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Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 8:2 (2018) ► pp.217–251

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The realization of information focus in monolingual and bilingual native Spanish

 | University of Nevada, Reno
 | The University of Iowa
 | DePaul University
Published online: 13 January 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.16009.lea
Abstract
The strategies used to signal information focus — the non-presupposed part of a sentence — in Spanish are under debate. The literature suggests that focus must appear rightmost; however, empirical evidence shows that speakers also realize focus in-situ. Moreover, there is limited research investigating the effects of language variety or knowledge of another language on focus marking. We address these questions via a paced elicited production task, testing speakers who learned Spanish naturalistically in infancy, including two groups of monolinguals and two groups of Spanish/English bilinguals: (a) Spanish natives who learned English after childhood, and (b) early bilinguals exposed to English in early childhood (heritage speakers). Confirming previous empirical studies, results show that all participant groups choose a similar range of focus-marking strategies, vastly preferring in-situ marking with rightmost marking used rarely. Results challenge both theoretical accounts of Spanish focus realization and expectations of special vulnerability at the syntax-discourse interface for bilinguals.
Article outline
  • 1.Bilingualism and the role of input
  • 2.Information focus marking in Spanish
  • 3.Research questions, hypotheses, and predictions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Procedure and materials
    • 4.3Transcription and coding
  • 5.Statistical analyses
  • 6.Results
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (77)
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