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Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 37:2 (2024) ► pp.591–627

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Direct object anaphora resolution in L1 English-L2 Spanish

Referring clitics and DPs

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Published online: 27 October 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.22014.gar
Abstract
This study investigates the written production of direct object (DO) anaphora in L2 Spanish by adult English native speakers. It focuses on the use of clitics and full DPs in topic continuity, where highly salient topics are typically recovered by clitics in native Spanish. A combination of pragmatic factors in subject anaphora resolution (referential ambiguity and distance) and morphosyntactic factors in the acquisition of clitics (gender and animacy) was analyzed in 5 subcorpora from the CEDEL2 (Corpus Escrito del Español L2). Following Learner Corpus Research methodology, 773 anaphoric DOs and their antecedents were tagged across 150 texts (from low-intermediate to upper-advanced proficiency). Results showed that as learner proficiency increases, the predominant anaphoric strategy shifts from redundant DP overuse to felicitous pronominalization. Clitic avoidance is the general strategy intimately related to clitics’ morphosyntactic deficits at advanced levels, but also to pragmatic principles supporting the Pragmatic Principles Violation Hypothesis ( (2016). Pragmatic principles in anaphora resolution at the syntax-discourse interface: advanced English learners of Spanish in the CEDEL2 corpus. In M. Alonso Ramos (Ed.), Spanish learner corpus research: Current trends and future perspectives (pp.235–265). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar).
Resumen
Resolución de anáforas de objeto directo en L1 inglés – L2 e spañol: Clíticos referenciales y SDs
Este estudio investiga la producción de anáforas de objeto directo (OD) en español L2 por hablantes nativos de inglés. Se centra en el uso de clíticos y SDs plenos en continuidad de tópico donde los tópicos más relevantes se suelen recuperan con clíticos en español nativo. En 5 subcorpus de CEDEL2 (Corpus Escrito del Español L2), se analizaron tanto factores pragmáticos de la resolución de anáforas de sujeto (ambigüedad referencial y distancia), como factores morfosintácticos de la adquisición de clíticos (género y animacidad). Siguiendo la metodología de investigación de corpus de aprendices, se etiquetaron 773 ODs anafóricos en 150 textos (desde niveles de proficiencia intermedia-baja hasta avanzada-alta). Los resultados muestran que a medida que la proficiencia aumenta, la estrategia anafórica predominante cambia desde el sobreuso de SDs redundantes hacia el uso de formas pronominales adecuadas La estrategia de evitación de clíticos predominante en aprendices se relaciona estrechamente con déficits morfosintácticos de los clíticos en español avanzado, pero también con principios pragmáticos a favor de la Hipótesis de la Violación de Principios Pragmáticos (HVPP) ( (2016). Pragmatic principles in anaphora resolution at the syntax-discourse interface: advanced English learners of Spanish in the CEDEL2 corpus. In M. Alonso Ramos (Ed.), Spanish learner corpus research: Current trends and future perspectives (pp.235–265). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Direct object referring expressions in Spanish
    • 2.1Spanish direct object clitics
    • 2.2Pragmatic factors in DO reference
  • 3.Previous studies
    • 3.1Anaphora resolution in L2 acquisition
    • 3.2Spanish DO clitics in L2 acquisition
    • 3.3Learner corpus research: Using CEDEL2 for SLA
    • 3.4Research questions and hypotheses
  • 4.The Study
    • 4.1Methods
      • 4.1.1Corpora from CEDEL 2
      • 4.1.2Data annotation and analysis
        • Anaphor form
        • Anaphor pragmatics
        • Referent morphology
        • Potential number of antecedents
        • Antecedent form
        • Antecedent function
        • Distance
      • 4.2Results
        • RQ1:How does DO anaphora develop in L1 English-L2 Spanish learners at intermediate and advanced levels? What mechanisms are used by learners and native speakers as anaphoric expressions?
        • RQ2:Factors that determine the use of distinct DO REs: Referential distance and potential referential ambiguity
          • Distance
          • Potential referential ambiguity
        • RQ3.Pragmatic felicity
        • RQ4:The effect of referent’s gender and animacy
      • 4.3Final discussion
    • 5.Conclusions and further research
  • Notes
  • References
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