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This study explored the effects of learning activities which encouraged positive crosslinguistic influence from L2 Spanish to L1 English grammar in young learners. The learners (N = 82) were studying Spanish as their compulsory foreign language at an English state primary school in the UK. As part of ten timetabled Spanish classes over a period of six months, 40 pupils, aged 10–11, engaged in self-study activities involving aspects of Spanish grammar. The activities incorporated thematic content and metalanguage based on the grammar, punctuation and spelling exam (GPS), a national English grammar test taken at the end of primary education. A control group of 42 children engaged in self-study activities with no focus on grammar. L1 English grammar knowledge pre- and post-intervention was assessed using GPS scores. At post-test, a small, non-significant positive effect on attainment in L1 English grammar was observed. Although preliminary and involving only a small effect, the results are promising, showing that engagement with Spanish grammar activities might lead to better performance on English grammar. These findings are consistent with recent research which has established that the cognitive maturity required to develop and deploy metalinguistic awareness is present in children at a younger age than previously assumed. En esta investigación se exploraron los efectos de las actividades de aprendizaje que alentaron la influencia interlingüística positiva del español como L2 al inglés como L1 en aprendices jóvenes. Los aprendices estudiaban el español como idioma extranjero obligatorio en una escuela primaria pública inglesa. Como parte de diez clases de español programadas en un período de seis meses, 40 alumnos entre los 10 y 11 años se dedicaron a actividades de auto aprendizaje que trataban aspectos de gramática española. Dichas actividades incorporaban contenido temático y metalenguaje basado en el GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling), un examen de gramática inglesa que se presenta al finalizar la educación primaria. Durante estas sesiones, un grupo de control de 42 niños participó en actividades de autoaprendizaje que no se centraron en la gramática. Se evaluó el conocimiento gramatical de L1 antes y después de la intervención usando el puntaje del GPS. En una prueba posterior, se observó un efecto pequeño no significativo en su desempeño en la gramática del inglés. Los resultados, aunque preliminares y con un efecto pequeño, son prometedores y muestran que la participación en actividades de gramática española podría conducir a un mejor desempeño en gramática inglesa. Estos resultados son consistentes con los estudios recientes que han establecido que la madurez cognitiva requerida para desarrollar y hacer uso de una conciencia metalingüística está presente en niños a menor edad de la que se suponía con anterioridad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the role that knowledge about formal linguistics can play in teacher education. In order to do so, this contribution focuses on specific secondary students' errors and misconceptions when confronted with L1 explicit grammar instruction. Errors are measured with respect to a formal theory of grammar. The rationale for developing this research is that certain aspects of formal theories, such as constituency, recursion, dependency and compositionality function not only are the building blocks of the utterances, but are also needed for speech processing. If this is the case, acquiring them correctly might be helpful for enhancing literacy, since the very same notions are at the core of both the construction and the understanding of any text. As a second issue, the present paper addresses the question of how the absence of such knowledge models the perspective from which students' errors are evaluated by the teachers. Errors are described following the theories for analyzing errors in mathematics. A side effect of this approach is that the parallelism between errors made in learning mathematics and in learning the grammatical concepts just mentioned allows broadening the perspective from which the latter is approached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This volume comprises sixteen peer-reviewed selected papers presented at the 45th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), that took place on May 6–9, 2015, at the University of Campinas, Brazil. United by a common goal – the formal analysis of Romance languages –, these papers focus on a wide range of topics in different areas of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, plus interfaces), and in different research domains (L1 grammar, L2 acquisition, variation and change, bilingualism and language contact, code-switching). The Romance languages represented in this volume include Peninsular and American Spanish; European, Brazilian and Mozambican (Maputo) Portuguese; French; Italian and Italian dialects (especially Borgomanerese); and Palenquero, a Spanish-based creole. Most papers assume a comparative approach to the discussed topics. Overall, the papers present new data and new approaches to familiar structures, as well as new developments for less known phenomena.

This volume comprises sixteen peer-reviewed selected papers presented at the 45th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), that took place on May 6-9, 2015, at the University of Campinas, Brazil. United by a common goal - the formal analysis of Romance languages -, these papers focus on a wide range of topics in different areas of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, plus interfaces), and in different research domains (L1 grammar, L2 acquisition, variation and change, bilingualism and language contact, code-switching). The Romance languages represented in this volume include Peninsular and American Spanish; European, Brazilian and Mozambican (Maputo) Portuguese; French; Italian and Italian dialects (especially Borgomanerese); and Palenquero, a Spanish-based creole. Most papers assume a comparative approach to the discussed topics. Overall, the papers present new data and new approaches to familiar structures, as well as new developments for less known phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dutch language student teachers have difficulty reasoning about grammar. • Student teachers do not outperform 14 year old pre-university students on grammatical reasoning. • Student teachers show several signs of conceptual confusion for basic grammatical categories. • Student teachers' level of grammatical understanding can predict their reasoning ability. • The elaborateness of their reasoning also predicts their reasoning ability. Grammatical knowledge is an important part of L1 language education. Nevertheless, teachers find it challenging to convey an in-depth understanding of grammar to their students. Previous research suggests that understanding might be stimulated by focusing on grammatical reasoning. The current mixed-methods study explores the grammatical reasoning of 108 Dutch L1 student teachers' in odd one out tasks, showing that student teachers struggle with such reasoning tasks. A multilevel regression analysis indicates that their level of grammatical understanding as measured by a Test of Grammatical Understanding (TGU) and the elaborateness of student teachers' argumentation significantly predict the quality of their grammatical reasoning. Student teachers' performances were also compared to 14 year old pre-university students' performances (N = 120). Contrary to what was hypothesized, senior student teachers did not manage to outperform junior student teachers, nor did student teachers outperform pre-university students. The paper discusses plausible reasons for these findings and explores how teacher education might need to shift focus to better develop student teachers' grammatical reasoning skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]