Article published In: EUROSLA Yearbook: Volume 14 (2014)
Edited by Leah Roberts, Ineke Vedder and Jan H. Hulstijn
[EUROSLA Yearbook 14] 2014
► pp. 225–239
When Germans begin to learn Swedish
Which is the transfer source for function words, content words and syntax?
Published online: 5 August 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/eurosla.14.09lin
https://doi.org/10.1075/eurosla.14.09lin
This paper explores the role of the L1 and the L2 in L3 oral production, both as regards lexicon and syntax. Previous research has shown that both L1 and L2 are used in L3 oral production, and different explanatory factors have been put forward, e.g. (psycho)typology and L2 status. However, these factors do not explain why function words tend to come from L2 while content words seem to be transferred from both L1 and L2 to a larger extent. In order to explain transfer patterns in L3, we use the declarative/procedural model (Paradis 2009), and hypothesize that syntactic transfer will come from L2; transfer of function words from L2; and transfer of content words from both L1 and L2. We analyze lexical and syntactic transfer in eleven native German speakers’ retellings of an episode from a mute video film. The results largely seem to support Paradis’ model.
References (32)
Bardel, C. and Falk, Y. 2007. “The role of the second language in third language acquisition: the case of Germanic syntax.” Second Language Research 23 (4): 459–484.
. 2012. “What’s behind the L2 status factor? A neurolinguistic framework for L3 research.” In Third Language Acquisition in Adulthood, J. Cabrelli Amaro, S. Flynn and J. Rothman (eds), 61–78. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bohnacker, U. 2006. “When Swedes begin to learn German: From V2 to V2.” Second Language Research 22 (4): 443–486.
Cenoz, J. 2001. “The effect of linguistic distance, L2 status and age on cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition.” In Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen and U. Jessner (eds), 8–20. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Council of Europe. 2001. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. New York: Cambridge University Press.
De Angelis, G. 2005a. “Multilingualism and non-native transfer: An identificational problem.” International Journal of Multilingualism 2 (1): 1–25.
Ecke, P. and Hall, C.J. 2000. “Lexikalischer Fehler in Deutsch als Drittsprache: Translexikalischer Einfluss auf 3 Ebenen der mentalen Repräsentation.” Deutsch als Fremdsprache 11: 31–37.
Falk, Y. Submitted. “Lexical transfer in L3 learning: A cross-sectional study on Swedish.”
Falk, Y. and 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 (2/3): 185–220.
. 2011. “Object pronouns in German L3 syntax: Evidence for the L2 status factor.” Second Language Research 27 (1): 59–82.
Falk, Y., Lindqvist, C. and Bardel, C. 2014. “The role of L1 explicit metalinguistic knowledge in L3 oral production at the initial state.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–9.
Hammarberg, B. 2001. “Roles of L1 and L2 in L3 production.” In Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen and U. Jessner (eds), 21–41. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Hufeisen, B. 1998. “L3 – Stand der Forschung – Was bleibt zu tun?” In Tertiärsprachen. Theorien, Modelle, Methoden, B. Hufeisen, B. Lindemann (eds), 169–184. Stauffenburg: Stauffenburg Verlag.
Kellerman, E. 1983. “Now you see it, now you don’t.” In Language Transfer in Language Learning, S. Gass and L. Selinker (eds), 112–134. Rowley, M.A.: Newbury House.
Klein Gunnewiek, L. 2000. Sequenzen und Konsequenzen. Zur Entwicklung niederländischer Lerner im DeutschenalsFremdsprache. [Sequences and consequences. About the development in German as a foreign language in Dutch native speakers.] Amsterdam: Rodopi.
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 (1): 39–61.
Lindqvist, C. 2009. “The Use of the L1 and the L2 in French L3: Examining Cross-linguistic Lexemes in Multilingual Learners’ Oral Production.” International Journal of Multilingualism 6 (3): 281–297.
Lindqvist, C. and Bardel, C. 2013. “Exploring the impact of the proficiency and typology factors: two cases of multilingual learners’ L3 learning.” In Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism. Studies in Honor of David Singleton, M. Pawlak and L. Aronin (eds), 253–266. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Lindqvist, C. and Falk, Y. 2013. “Engelskans roll vid inlärning av svenska som tredjespråk.” [The role of English when learning Swedish as a third language]. Paper presented at
Nordand 11
, Stockholm, Sweden, June 2013.
Paradis, M. 2004. A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. 2008. “Language communication and disorders in multilinguals.” In Handbook of Neuroscience of Language, B. Stemmer and H.A. Whitaker (eds), 341–349. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
. 2009. Declarative and Procedural Determinants of Second Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Ringbom, H. 1987. The Role of the First Language in Foreign Language Learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Rothman, J. 2011. “L3 syntactic transfer selectivity and typological determinacy: The typological primacy model.” Second Language Research 27 (1): 107–127.
Sánchez, L. 2011a. “‘Luisa and Perdito’s dog will the breakfast eat’: Interlanguage transfer and the role of the second language factor.” In New Trends in Crosslinguistic Influence and Multilingualism Research, G. De Angelis and J.-M. Dewaele (eds), 86–104. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
. 2011b. Crosslinguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: English after German in Spanish/Catalan learners in an Instructed Setting. Ph.Diss. University of Barcelona.
Singleton, D. and Ó Laoire, M. 2006a. “Psychotypologie et facteur L2 dans l’influence translexicale. Une analyse de l’influence de l’anglais et de l’irlandais sur le français L3 de l’apprenant”. AILE 241: 101–117.
Cited by (9)
Cited by nine other publications
Lindqvist, Christina
2023. Lexical development in a third language. In L3 Development After the Initial State [Studies in Bilingualism, 65], ► pp. 152 ff.
Shpit, Elena I. & Philip M. McCarthy
Fuster, Carles & Hannah Neuser
Puig-Mayenco, Eloi, Jorge González Alonso & Jason Rothman
Falk, Ylva & Christina Lindqvist
Rothman, Jason, Jorge González Alonso & Eloi Puig-Mayenco
Hammarberg, Björn
2018. L3, the tertiary language. In Foreign Language Education in Multilingual Classrooms [Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity, 7], ► pp. 127 ff.
Bardel, Camilla & Laura Sánchez
2017. The L2 status factor hypothesis revisited. In L3 syntactic transfer [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 5], ► pp. 85 ff.
Bardel, Camilla
2015. Lexical cross-linguistic influence in third language development. In Transfer Effects in Multilingual Language Development [Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity, 4], ► pp. 111 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
