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Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 8:2 (2018) ► pp.193–216

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L3 acquisition of English attributive adjectives

Dominant language of communication matters for syntactic cross-linguistic influence

 | Yazd University, Safa-ieh, Iran
 | Yazd University, Safa-ieh, Iran
Published online: 12 October 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.16003.fal
Abstract
This study examines three L3 transfer proposals, namely the L1 Factor (Hermas, A. (2010). Language acquisition as computational resetting: Verb movement in L3 initial state. International Journal of Multilingualism, 71, 343–362. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2014a). Multilingual transfer: L1 morphosyntax in L3 English. International Journal of Language Studies, 81, 1–24.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2014b). Restrictive relatives in L3 English: L1 transfer and ultimate attainment convergence. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 341, 361–387. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), the CEM (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. The International Journal of Multilingualism, 11, 3–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and the TPM (Rothman, J. (2010). On the typological economy of syntactic transfer: Word order and relative clause high/low attachment preference in L3 Brazilian Portuguese. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Teaching (IRAL), 481, 245–273.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2011). L3 syntactic transfer selectivity and typological determinacy: The Typological Primacy Model. Second Language Research, 271, 107–127. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2013). Cognitive economy, non-redundancy and typological primacy in L3 acquisition: Evidence from initial stages of L3 Romance. In S. Baauw, F. Dirjkoningen, & M. Pinto (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory (pp. 217–247). Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (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, 181, 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) as well as investigates the role of the language of dominance in L3 acquisition of English attributive adjectives. Three groups of bilinguals took part in this study: L1 Mazandarani/L2 Persian, with Mazandarani as the dominant language of communication, L1 Mazandarani/L2 Persian, with Persian as the dominant language of communication and L1 Persian/L2 Mazandarani, with Persian as the dominant language of communication. The results of a grammaticality judgment task and an element rearrangement task show that the predictions of the above-mentioned L3 transfer proposals were not realized. Instead, the dominant language of communication turns out to be the main source of syntactic crosslinguistic influence at the initial stages of L3 acquisition, irrespective of its status as an L1 or L2.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1The L1 factor
    • 2.2The Cumulative Enhancement Model (CEM)
    • 2.3The Typological Proximity Model (TPM)
    • 2.4Fallah, Jabbari, and Fazilatfar’s study
  • 3.Syntax of attributive adjectives
  • 4.Hypotheses and predictions
  • 5.Method
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Tasks
      • 5.2.1Grammaticality judgment task (hereafter GJT)
      • 5.2.2Element rearrangement task (hereafter ERT)
  • 6.Results
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Declaration of Conflicting Interests
  • Funding
  • References
References (39)
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