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An eye tracking experiment examined how exposure to a second language (L2) influences sentence parsing in the first language. Forty-four monolingual Spanish speakers, 24 proficient Spanish–English bilinguals with limited immersion experience in the L2 environment and 20 proficient Spanish–English bilinguals with extensive L2 immersion experience read temporarily ambiguous constructions. The ambiguity concerned whether a relative clause (RC) that appeared after a complex noun phrase (NP) was interpreted as modifying the first or the second noun in the complex NP (El policía arrestó a la hermana del criado que estaba enferma desde hacía tiempo). The results showed that whereas the Spanish monolingual speakers and the Spanish–English bilinguals with limited exposure reliably attached the relative clause to the first noun, the Spanish–English bilingual with extensive exposure attached the relative to the second noun. Results are discussed in terms of models of sentence parsing most consistent with the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tackles the usefulness of comparing L2 learners against native speakers in empirical SLA studies focusing on grammatical aspect. Adapting the view that interlanguage grammars should be analysed in their own right instead of as a deficient form of the target, we show that expressing perspectivity (fulfilled by grammatical aspect markers) methodologically complicates the analyses of Grammaticality Judgment Tasks in aspect studies. For Spanish past tenses, we show that especially with items constructed as allegedly ungrammatical natives behave heterogeneously. This casts doubt on the question whether these data can be used as a baseline against which learners' data could be compared. By analysing the interlanguage separately (not only in comparison to the controls), our findings among German learners of L2 Spanish suggest the use of the forms depends essentially on temporal markers which can be related to both their L1 lacking grammatical aspect and the pedagogical input. Crucially, though the interlanguage does not match the target (i.e., past tenses do not necessarily correlate with aspectuality), the systems are not chaotic but follow well-defined rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the L2 acquisition of Spanish object drop by advanced learners whose L1s are English and Brazilian Portuguese, in order to assess effects on their knowledge of the interpretable and uninterpretable features conditioning the realization of object drop in their L2 Spanish. Object drop in Spanish is subject to semantic restrictions related to definiteness and specificity, as well as syntactic restrictions related to subjacency. Current debates about second language acquisition (SLA) have led to different hypotheses. On the one hand, the Interpretability Hypothesis/IH (Hawkins, Roger & Hajime Hattori. 2006. Interpretation of English multiple wh-questions by Japanese speakers: A missing uninterpretable feature account. Second Language Research 22. 269–301) claims that uninterpretable features will not be completely acquired. On the other hand, the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis/FRH (Hwang, Sun Hee & Donna Lardiere. 2013. Plural-marking in L2 Korean: A feature-based approach. Second Language Research 29. 57–86; Lardiere, Donna. 2009. Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 25. 173–227) does not distinguish between interpretable and uninterpretable features for the purposes of SLA, arguing that the difficulty of the acquisition task hinges on the required amount of feature reassembly from the L1 to the L2 lexicon. Finally, the Full Transfer/Full Access (FT/FA) (Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 1996. L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research 12. 40–72; Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 2000. When syntactic theories evolve: Consequences for L2 acquisition research. In John Archibald (ed.), Second language acquisition and linguistic theory, 156–186. Malden, MA: Blackwell; White, Lydia. 2003. Second language acquisition and universal grammar. New York: Cambridge University Press) hypothesis treats SLA as equivalent to first-language acquisition, in terms of the potential for ultimate attainment. Both the FT/FA and the FRH are in principle compatible with full attainment in L2 acquisition. To assess these hypotheses, this study tests the L2 acquisition of the semantic and syntactic restrictions on Spanish object drop by learners whose L1 either lacks widespread object drop (English), or has regular object drop but realizes it differently from Spanish (Brazilian Portuguese). The Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis seems to best explain the results of the two experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the developmental stages of the acquisition of estar in stage-level predicate constructions in the L2 Spanish grammar of native speakers of French and Portuguese. Copular verbs exist in the L1s of both learner groups; however, only in Portuguese is there an aspectual contrast, with copula selection conditions that partially differ from those of ser and estar in Spanish. The study used data extracted from the Corpus de Aprendices de Español (CAES), made up of written texts produced by L2 Spanish learners from CEFR A1 to C1 levels. We attempt to analyse whether, and to what degree, these L2 learners are sensitive to estar copula restrictions in adjective constructions. Our analysis of the written production of 143 L1 French speakers and 361 L1 Portuguese speakers showed differing acquisitional patterns depending on the L1. We consider that the estar overextension, found in the learners' productions, is related to the process of developing the ability to identify the specific features that distinguish the use of copular verbs in the interlanguage of our learners. Our findings, thus, provide a more fine-grained description of the semantic representation and access of interpretable features in L2 Spanish with special relevance to current hypotheses on Second Language Acquisition such as the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere 2009). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies analysing the differences in emotionality in first and second language suggest that affective content of lexical items is modulated in certain contexts. This paper investigates the differences in valence and arousal ratings for 300 early words, in both oral and written modalities, through speakers' subjective appraisal of words given by two immersion groups of Spanish late bilinguals (Chinese and European) compared with a group of native speakers. The main goal of our study is to identify the lexical areas where variability occurs, regarding to a set of affective (emotional charge and intensity), grammatical (nouns, adjectives and verbs) and semantic (concreteness) features of words. Our results show that valence is the dimension where the greatest variability is observed between native and bilinguals, although the influence of the independent factors differs considerably. Besides, arousal yields illuminating data regarding the grammatical category of words and differentiation between the groups of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encoding of path shows systematic inter-typological variation, with speakers of satellite-framed languages (S-language; e. g. German, Polish) typically conveying path outside the main verb (in particles, prefixes, etc.) and speakers of verb-framed languages (V-language; e. g. Spanish) typically conveying path in the main verb. However, less is known about intra-typological variation in the expression of path, especially for bilingual patterns of path encoding. In this paper, we examine path descriptions produced by two groups of bilinguals and compare the descriptions made by these bilinguals with those made by native speakers of the corresponding L1 and L2 languages. The first group consisted of native Polish speakers who were L2 German speakers (intra-typological L1-L2 transition), while the second group comprised native Polish speakers who were L2 Spanish speakers (inter-typological L1-L2 transition). Our results provide evidence for greater alignment to L2 among bilinguals learning an L2 from a different typological group (i. e. Polish L1-Spanish L2 bilinguals), and closer alignment to L1 among bilinguals learning an L2 from the same typological group (i. e. Polish L1-German L2 bilinguals). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores cut-offs in the oral narrations of Spanish native speakers in their mother tongue (L1), and in their language-under-study, English (L2). Fluency in the L2 varies with proficiency, and so cut-offs offer a possible means of evaluating this. However, there are certain aspects of fluency which might be common to the L1 and the L2, suggesting that the L1 and L2 share cognitive factors that lead to similar disfluency patterns. To determine if cut-offs are reliable markers of L2 fluency, independent of those occurring in the L1, we assessed the cut-off patterns in the L1 and L2 narrations of this group of speakers, following a multimodal approach. We observed similarities in both languages, potentially indicating that speakers use comparable cut-off-gesture patterns in the L1 and L2. We conclude that using speakers' cut-offs in an L2 to gauge proficiency is meaningful only if the L1 cut-off behaviour is known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to model plural nominal concordance errors for a Spanish corpus of four learners of Spanish as a foreign language: SONIA (level A1/A2), NATI (level B1), JAKO (level B2), MIRKA (level C1). In the framework of dynamical systems, it is postulated that "correct" and "incorrect" concordances constitute stable discrete attractors to which the continuous flow of the system converges in three simple simulation models: Lokta-Volterra, coordination game (evolutionary games theory), gradient ascent. As a result, the models better approximate the global error pattern than the session pattern. In the latter, the model based on Lokta-Volterra offers better performance for SONIA, NATI and JAKO. MIRKA obtains the worst performance in all the models, but its error decreases with the gradient ascent model. It is concluded that learning patterns are self-organized and emerge from the dynamics of concordance microsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article aims at investigating the pro-drop phenomenon in L2 Spanish. The phenomenon of pro-drop or null subject is a typological feature of some languages, which are characterized by an implicit subject in cases of topic continuity. More specifically, behaviour regarding subject (dis)continuity in Spanish differs from French. This paper will offer a contrastive analysis on subject realisation by French learners of L2 Spanish compared to L1 Spanish speakers. So, the goal of this pilot study is to see if a different functioning in pro-drop in the mother tongue also influences the L2. The study is based upon a written description task presented to the two groups of participants: the experimental group of French mother tongue L2 Spanish language learners and the control group of Spanish native speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to describe the process of designing and implementing a teaching unit that links a curricular subject – in this case, Spanish language – with the identity of students as a strategy aimed at improving engagement and learning. The teaching unit was implemented in a Shared Education Unit in Catalonia (Spain) for at-risk students. The design of the teaching unit was based on the theoretical approaches of the funds of identity and proposals made by Cummins, which integrate the identity of students into educational practices as a way of reaffirming and empowering those students. We shall describe the funds of identity uncovered, the implementation of the teaching unit and the evaluation of the educational activity by participants. In general, the participating students gave a positive evaluation of the activity, emphasizing its motivating character since it stemmed from their own hobbies and interests, in particular the manipulative arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research question: This paper’s objective is to offer new insights into the effects of language on memory for causation events in a second language (L2) context. The research was driven by the question of whether proficient L2 users acquired L2 thinking-for-speaking-and-remembering strategies along with the relevant expressions for different types of causation (intentional versus non-intentional). Design/methodology/approach: The cognitive domain of causation is an ideal platform for this investigation, since the lexicalisation of causation differs clearly in the two languages under consideration, English and Spanish. Spanish speakers always distinguish between intentional and non-intentional events through the use of different constructions. The English pattern of lexicalisation in this domain often leaves intentionality unspecified. Our methodology involves an experimental elicitation of event verbalisations and recall memory responses to video stimuli by English and Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals. Data and analysis: The analysis has shown that the Spanish monolinguals and first language (L1) Spanish/L2 English speakers always distinguished between intentional and non-intentional events, while the English monolinguals and L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers generally used expressions that were underspecified with regard to intentionality. Findings/conclusions: All populations used their habitual language patterns as an aid to memory. Spanish monolingual had better recall than their English peers. L2 speakers were mainly relying on the L1 in spite of speaking only the L2 during the experiment. Originality: Possible effects of these typological differences between an L1 and an L2 on speaker recall memory have not been investigated before. Significance/implications: The research presented in this paper informs the theoretical assumptions related to the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis by showing empirically that late bilinguals adhere to their L1 patterns as an aid to memory while speaking in their L2. This novel finding contributes to an improved understanding of language processing and language use among late bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Code switching is a phenomenon that has increasingly attracted more and more attention from the linguistic community. As of last forty years, it is no more deemed as a deficiency in speech, but rather as a separate area of research. However, to obtain data for further examination that would not be manipulated by priming the subjects is quite complicated and poses a challenge in creating a corpus that could be used by researchers. This paper offers examples of code switching that were produced in a second language classroom in a large public university in southwestern United States. Three levels of class, from beginner up until intermediate level, were observed and recorded. Each of the instructors--a native speaker of Spanish, a native speaker of English and an early balanced bilingual--offered their insights into the use and perceptions of code switching practice in the classroom. This observation provided a framework of reference to better understand the process that takes place in a bilingual environment of a second language classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of the present paper is to look into the impact of bilingualism on lexical knowledge, lexical fluency, and lexical cross-linguistic influence (CLI). Design and methodology: To that end, Spanish monolingual (86) and Spanish–Basque bilingual (87) EFL learners were tested on lexical knowledge, lexical fluency, and (lexical) CLI by means of a task of lexical availability. Data were extracted from written sources. Data and analysis: Numerous responses were produced and instances of lexical CLI were examined and compared between monolingual and bilingual learners. Findings/Conclusions: Results point to a slight bilingual advantage in most of the measures tested but are not strong enough to reach statistical significance. Our results concur with previous studies in showing slight benefits for bilingual versus monolingual learners. Typological distance between Basque and English and the homogenization effect of schooling are thought to discard the potential benefits of bilingualism. Originality: This study shows that bilinguals are slightly better at lexical knowledge than monolingual counterparts. The comparisons of adolescent monolingual and bilingual learners learning an L3 under the same conditions are not frequent, neither is the examination of instances of lexical CLI. This is the main asset of the present study. Significance/implications: Our results suggest that teachers should encourage cross-linguistic comparison and positive lexical transfer through an increase in the use of cognates, since these can help then enhance and improve their lexical knowledge. Limitations: It is important to take into account that this study only looks at one specific aspect of lexical knowledge, other factors might also be influencing bilingual versus monolingual performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research questions: German and Spanish differ in lexicalization of object position in placement events (e.g. They stand/lay-put the binoculars on the shelf). Do native (L1) speakers of these languages show different recognition memory for object position in placement scenes ("Thinking for Speaking" (TFS))? And if so, can learning German as a second language (L2) improve memory accuracy? Originality: There is very little research on the effect of language on memory in L2 speakers and no such studies have focused on placement events. By adopting a short time course (750 ms) between the prime and recognition phase this study makes a methodological advancement. Design/Methodology/Approach: We employed a design with L1 speakers (N = 54) of German and Spanish, and a group of Spanish L2 learners (N = 123) of German. Participants were presented with a two-phased memory task with minimum delay, with language and pictures showing placement events. Following the direction indicated by German placement verbs we changed position of objects in the picture recognition phase. L2 German speakers received a form-focused instruction on German placement verbs (stand/lay) before the memory task. Data and Analysis: We analysed recognition accuracy for object position changes. Findings/Conclusions: Results showed that L1 German speakers had more accurate recognition memory for object position changes than L1 Spanish speakers. When Spanish learners of L2 German performed the experiment in German, their accuracy exceeded L1 German speakers' scores. Significance/Implications: The findings provide support for TFS effects on memory for object position in placement events for L1 speakers and show accuracy advantages for L2 speakers. Future studies should consider employing tasks with short time courses as the one used in this paper, in order to establish a base of controlled and reliable findings to unravel the linguistic relativity literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of Chocó Spanish (CS) neutral declarative intonation. Results show that this Afro-Colombian dialect, in line with other black vernaculars spoken in Latin America and other cases of Spanish in contact, presents a reduced inventory of pitch accents when compared to other varieties of Spanish. Specifically, L+H* (i.e., peak alignment within the stressed syllable) predominates in both prenuclear and nuclear phrase positions, which deviates quite significantly from common Spanish trends, where there is often a distinction between nuclear L+H*/L* and prenuclear L+>H* (i.e., peak displacement to a post-tonic syllable). Conversely, at the intermediate and intonational phrase levels (ip and IP, respectively), CS appears to reflect other native (non-contact) varieties of Spanish, showing H- ip boundaries to indicate the continuation of a thought and L% IP boundaries to signal the conclusion of an idea. Our findings are further compared with results from other contact varieties to show that certain aspects of CS intonation may be conceived as the byproduct of the transmission of second language (L2) intonational features to following generations of first language (L1) speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mock Spanish is a register in which Spanish words or phrases are used in otherwise English language texts or utterances to evoke humor, often indexing an unflattering image of Spanish speakers. This paper examines the occurrence of Mock Spanish in mass media, of interest in part because its use there cannot be mitigated so much as is possible in private speech by factors such as the speaker's or writer's intentions or relationships with addressees. Participants in previous studies have cited these factors as potential attenuators of Mock Spanish's offensiveness. Mass media is also of interest for its role in the reproduction of elite discourses. This paper's objective is to further engage the question of Mock Spanish as a form of racist discourse, and to examine the implications for those who are users of Spanish as a second language or are in the business of training second language users of Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial cognates are words in two languages that share similar visual and phonetic features, and its meaning in both can also be similar in some contexts, but different in others. This research article is based on a qualitative methodology, and aims to analyze the use of English- Spanish partial cognates in academic texts produced in English by researchers from Universidad de Oriente, thus Spanish speakers. The sample for this analysis consisted of 22 academic papers, including resumes, doctoral proposals, international scholarship foundations and foundations of collaborative projects, all written as part of the collaboration project Cuba- Belgium VLIR. The main results of this research are the explanation of the use of partial cognates in these texts, and of how they affect the correct transmission of the message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of research on the influence of three types of vocabulary learning activities in L2, taking into account four variables related to the learner, which are: the years they have studied the L2; their motivation; their learning context; and their proficiency in any other L2. 150 B1 level students of Spanish, divided into three groups, practised with a different task: writing sentences with a stimulus word; working with samples that include a semantic equivalent; or choosing the appropriate definition. The analysis of results indicates that learners (1) who have studied the L2 for up to six years, (2) those with integrative motivation, (3) those who have studied the L2 only in their own country, and (4) those who do not speak any other L2 manage to recall significantly more words when they practise writing sentences than when choosing definitions. In the subgroups with the above-mentioned characteristics, the activity that requires most mental effort -writing- is also the most effective way of adding new words to the mental lexicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the lexical availability of students of Spanish as a foreign language in Santiago de Cuba, focusing primarily on the quantitative aspect. The research is part of the field of Applied Linguistics, in particular the Lexicalstatistics whose methods allow to organize, tabulate and process the information collected in the field work. It also adheres to the methodological presuppositions of Proyecto Panhispánico de Disponibilidad Léxica. The indicators analyzed in this study of availability, particularly the average responses by subject, realize the effectiveness of the teaching-learning vocabulary in these students and to what extent production corresponds to that of native speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we offer a panoramic overview of the development of Andean Spanish and Andean Linguistics, from a theoretical point of view of language contact and universal grammar. We discuss how the notion of Andean Spanish came into existence, the issues under debate, and the consequences of different theoretical positions. We also introduce the contents of the papers included in this special issue, and highlight their key points, framing them in the context of the research on universal grammar. The following five areas are covered: (1) the convergence of Quechua and Aymara, (2) the impact of bilingualism on intonation, (3) the sharing of suffixes in contact situations, (4) the modification of the present perfect tense in Spanish in contact with Quechua, and (5) the properties of the Quechua case system from the point of view of contact varieties. Finally, we provide some remarks on bilingual education, and some suggestions for further directions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Within the context of on-going research, this paper explores the pedagogical implications of contrastive analyses of multiword units in English and Spanish based on electronic corpora as a CALL resource. The main tenets of collocations from a contrastive perspective - and the points of contact and departure between both languages - are discussed prior to examining the commonest types of verb+noun combinations as a significant case of so-called 'de-lexicalized', 'light', 'empty', 'thin', 'stretched' or 'support verbs'. A qualitatively and quantitatively-oriented case study is accordingly conducted, determining the weight of dar in support verb constructions within the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual (CREA) and of the English equivalent stretched verb constructions with give within the British National Corpus (BNC). Based on the empirical data obtained in this way, this paper provides relevant insights for more accurate translations, helping to enhance the collocational competence of L2 students, who tend to avoid constructions including empty verbs like give in favour of full-verb forms. The detailed findings in this paper come to shed light on the potential of CALL resources for improving the collocational usage of foreign-language learners, as quantitative and qualitative comparisons of collocations based on electronic corpora serve to highlight the similarities and, more importantly, the lexical and typological differences between both languages, thereby substantiating the invaluable role that corpus analysis may play for language teaching in general and for collocational knowledge and proficiency in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines language-brokering events to better understand how children utilize their linguistic resources to create spaces where the coexistence of two languages can enable or restrict understanding and learning of academic content for themselves and others. An analysis of the structure of language-brokering events reveals that different directional processes and points of initiation are involved, and that these structures lead to different consequences for learning. The data illustrate the socially constructed nature of language brokering and the active participation of young children in constructing their roles, community, and learning in classrooms. Although language brokering can facilitate comprehension and participation among second-language learners, the paper suggests a cautionary note about the possible unintended consequences of language-brokering events for second-language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three sources of knowledge in the acquisition of English articles by second language (L2) learners: L1-transfer, L2-input and Universal Grammar (UG). The paper examines patterns of English article (mis)use among L2-English learners whose L1 either has articles (Spanish) or lacks articles (Russian). It is shown that L1-Spanish learners of English transfer the semantics of Spanish articles onto English, and thus correctly categorize English articles on the basis of definiteness. In contrast, L1-Russian learners of English exhibit fluctuation between the concepts of definiteness and specificity, consistent with earlier findings by . It is shown that the L2-learners’ performance cannot be a result of domain-general statistical learning: despite a large hypothesis space for what English articles might mean, learners of English entertain only those hypotheses that involve semantic universals. It is argued that while L1-Spanish speakers rely on transfer, L1-Russian speakers, in the absence of transfer, have direct access to semantic universals, and fluctuate between them. The learners’ difficulty in choosing the appropriate semantic universal for English (definiteness) is argued to stem from problems generalizing from input triggers. Thus, all three factors – L1-transfer, access to semantic universals through UG, and input triggers – are shown to be relevant for the acquisition of English articles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Whereas most research on child second language acquisition has focused on the oral production of children, studies are needed to illuminate patterns of literacy development in a second language. This paper aims to shed some light on this process, focusing on the English writing development of a native Spanish speaker, and on the Spanish writing development of a native English speaker, both enrolled in a two-way immersion program in the USA. Data for this particular study come from a longitudinal, national study, involving 484 students in 11 programs across the country. In this paper, we will present a case study of two students in the project, from the beginning of third grade through the end of fifth grade. The students' writing samples will be discussed using an analytic rubric developed for the project. This rubric addresses three major aspects of writing — composition, grammar and mechanics — and provides a clear framework for investigating changes in writing ability over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of L2 Spanish students' cultural awareness through the teaching of literature by the application of the method Focus-on-Cultural Understanding. The paper partially reports on a one-semester study in which 17 intermediate L2 Spanish students at a state university in Midwestern US were exposed to a variety of literary texts produced in the target culture and were required to complete a series of Focus-on-Cultural Understanding tasks. The study describes students' work with a short story, and asks whether such an approach can enhance their openness towards and understanding of the target culture and can trigger critical analysis of their native and target cultures. The results of the study show that the participants' manipulation of a literary text from the target culture and the application of Focus-on-Cultural Understanding enhanced their understanding of the target culture, and it promoted a reflective view of their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct object clitics in Spanish are morphological markers at the interfaces of syntax, phonology, morphology, and information structure (Zwicky, 1985; Ordóñez & Repetti, 2006; Belloro, 2007; Spencer & Luís, 2012). They play an important part in argument morphology in Spanish and are subject to variability in bilingual acquisition (McCarthy, 2008). In this paper we explore the morphology- syntax-information structure mapping of direct object clitics in clitic structures in a range of speakers that includes Quechua-dominant bilinguals and Spanish monolingual individuals along a continuum of language contact situations. Our findings indicate clear dissociation between syntactic properties and marking of morphological features. They also indicate a progression from default gender marking in clitics to a scalar system of clitic forms based on animacy and informational value along the continuum of speakers. Finally, while clitics in liberal clitic doubling varieties receive a focus interpretation (Sánchez, 2010; Sánchez & Zdrojewski, 2013), our data indicate that in some Spanish contact varieties they denote the primary object and secondary topic (Sánchez, 2003; Dalrymple & Nikolaeva, 2011; Mayer, 2008, 2013, forthcoming). The findings of this exploratory study support the view that while clitics exhibit common syntactic properties across a continuum of speakers, they may vary in morphological marking and informational value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the spontaneously produced intonation of Afro-Bolivian Spanish (ABS) declaratives. ABS is an Afro-Hispanic language of the Americas (AHLAs) spoken in the region of Los Yungas, Department of La Paz, Bolivia. The main findings indicate the presence in ABS of certain intonational features that diverge from those of other native varieties of Spanish. In line with recent hypotheses on the genesis and evolution of ABS and other AHLAs ( Sessarego, 2013a,b ), we propose that our results reflect advanced second language acquisition processes, which do not imply any previous (de)creolization phase for these Afro-Hispanic varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: How does learning a second language influence native language processing? The present study examined whether knowledge of Spanish – a language that marks grammatical gender – influences lexical processing in English – a language that does not mark grammatical gender. Design/Methodology/Approach: Three groups of adult English native speakers were tested: monolinguals; emergent bilinguals with high exposure to Spanish; and emergent bilinguals with low exposure to Spanish. Participants engaged in an associative learning task in English where they learned to associate names of inanimate objects with proper names. For half of the pairs, the grammatical gender of the noun’s Spanish translation matched the gender of the proper name (e.g. corn-Patrick). For half of the pairs, the grammatical gender of the noun’s Spanish translation mismatched the gender of the proper noun (e.g. beach-William). Data and Analysis: Fifty-six participants were tested − 21 monolingual speakers of English, 18 emergent bilinguals with high exposure to Spanish, and 17 emergent bilinguals with low exposure to Spanish. Data were analyzed using mixed analyses of variance. Findings/Conclusions: High-Spanish-exposure bilinguals (but not monolinguals or low-Spanish-exposure bilinguals) were less accurate at retrieving proper names for gender-incongruent than for gender-congruent pairs. Originality: The methodological approach used in this paper is especially well-suited to testing activation of grammatical gender in languages like English, which do not grammaticize gender. Significance/Implications: The findings of this study indicate that second-language morphosyntactic information is activated during native-language lexical processing, even when the second language is acquired later in life. This is particularly significant, considering well-known limitations in explicit knowledge of grammatical gender distinctions in the late-acquired second language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to current investigations of the nature of babbling in infants raised bilingually by analyzing the babbling of a child raised in a Spanish–English environment. Examination of syllable structure shows the expected preponderance of open syllables in both language contexts while other phenomena point to important differences dependent on language context. While some of the differences relate to general features of the input languages, others coincide with individual features of the parents’ input. These results offer some evidence of distinct babbling according to language context and suggest a possible influence of the type of input. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The role of metalinguistic knowledge of language and knowledge of technical terms (i.e. metalingual knowledge) in second language (L2) learning and use is a matter of controversy in the field of Second Language Acquisition. This paper examines the development of these two types of knowledge in adult university-level learners of L2 Spanish, and their relationship to L2 proficiency. Metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge were measured using a metalinguistic knowledge test containing 16 sentences with an underlined error about a particular grammatical structure. The participants were asked to provide a written description of the rule that the error was violating. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data shows that, in general, learners demonstrated limited metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge. In addition, there was great variation regarding how close the learners’ verbalisations resembled pedagogical rules of the structures tested. Furthermore, the participants used very few technical terms, albeit mostly correctly, compared with the metalanguage found in those pedagogical rules. Finally, the results show that metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge correlated with written measures of L2 proficiency but not with oral proficiency. These results are discussed in light of previous research, and implications for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rooted in the Descriptive Translation Studies paradigm, this paper starts by discussing some of the main subtitling constraints that impinge on the translator's task and moves on to analyse the various strategies employed in the subtitled Spanish version of Tarantino's multilingual film Inglourious Basterds. Bearing in mind that the film was made with English, as the predominant language, and is peppered with German, French and Italian scenes, this analysis aims to examine how the combination of the SLs is reflected through subtitles. In order to resort to triangulation, a quantitative analysis of data is contrasted with a subtitler's interview of the Spanish version, analysed qualitatively. In doing so, it is hoped to shed some light on what the final product received by the audience is like as far as multilingual films are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights the Orbital Experience (OE), a unique experience that explores the affective domains of second language acquisition, including communication in the target language, making interdisciplinary connections, and fostering a community of learners. Through Orbitals, students serve as experts by researching a topic of interest, delivering an oral presentation extemporaneously to the class, and writing a paper connecting their topic to other content areas. This article reports a qualitative study of 41 high school students studying Spanish. Findings reveal that OE reduced anxiety in their Spanish oral communication by creating a unique social context in which they began to feel a sense of community as they learned more about their peers' interests. Implications include scaffolding communication, increasing motivation, and application of OE to other high school subject areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the complex interplay between phrasal prosody, syntax, and meaning in English and Spanish, and explores its implication for second language acquisition (SLA). We present L2 data from L1 Spanish/L2 English learners which indicate that moving from syntax to prosody to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far more challenging than moving from syntax to prosody to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. On the other hand, L2 data from L1 English/L2 Spanish learners indicate that moving from prosody to syntax to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far less challenging than moving from prosody to syntax to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. We offer a grammatical account of this seemingly contradictory situation, in support of the view that second language learners acquire a grammatical system rather than isolated patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we examine the acquisition of interpretable features in English L2 learners of Spanish by investigating the personal preposition a in Spanish. The presence of a in direct object NPs relates to the animacy/specificity of the NP, the animacy/agentivity of the subject and the semantics of the predicate (Torrego, 1998; Zagona, 2002); that is, personal a is constrained by the interpretability of semantic features. Forty-nine English L2 learners of Spanish of different proficiency levels, and 16 Spanish controls participated in an Acceptability Judgement task. The results showed that L2 learners of Spanish across three proficiency levels behaved differently from native speakers of Spanish. The L2 learners seem to have attained some of the interpretable features (i.e., [±animate]) of the Spanish a-DP direct objects, but reveal delays with others. Nonetheless, our data illustrate partial convergence by advanced learners with the native speakers: some interpretable features are attainable, while others may be less accessible and subject to developmental processes. In analyzing our data we draw on Lardiere’s (2008, 2009) Feature Reassembly Hypothesis, but expanded and extended it in an attempt to critically evaluate and broaden it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTModels such as Eckman's markedness differential hypothesis, Flege's speech learning model, and Brown's feature-based theory of perception seek to explain and predict the relative difficulty second language (L2) learners face when acquiring new or similar sounds. In this paper, we test their predictive adequacy as concerns native English speakers? mastery of French /?/ and Spanish /?/. Based on an acoustic analysis of the learner data, we demonstrate that these three models do not account for the full range of variability nor for the developmental sequences attested, because they do not consider the degree of difficulty involved in the simultaneous mastery of multiple phonetic parameters across prosodic positions. Consequently, models of L2 phonological acquisition must not only integrate findings from markedness theory and speech perception but also incorporate phonetic constraints on production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides arguments in favour of using Talmy's cognitive typology in the study of translation. I contrasted English motion expressions with those in Spanish and Serbo-Croatian. English and Spanish belong to two opposing types in the typology, and Serbo-Croatian is classified as the same type as English. I illustrate the effects that different lexicalization patterns can have in a specific context of translation, namely that of translating police interviews with witnesses and suspects from Spanish into English. I also explain the intratypological contrasts that affect translation in the case of English vs. Serbo-Croatian. I propose a number of underlying principles to be used in translation and foreign language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of Spanish to the field of SLA continues to grow (Lafford & Salaberry 2003; Montrul 2004), and the need for good L2 Spanish datasets is becoming increasingly evident. In this paper we introduce a newly created database titled Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpus (SPLLOC), describing the rationale underlying the database design and methodology used for its construction. This project applying CHILDES tools to L2 Spanish follows successful creation of a collection of French L2 oral corpora (Rule et al. 2003), already available at www.flloc.soton.ac.uk. Creating a successful oral corpus is costly and available corpora are often built somewhat opportunistically from available material rather than designed in a balanced way to facilitate SLA research. The SPLLOC database has been designed to fill the existing gap in Spanish L2 resources and also to support a focused research agenda investigating learner development with respect to the verb phrase, clitic pronouns, and word order, from an interface perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper was intended as an inquiry into the role played by L2 proficiency in the way writers allocate their time to the formulation of their ideas throughtout their L1 and L2 composition processes. The sample was made up of 21 Spanish EFL learners divided into three L2 proficiency levels. Each participant wrote one composition in English and another one in Spanish verbalising their thoughts aloud. The data showed that some components of the formulation process are independent of L2 proficiency while others show a clear developmental profile. These results are described and interpreted in the light of the relevant literature and a number of theoretical and methodological conclusions are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent second language (L2) acquisition research has proposed that purely syntactic features are easier to acquire and less vulnerable than ones involving the interfaces (Sorace, 2004; Serratrice et al. 2004). The present paper addresses this issue by investigating the acquisition of the Spanish personal preposition a in English L2 learners of Spanish. The distribution of a in direct object NPs relates to the specificity/definiteness of the NP, the animacy/agentivity of the subject, and verb semantics (Torrego 1998; Zagona 2002). 33 English L2 learners of Spanish of different proficiency levels, and 14 Spanish controls participated in an acceptability judgement task. The results showed significant differences between native speakers and L2 learners of all proficiency levels, who performed at chance, and support the claim that L2 learners have difficulties acquiring structures involving the syntax/semantics interface. However, the advanced learners showed sensitivity to the least complex condition providing evidence that interface phenomena may be acquirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the implementation of an ambitious bilingual instructional programme in the P'urhepecha-speaking region of Michoacán state in Mexico, the Meseta Tarasca. A curriculum of indigenous language preservation and cultural affirmation, overturning the previous Spanish-only programme, has been developed by a group of indigenous teachers in two P'urhepecha elementary schools, ‘Miguel Hidalgo’ of San Isidro and ‘Benito Juárez’ in the neighbouring village of Uringuitiro. Today, the P'urhepecha language is the nucleus of the curriculum. With the previous curriculum largely discredited, the bilingual teachers embarked on a project that would both provide instruction to children in a language they understand, and contribute to the preservation of their indigenous language, which in these communities, in all cases, is children's first language (L1). Being cognizant of the importance of learning Spanish as a second language, a major current planning and curriculum design priority is to find a way to integrate Spanish language instruction into the academic subject areas in accordance with current models of content-based second language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent proposals argue that interface areas such as syntax/semantics and syntax/pragmatics are particularly difficult for adult learners, in comparison to purely syntactic phenomena (Sorace 2003, 2004). In contrast, other research shows that L2 learners are able to acquire target representations even when the interpretation is not readily available in the input (Borgonovo, Bruhn de Garavito and Prévost 2005, Dekydtspotter and Sprouse 2001). In this paper we add to the growing literature on the acquisition of interpretational properties by showing that adult L2 learners can acquire knowledge of the syntactic correlates of the semantic notion of specificity in constructions involving topicalisation and null objects in Spanish. The learners’ first language (L1) is Brazilian Portuguese, where specificity does not play the role in these constructions that it plays in Spanish. Results show that learners can go beyond their L1 with respect to the acquisition of interface phenomena, suggesting that native-like grammars are attainable in L2 acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aspect Hypothesis (AH) (Andersen 1986, 1991) suggests an eight-stage development of the Spanish tense–aspect system by English learners in which tenses progressively mark verb categories. The current paper, which presents some of the main findings from Labeau (2005), explores the relevance of the AH to an acquisitional setting other than that for which it was developed. Specifically, it tests the four tenets of the AH, as described by Shirai and Kurono (1998) against data from the acquisition of the French tense/aspect system by advanced learners of French in a tutored environment. It compares the use of French verbal morphology by advanced Anglophone learners with a control group of native speakers engaging in a variety of tasks: (1) oral and written narratives (2) a grammar cloze-test and (3) a written editing task. Having shown that the basic hypothesis is unable to account for the development of advanced French, the study tests an expanded version of the AH (Andersen 2002) and suggests further factors to take into account in the description of advanced stages of tense–aspect acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the claim that the native grammar of the learners is the initial state of second-language acquisition, as far as the acquisition of universal grammar parameters is concerned. Two opposing views on L1 transfer are discussed: the first hypothesis maintains that learners start out with the L1 parameter value (Schwartz and Sprouse's 1994, 1996 fulltransfer/full-access hypothesis), while the second hypothesis argues that L1 transfer plays a minimal role in the acquisition process (Epstein et aL 1996's no-transfer/full-access hypothesis). The parameter under investigation is the aspect parameter, postulating two different ways in which languages mark telicity in the verbal phrase. In order to distinguish between the two views of transfer with experimental means, the study examines the competence as two groups as low-intermediate learners of English, native streakers of Spanish, a language sharing the same parameter value with English, and of Bulgarian, a language exhibiting the opposite parametric value. Results indicate that the differences in the performance of learners from the two language groups are directly traceable to their native language. Thus the full-transfer/full-access hypothesis' receives experimental support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the Vygotskian methodological construct of microgenesis to study collaborative activity in an intermediate Spanish as a foreign language classroom. In this study, the construct of microgenesis is drawn upon to refer to both, the methodological tool to investigate language learning instances as observed in short periods of time (i.e. minutes), and also to refer to those observed language learning instances as the object of study. The Sociocultural approach to Second Language Learning (SLL) (Lantolf and Appel 1994; Donato 2000; Lantolf 2000; Lantolf and Thorne 2006) underpinning this investigation sees interaction as the enabling process that becomes essential for the individual to achieve learning and development. I refer to learning as the process through which participants are able to change, transform (i.e. develop) their use and/or understanding (see Wells 1999: 111) of the target language. Pairs/trios of students were audio-recorded while collaborating to complete three language tasks in the classroom during an academic semester in a UK university. Microgenetic analysis of the data (transcribed protocols) allowed us to gain further understanding of collaborative activity and of the importance of language as a mediational tool to co-construct meaning and learning opportunities. The results show that although each instance of microgenesis is unique, there are certain characteristics and patterns shared by the various instances identified in the data set. The investigation also highlights the importance of studying discourse markers to help us identify the learners’ level of regulation. Finally, we focus on a specific aspect of microgenesis that appears to be crucial for driving the learners second language (L2) forward, and which following van Lier (2000: 252), I refer to as microgenesis affordance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]