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Article published In: Structural similarity across domains in third language acquisition
Edited by Nadine Kolb, Natalia Mitrofanova and Marit Westergaard
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 13:5] 2023
► pp. 638–662

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Factors that moderate global similarity in initial L3 transfer

Intervocalic voiced stops in heritage Spanish/English bilinguals’ L3 Italian

ORCiD logo with link | University of Illinois at ChicagoChicago
 | University of Illinois at ChicagoChicago
 | University of Illinois at ChicagoChicago
 | UiT The Arctic University of Norway | University of Nebrija
 | UiT The Arctic University of Norway | University of Reading
Published online: 11 July 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22062.cab
Abstract
Much of the formal linguistic research on third language (L3) acquisition has focused on transfer source selection, with the overall finding that (global) structural similarity between the L1/L2 and L3 is the strongest predictor of initial transfer patterns. Recently, Cabrelli, J., & Pichan, C. (2021). Initial phonological transfer in L3 Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 11(2), 131–167). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar reported data from the production of underlyingly intervocalic voiced stops in L3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and L3 Italian that highlight the notion that global similarity is likely moderated by other factors. Specifically, data from heritage Spanish/English bilinguals learning L3 BP reflected reliance on (non-facilitative, but globally more similar) Spanish, while L3 Italian data reflected greater reliance on (facilitative, but globally less similar) English. The current study is a first step towards identifying the source(s) of the disparity, in which we examine the roles of degree of dominance and explicit knowledge in heritage Spanish/English bilinguals. Thirty-four L3 Italian learners completed a delayed repetition task in all three languages. We report English-like patterns that contradict the L3 BP data and cannot be accounted for by degree of dominance or explicit knowledge. We connect these results to existing L3 transfer accounts and the need for further consideration of linguistic and methodological variables, particularly acoustic salience in L3 input and task modality.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1L3 phonology at the initial stages
      • 2.1.1Kopečková et al. (2022)
      • 2.1.2Cabrelli and Pichan (2021)
    • 2.2Heritage speakers as L3 learners
    • 2.3Intervocalic stop lenition
    • 2.4Research question and predictions
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants and procedure
    • 3.2Delayed repetition task
    • 3.3Procedure
    • 3.4Analysis
      • 3.4.1Acoustic analysis
      • 3.4.2Statistical analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Group-level results
    • 4.2Individual-level results
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Salience in L3 acquisition
      • 5.1.1Testing the timing of the effects of salience
      • 5.1.2Salience and individual variation
    • 5.2Implications for the comparison of L3 phonological and morphosyntactic transfer
    • 5.3Next steps
  • Data availability statement
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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