• Multiple Grammars and L2 Optionality: The Case of Acquisition at the External Interface

    Author(s):
    Sheryl Bernardo-Hinesley (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Subject(s):
    Second language acquisition, Spanish language, Linguistics
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Hispanic linguistics
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/7xv7-7y53
    Abstract:
    The extension of Multiple Grammars theory maintains that the interlanguage grammar of adult second language learners is composed of multiple competing sub-grammars which allow for optionality. To assess the presence of these competing sub-grammars, this article examines the second language acquisition of Spanish word order variation by first language English speakers of three proficiency levels: low beginning, high beginning, and low intermediate. As Spanish word order is flexible, learners must discern thecontext of use and the rules that constrain outwardly seeming free alternations of Subject-Verb-Object and Object-Verb-Subject word orders. Learners were asked to verbalize pragmatically felicitous questions to sentences with transitive verbs with inanimate direct object in a clitic-left dislocation structure. Results using two-way ANOVA confirm the coexistence of two competing features in the learners‟ interlanguage grammar representation. The data suggest that more exposure to L2 input point toward better mapping of the discursive sentence-final focus position in Spanish.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Journal:
    Journal of Second and Multiple Language Acquisition
    Volume:
    7
    Issue:
    4
    Page Range:
    105 - 122
    ISSN:
    4147-9747
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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