On bilingualism and alignment

 | University of Texas at El Paso
 | University of California San Diego
 | University of Texas at El Paso
Published online: 1 September 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.17.07wil
Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to the contribution of the theoretical review of Costa, Pickering, and Sorace (2008) to our understanding of alignment in second-language dialogue, or, more broadly, conversations involving at least one less proficient speaker. We first briefly describe the review’s foundation, the Interactive Alignment Account, and some of its theoretical considerations. We then highlight the main hypotheses put forward by Costa et al. (2008), following each with subsequently obtained relevant evidence. As proposed by these authors, the emerging picture is indeed one in which second-language dialogue is characterized by enhanced non-automatic alignment and, in some cases, reduced automatic alignment, with important roles of audience design, second-language proficiency, and modeling behavior. While recent advances have been made in this area, some of Costa et al.’s (2008) hypotheses have not been tested, and some have produced conflicting evidence; we thus end with a list of research questions aimed to inspire future work on this topic.
Article outline
  • On bilingualism and alignment
  • Interactive Alignment Model
  • From first-language to second-language dialogue
    • Features of second-language alignment
      • 1.More non-automatic alignment
        • Non-automatic alignment by the first-language speaker
        • Can second-language errors increase non-automatic alignment by the first-language speaker?
        • Non-automatic alignment by the second-language speaker
      • 2.Less automatic alignment
        • Does second-language-accented speech impact alignment at other levels?
        • Do errors decrease automatic alignment?
        • Does higher second-language proficiency increase automatic alignment?
        • Do similar first languages increase automatic alignment in a shared second language, while dissimilar first languages decrease it?
  • Summary and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (81)
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