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Article published In: Conceptual transfer, (re)conceptualisation and other cognitive aspects of crosslinguistic influence in L2 acquisition
Edited by Cecilia Gunnarsson-Largy
[Language, Interaction and Acquisition 14:1] 2023
► pp. 106–126

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Language-specific principles of discourse conceptualization in L2 English

ORCiD logo with link | Radboud University Nijmegen
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Radboud University Nijmegen.

Published online: 27 October 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.22016.sta
Abstract
In a previous series of crosslinguistic empirical studies in the domain of narratives and picture descriptions, it has been shown that different conceptual principles of discourse structure are built by L1 users based on routine cognitive processes. These in turn seem to be induced by the underlying language-specific properties of the L1s. Native speakers of Dutch and German, for example, tend to conceptualize and structure the progression of the narrative or description through linking devices in utterance-initial position, primarily through the use of the protagonist or temporal/locative adverbials. In contrast, native English speakers tend to prefer linking with the (syntactic) subject in initial position. The present study shows how complex it is for very advanced Dutch learners of L2 English to unravel these non-superficial underlying conceptual discourse structures in their L2. The question is whether they can overcome the routinized cognitive schemata of language processing that go with their habitual L1 strategies of telling a story or describing a picture. This paper shows how even very advanced Dutch learners can only partially learn the narrative or descriptive strategies of native English speakers.
Résumé
Plusieurs études empiriques interlangues dans le domaine de la narration et de la description d’image ont montré comment différents principes conceptuels de la structure pragmatique du discours sont construits par des usagers L1 en fonction de leurs processus de routine cognitive. Ceux-ci semblent en retour être induits par les moyens grammaticaux sous-jacents spécifiques à leur langue maternelle. Des locuteurs natifs du néerlandais et de l’allemand, par exemple, utilisent typiquement des principes organisationnels narratifs et descriptifs qui consistent à placer des protagonistes ou des adverbiaux spatio-temporels en première position de l’énoncé. En revanche, les anglophones sont guidés par ce qui peut être conceptuellement placé en première position (de liaison) où un sujet est requis en anglais. L’étude empirique présentée ici montre que, même pour les apprenants néerlandais très avancés en anglais L2, il est très complexe de démêler les structures pragmatiques non-superficielles et conceptuelles spécifiques de la lange cible. La question est de savoir s’ils peuvent se défaire des schémas cognitifs routiniers du traitement du langage qui vont de pair avec la façon habituelle de raconter une histoire ou de décrire une image dans leur L1. Cette étude montre que même les apprenants très avancés ne peuvent que partiellement apprendre les stratégies narratives ou descriptives des anglophones natifs.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Word order and information structure
    • 2.2Information-structural transfer
    • 2.3The present study
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Design
    • 3.2Participants
    • 3.3Materials
    • 3.4Procedure
    • 3.5Analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Introductions in picture descriptions
    • 4.2Linking in picture descriptions
  • 5.Discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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