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Recent research has highlighted the existence of expletive(-like) elements in various languages that are related to discourse, serving as fillers for designated topic/focus positions and/or contributing specific discourse–pragmatic effects. Such elements pose a number of challenges and opportunities, both for our overall conception of expletives and for our understanding of the syntax–discourse interface, although work in this area to date has mainly focused on the phenomenon in individual varieties. In this study, we critically survey the current state-of-the art on this topic and discuss four main areas where we see particular challenges and opportunities for research: (i) categories and definitions, (ii) typological correlations, (iii) theoretical modelling and (iv) language change. Overall, this article brings together a broad array of empirical findings and theoretical approaches on the phenomenon of discourse-related expletives and highlights the many avenues for future work in this area.

This article reports on two experiments that examine the computation of contrastive focus in Russian on the part of adult English-dominant heritage speakers and second language learners of Russian, in comparison with baseline monolinguals. The first experiment uses an acceptability judgment task to determine whether bilingual and monolingual speakers use both contextual and prosodic cues to determine the location of contrastive focus. A follow-up experiment uses two prominence detection tasks in order to separately examine participants' sensitivity to contextual vs. prosodic cues. The findings indicate that, at higher proficiency, bilingual speakers of Russian successfully use both contextual and prosodic cues to contrastive focus; with proficiency controlled for, heritage speakers do not have an advantage over second language learners in this domain. These findings are discussed in light of cross-linguistic influence and interface vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative imperatives in general have received less research compared to positive imperatives cross-linguistically, which is perhaps due to their complex nature. This article studies Yemeni Arabic (YA) negative imperatives, probing their syntactic and discourse properties, and proposing a syntax–discourse interface amalgamated with phase approach to the analysis of these structures. Syntactically, negative imperative structures in YA are bipartite in nature, consisting of the preverbal negative particle lā and the postverbal negative suffix – š, thus paralleling negative imperatives in French, for instance. We propose that the head Neg is split into NegP and NegClP as a result of Agree and interface properties between syntax and discourse. NegP is represented by lā and –š represents NegClP (=Clitic Negative Phrase). NegClP ensues from the clitic nature of –š. We also argue that the thematic subject of imperatives is a 2 (person) pro. Discoursally, we argue that the overt (pro)nominal constituent showing up preverbally is not a subject, but rather a C-domain element, precisely a topic. The latter merges in Spec,TopP and pro in Spec,vP, coreferentially correlated at the syntax–discourse interface, where coreferentiality takes the form of Agree as Match, which results in full interpretation of pro. The proposal accounts straightforwardly and elegantly for the bipartite negative imperative facts in YA, and other modern Arabic varieties. It has also adequately been applied to English and French, and hopefully, it can be applied cross-linguistically.

The present study uses the apparent-time construct to analyze cross-generational variability of word order in unergative and unaccusative constructions in Basque (e.g., negar ein 'to cry' and heldu 'to arrive', respectively). It considers the results of an acceptability judgment as well as elicitation tasks carried out among two generations of Basque native speakers (55–75 years old, and 35–45 years old). Unlike the younger participants, the older participants lack the syntactic focus strategy. It is proposed that this lack among the older participants was conditioned by the socially restricted bilingualism that they experienced during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975), while the younger participants appeared to have acquired (i.e. recovered) the syntactic focus strategy because they experienced the legitimacy and vitality of Basque in public life and in formal education following the Normalization Law of 1982. Studies in Basque sociolinguistics have identified language changes through feature loss, dialectal leveling and contact-induced change, but no studies to date have identified the recovery of a previously lost syntactic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains an open question whether second language (L2) learners can process linguistic properties at the syntax–discourse interface. This study examines this issue in the context of the L2 processing of Korean dative sentences under different information structure requirements. Given that discourse constraints associated with information structure tend to manifest more strongly in noncanonical than in canonical structures, we tested whether L2 learners of Korean show sensitivity to such constraints during online processing. In a story-continuation task, both native and nonnative speaker groups showed a strong preference for producing canonical dative patterns, indicating their comparable knowledge of the canonical status of Korean dative sentences. In a self-paced reading task, both groups spent longer reading times when the word order of dative sentences did not follow given–new information structure, but only for the noncanonical and not the canonical structure. These results suggest that L2 processing of dative structures at the syntax–discourse interface relies on the same parsing architecture that guides native-speaker processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritage language (HL) speakers seem to diverge from monolingual speakers in the acquisition of syntax–discourse interface phenomena. However, most of the studies reporting this finding do not make any distinction between different types of syntax–discourse interface structures. Therefore, it is an open question whether these structures are difficult for HL speakers across the board or whether different types of structures are associated with different acquisition outcomes. In this study, we investigate whether the timing of the acquisition of syntax–discourse interface structures among monolingual children affects their acquisition by HL children. We consider the acquisition of the alternation between preverbal and postverbal subjects with unaccusative, unergative and transitive verbs in Italian. This alternation involves the syntax–discourse interface across all verb types. However, mastery of this alternation has a different timing in monolingual acquisition depending on the verb type: it emerges earlier in association with unaccusative verbs than unergative and transitive ones. We elicit narratives in Italian from 42 Italian heritage children living in Germany and ranging in age from 7 to 14 years. We focus on the analysis of preverbal and postverbal subjects, considering the effect of verb type and discourse status of the subject. The children show a good mastery of the alternation between preverbal and postverbal subjects with unaccusative verbs, whereas they exhibit difficulties with the same alternation in association with transitive and unergative verbs. Furthermore, postverbal subjects with transitive verbs are particularly vulnerable to cross-linguistic effects from German. The results of the study suggest a gradient interpretation of heritage speakers' difficulty with syntax–discourse interface structures, with timing in monolingual acquisition being a relevant factor that modulates the degree of this difficulty. The results are not affected by children's dominance of exposure to Italian or age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sets out to answer one major question: do linguistic phenomena relating to syntax-discourse interface constitute difficulty for Yemeni learners of English? It presents data from an experiment on the acquisition of L2 English wh-interrogatives by L1 Yemeni Arabic speakers, aiming to provide empirical evidence either in support of the Interface Hypothesis (IH) or against it. Two learner groups, intermediate and advanced, were recruited as participants of the study, and a native speaker group of (British) English was also recruited as the control group. The advanced group learners have a near-native proficiency in English. The data utilized consisted of 20 (D-)iscourse linked and non-d-linked wh-interrogatives presented to the three groups in the form of a (decontextualized) bi-modal multiple-choice paced judgement task. Results showed that both learner groups, specifically the advanced learners, performed near-native like in the non-d-linked, but far short of near/native-like performance in the d-linked wh-interrogatives. The study concluded that L2 learners’ English is still vulnerable at the syntax-discourse interface, hence supporting the IH.

This study considers L2 French and L3 English ultimate attainment among L1 Moroccan Arabic adult learners. It contrasts the acquisition of two types of wh-questions: discourse-linked and non-discourse-linked questions in root and embedded forms. The results of two acceptability judgment tasks indicate that the advanced learners in L2 French and L3 English are nativelike on d-linked wh-questions but less accurate on non-discourse-linked interrogatives. They successfully unlearn resumption as an L1 strategy to form discourse-linked questions. Therefore, contra the prediction of the Interface Hypothesis, discourse-linking is acquirable though it is a property of the syntax-discourse interface. It does not pose more learning difficulty than quantification (formal wh-feature) of narrow syntax. The study indicates that embedding and thereby the processing cognitive load are the deterministic variables, not the language domain of constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the acceptability judgment task (AJT) and translation task (TT) in 10 simultaneous Turkish–Italian bilinguals with age-matched Turkish and Italian monolinguals as a control group. The position of subjects occurring with unaccusative verbs was investigated as the linguistic property. The results of the AJT in Turkish revealed no significant difference between the groups. However, in the Italian AJT, high variability was found in the younger bilinguals. Only bilinguals could participate in the TT. The participants, while translating into Turkish, always produced pragmatically appropriate sentences. In the case of translation to Italian, a significant effect correlated with the position of the subject in the Turkish stimulus was found.

A central question of language comprehension concerns the interaction between linguistic form and broader representations of discourse in the interpretation of context-sensitive expressions. This interaction is instantiated in the interpretation of verb phrase ellipsis (VPE), where previous work has shown that the linguistic antecedent and the broader context are both considered in resolution. Using a novel experimental paradigm, we investigated VPE interpretation in discourses where the antecedent and the broader context make different information available for inclusion in the interpretation of the ellipsis site. Our results point to a complex interaction between linguistic antecedents and the broader discourse context in interpretation, putting considerable constraints on the set of possible models for VPE resolution. This work contributes to a better understanding of both the connections between and the boundaries separating linguistic structure and mental models of discourse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the syntax and semantics of please. Using a mainstream generative syntactic framework, I propose that syntactically integrated please is a discourse marker that marks the clause in which it occurs as a request. Please may appear clause-initially or clause-medially as determined by a number of factors, including clause type, modality, negation and the application of ellipsis. There is also a homophonous marker please that occurs in clause-final position; clause-final please does not mark requests per se but 'bonds' a speaker and addressee, reinforcing their relationship as requester and requestee. This analysis of please provides support for syntactic approaches to speech act structure, particularly the claim that illocutionary force is part of narrow syntax rather than a solely pragmatic phenomenon. The article provides support for pursuing a model of the syntax–discourse interface in which interactions between discourse markers and clause-internal functional elements, such as mood and modality, form the interface between syntax and discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, L2 research has shown that properties involving the syntax-discourse interface are typically more complex to acquire than strictly syntactic properties. To determine whether the complexity of the target property moderates the effectiveness of explicit instruction, this study investigates the impact of explicit instruction on the development of a syntactic property (the ungrammaticality of free inversion) and a syntax-discourse property (the unacceptability of locative inversion with informationally heavy verbs) in L1 European Portuguese-L2 English (B2 and C1 levels), using a pre-test/post-test design. Results reveal that instruction only produced lasting effects when it targeted syntax and learners were at the C1 level. These results indicate that syntax may be more permeable to instructional effects than the syntax-discourse interface and that the effectiveness of explicit instruction depends on learners' stage of L2 development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referential expressions (REs) have been investigated in L2 English but to date there is no single study that systematically and simultaneously analyzes the development and acquisition of the multiple factors that constrain the choice of REs in natural discourse production. We investigate L1 Spanish–L2 English learners across three proficiency levels versus an English control group from the COREFL corpus. An analysis of both the RE and its antecedent(s) reveals that different intra- and extralinguistic factors constrain the choice of REs (information status, activated antecedents, syntactic configurations, characterhood, within-task effect, and proficiency level). L2 learners (L2ers) are sensitive to some factors but are unable to fully attain native-like levels even at advanced stages. They do not transfer null subjects from their L1 contrary to previous L2 research, and do not find all contexts at the syntax-discourse interface equally problematic, thus confirming previous theoretical proposals and empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a formal analysis of three constructions in English: locative inversion, central deictic inversion and directional inversion. These constructions constitute thetic statements with a locative intentional base which sets a scene that (re)introduces an entity in the discourse; syntactically, they display a non-canonical word order and have a number of unusual grammatical properties which make them particularly interesting to show how syntax connects, and adapts, to discourse. I propose that they all obtain from a language particular mechanism which involves a functional category LocP that adjusts the computational requirement to have a preverbal subject to the intentional need to have the subject post-verbally. As for the differences among them, they are approached in terms of the features that head LocP and the lexical properties of the verbs that head each of the structures. Ultimately, the paper also serves to discuss the role of certain informational features (the so-called core intentional features) in the syntactic derivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates whether second language (L2) speakers are sensitive to the information-structural constraints and frequency distributions at the syntax–discourse interface in the L2. L1-German–L2-English and L1-English–L2-German speakers completed a speeded naturalness judgment task. For sentences presented in broad or narrow-focus contexts, they judged the naturalness of fronted locative (LP) and temporal (TP) adverbial phrases and fronted objects in both English and German. English and German differ in the frequency with which they employ these constructions. With high-frequency fronted-LP and TP sentences, both the L2 English and L2 German speakers exhibited equivalent judgments as their L1 counterparts, in spite of differences in the perceived naturalness and relative frequency of these constructions in English vs. German. Like L1 speakers, L2 English and L2 German speakers also judged the less-frequent fronted objects as more natural in narrow-focus than broad-focus contexts, showing successful acquisition at the syntax–discourse interface. However, they judged fronted object sentences as more natural overall than their respective L1 counterparts in both English and German. Together, these findings suggest that convergence at the L2 syntax–discourse interface is possible per se, but that lower construction frequency in the input entails persistent overgeneralization of non-canonical options in the L2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the strategies used by speakers of Spanish as a second language (L2) for marking Information Focus, a phenomenon found at the syntax–discourse interface. Sorace and colleagues have proposed the Interface Hypothesis, according to which the syntax–discourse interface poses unique challenges for bilinguals (Sorace, 2011). With respect to Spanish, there exists a gap between the theoretical and empirical literatures on Focus realization; the former suggests that Focus must appear in sentence-final position, yet recent experimental work challenges this claim, showing that Focus commonly remains in situ. Using a speeded production task, we compared the response patterns of L2 Spanish speakers to that of natives in order to bring additional evidence to bear on the debate. Results revealed an asymmetry: L2 learners converged with native speakers on Subject Focus but not on Object Focus, where proficiency mediated overall divergences, indicating a change toward more nativelike Focus-marking strategies over time. We discuss our findings in light of the Interface Hypothesis and existing theories of Focus marking in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates near-native grammars at the syntax–discourse interface by examining the second language (L2) acquisition of two different domains of object movement in Dutch, which exhibit syntax–discourse or syntax–semantics level properties. English and German near-native speakers of Dutch, where German but not English allows the same mapping strategies as Dutch in the phenomena under investigation, are tested on two felicity judgment tasks and a truth value judgment task. The results from the English participants show sensitivity to discourse information on the acceptability of non-canonical word orders, but only when the relevant discourse cues are sufficiently salient in the input. The acquisition of semantic effects on object movement was native-like for a large subset of the participants. The German group performed on target in all experiments. The results are partially in line with previous studies reporting L2 convergence at the syntax–discourse interface, but suggest that input effects should also be taken into account. Furthermore, the differences between the first language (L1) English and the L1 German group suggests that non-target performance at the syntax–discourse interface is not caused by general bilingual difficulties in integrating discourse information into syntax. The article elaborates on factors that contribute to (in)complete acquisition at the syntax–discourse interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse–pragmatic conditions are more likely to lead to non-native outcomes than strictly syntactic aspects of the language (Sorace, 2011). To test this hypothesis, we examined subject realization and placement in Greek–English bilingual children learning Greek as a heritage language in North America and investigated whether the amount of heritage language use can predict their performance in syntax–discourse and narrow syntactic contexts. Results indicated two deviations from the Interface Hypothesis: First, subject realization (a syntax–discourse phenomenon) was found to be largely unproblematic. Second, subject placement was affected not only in syntax–discourse structures but also in narrow syntactic structures, though to a lesser degree, suggesting that the association between the interface status of subject placement and its sensitivity to heritage language use among children heritage speakers is gradient rather than categorical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Tagalog, an argument that is in narrow focus can be fronted to the clause initial position, deviating from the default verb-initial word order. This so-called ang-inversion has been claimed to be obligatory (Nagaya, 2007) or at least the go-to strategy (Kaufman, 2005) of encoding narrow focus. There is, however, an alternative that has so far received little attention in the literature: reversed ang-inversion. Structurally, this construction can be understood as the result of combining two inversion constructions: ang-inversion and ay-inversion. As a consequence, the focal constituent appears at the end of the sentence rather than at the beginning. This article presents spoken data elicited during field work as well as written data on reversed ang-inversion. Comparing the use of regular and reversed ang-inversion indicates that discourse-structural considerations play an important role in construction choice between the two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project examines whether heritage speakers of Spanish distinguish when Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) is discursively appropriate via an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and a speeded production task (SPT). This two-task experimental design is intended to determine whether heritage speakers diverge from an L1 Spanish/L2 English baseline and, if so, whether such divergence is due to their grammatical knowledge, processing constraints, or other task effects. The baseline group accepted and produced CLLD significantly more than other constructions in anaphoric contexts, with the opposite pattern in non-anaphoric contexts, as expected for Spanish. The heritage speakers showed the same significant differences in production in both conditions and in the AJT’s anaphoric condition; in the non-anaphoric condition, however, they did not show any differences between CLLD and the other relevant constructions. We argue that this group of heritage speakers knows the discursive distribution of CLLD just as the baseline speakers do, as attested by the similar performance pattern in production. Furthermore, we posit that their AJT performance, which shows evidence of overextension of CLLD beyond its anaphoric context and into non-anaphoric contexts, may be due to the metalinguistic nature of AJTs.

This study tests the Interface Hypothesis in the field of L3 acquisition. The learners are L1 Arabic–L2 French adults at the intermediate and advanced levels in L3 English. A forced multiple-choice written task tests non-d-linked and d-linked wh -questions, representing narrow syntax and the syntax–discourse interface. The intermediate learners of L3 English used the two constructions interchangeably regardless of the context. Comparatively, the advanced L3 learners diverge from the English native speakers on the syntactic construction but converge with them on its interface variant. They show sensitivity to the discourse-appropriateness distinction between d-linked and non-d-linked questions, contra the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis. We maintain that external interface properties such as d-linking are not necessarily destined for permanent representational deficit in the L3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the need to triangulate different approaches in Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research to fully understand late bilinguals’ interlanguage grammars. Methodologically, we show how experimental and corpus data can be (and should be) triangulated by reporting on a corpus study (Lozano and Mendikoetxea in Biling Lang Cognit 13(4):475-497, 2010) and a new follow-up offline experiment investigating Subject-Verb inversion (Subject-Verb/Verb-Subject order) in L1 Spanish-L2 English (n = 417). Theoretically, we follow a recent line in psycholinguistic approaches to Bilingualism and SLA research (Interface Hypothesis, Sorace in Linguist Approaches Biling 1(1):1-33, 2011). It focuses on the interface between syntax and language-external modules of the mind/brain (syntax-discourse [end-focus principle] and syntax-phonology [end-weight principle]) as well as a language-internal interface (lexicon-syntax [unaccusative hypothesis]). We argue that it is precisely this multi-faceted interface approach (corpus and experimental data, core syntax and the interfaces, representational and processing models) that provides a deeper understanding of (i) the factors that favour inversion in L2 acquisition in particular and (ii) interlanguage grammars in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the development of anaphora resolution (AR) in late sequential bilinguals, namely, adult Greek learners of Spanish at three proficiency levels (intermediate, lower advanced, upper advanced). The use of an overt/null pronominal subject anaphor is investigated in three discourse contexts: topic-continuity (a single antecedent requiring a null pronoun), contrastive-focus (two same-gender potential antecedents requiring an overt pronoun to avoid ambiguity) and emphatic (three same-gender potential antecedents showing unclear preference for either overt or null pronoun). Crucially, AR behaves similarly in Greek and Spanish. Results from an offline contextualised acceptability judgement task show that similarity between the learner’s first (L1) and second (L2) languages does not necessarily facilitate the learning task. Even very advanced learners show deficits, which are selective since not all discursive contexts are equally affected. The results are better accounted for by general pragmatic economy principles: Learners prefer being redundant (overuse of overt pronouns in topic-continuity contexts) to ambiguous (acceptance of null pronouns in contrastive-focus contexts). Such tolerance for redundancy may reflect a more general pragmatic tendency, as also reported in child L1 development, adult L2 development and also in native grammars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategies used to signal information focus — the non-presupposed part of a sentence — in Spanish are under debate. The literature suggests that focus must appear rightmost; however, empirical evidence shows that speakers also realize focus in-situ. Moreover, there is limited research investigating the effects of language variety or knowledge of another language on focus marking. We address these questions via a paced elicited production task, testing speakers who learned Spanish naturalistically in infancy, including two groups of monolinguals and two groups of Spanish/English bilinguals: (a) Spanish natives who learned English after childhood, and (b) early bilinguals exposed to English in early childhood (heritage speakers). Confirming previous empirical studies, results show that all participant groups choose a similar range of focus-marking strategies, vastly preferring in-situ marking with rightmost marking used rarely. Results challenge both theoretical accounts of Spanish focus realization and expectations of special vulnerability at the syntax-discourse interface for bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the grammatical constraints on discourse particles in Chinese–Japanese intra-sentential code switching in light of the general framework of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model augmented by the 4-M model. Design/methodology/approach: This study retrieves data collected for three years from three Chinese–Japanese bilingual children aged between 2;1 and 5;0. Data and analysis: The database consists of nearly 300 hours of spontaneous conversations that are audio-recorded from the families of the three bilingual children, as well as diary entries. It shows that a large number of code switching utterances involve discourse particles. Findings/conclusions: Qualitative analyses of the data indicate that discourse particles are generally constrained by the MLF, yet they do not fit into any category of the 4-M model. Morphologically bound, discourse particles represent the information structure of a sentence (as in the Japanese topic marker -wa) or encode constraints on the inferential processes (as in the Japanese complementizer -kara) rather than truth-conditional information. They manifest some idiosyncrasy at the interface of syntax and pragmatics, and set up the MLF at a discourse level. Thus, the MLF model is extended from a merely syntactic level to the syntax–discourse interface. Originality: The present work has contributed empirical evidence from a hitherto undocumented language pair of Chinese and Japanese, and made theoretical explorations on the linguistic constraints of discourse particles. Significance/implications: On one hand, it is work that provides support for the robust nature of universality of the MLF constraints on code switching. On the other hand, discourse particles exhibit typological features that need further theoretical exploration in order to make a more comprehensive account for the grammatical constraints on Chinese–Japanese code switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether heritage speakers of Turkish in the Netherlands interpret focus in written Dutch sentences differently from L1 speakers of Dutch (controls). Where most previous studies examined effects from the dominant L2 on the heritage language, we investigated whether there are effects from the weaker heritage language on the dominant L2. Dutch and Turkish differ in focus marking. Dutch primarily uses prosody to encode focus, whereas Turkish uses prosody and syntax, with a preverbal area for focused information and a postverbal area for background information. In written sentences no explicit prosody is available, which possibly enhances the role of syntactic cues in interpreting focus. An eye-tracking experiment suggests that, unlike the controls, the bilinguals associate the preverbal area with focus and the postverbal area with background information. These findings are in line with transfer from the weaker L1 to the dominant L2 at the syntax–discourse interface. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The grammars of bilinguals have been found to differ from those of monolinguals especially with regard to phenomena that involve the interface of syntax and discourse/pragmatics. This paper examines one syntax-discourse interface phenomenon - presentational focus - in the grammars of heritage speakers of Spanish. The results of a contextualized acceptability judgment task indicate that lower proficiency heritage speakers show some variability in the structures they accept to realize focus, whereas higher proficiency heritage bilinguals pattern with monolinguals. These results suggest that some explanations of domainspecific vulnerability in bilingual grammars, including the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), may need to be revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the status of discourse-dependent syntactic properties in Spanish heritage grammars. In particular, we focus on pragmatically-driven word order patterns with Spanish psychological predicates (e. g., gustar 'to like'). The responses from 26 Spanish heritage speakers (as well as 8 bilingual native controls) to an aural pragmatic felicity task indicate that heritage speakers are sensitive to the nuanced discursive factors that regulate word order in Spanish psych-predicate constructions. These findings contribute to current debates over the status of interfaces in heritage grammars. Specifically, these results shed light on the factors that make certain syntax-discourse properties particularly prone to change while not others. This takes us to advocate for a finer-grained division of syntax-discourse constructions and their relation to learnability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines whether, as proposed by the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), the syntax-discourse interface is especially vulnerable to non-native optionality even at very advanced levels. I focus on the acquisition of Clitic Left Dislocation in Spanish (CLLD), a structure that involves both syntax and discourse, when it combines with other structures at the left periphery (iterative topics, Fronted Focus, and wh-constructions). CLLD is a realization of topicalization requiring the integration of syntactic and discourse knowledge. This study provides data from an audio-visual rating task completed by 120 learners of Spanish of different proficiency levels and 27 monolingual native speakers. Results showed evidence that the most advanced learners had acquired the restrictions of these structures in a native-like way and supports López’s (2009) syntactic analysis of CLLD, whereby CLLD is generated through movement so that the pragmatic features [+anaphor]/[+contrast] can be assigned to the dislocated element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles compiled in this volume provide an account of current research in 'core' areas in the field of language acquisition (primary, secondary and bilingual) and suggest new avenues of research and ways of approaching the relationship between the theories and methodologies. Within the framework of cognitive sciences, specifically linguistics and psycholinguistics, the articles investigate language acquisition from four different dimensions: processing and lexical access, the prosody-pragmatics interface, the discourse-syntax interface and language impairment (so-called specific language impairment). Using data from four Romance languages - Catalan, French, Portuguese and Spanish - these articles address state-of-the-art issues pertaining to the relationship between language acquisition and other cognitive modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the acquisition of three English syntax–discourse interface constructions: Topicalization, Focus Fronting and Left Dislocation. We use data from Basque–Spanish bilinguals learning English as a third language (L3) as a test case for the Interface Hypothesis (IH, Sorace, 2011). The IH has made specific predictions about second language (L2) acquisition and such predictions can be extrapolated to L3 on the basis of interface delay explanations. Thirty contexts and embedded test sentences with and without pronouns were used; participants had to rate the acceptability of each audio stimulus sentence in the context on a seven-point scale. We tested Basque–Spanish bilinguals dominant in Basque (n = 23), Basque–Spanish bilinguals dominant in Spanish (n = 24), Spanish L2 English learners (n = 39) as well as native English speakers (n = 24). Findings provide evidence against current L3 acquisition models and potential arguments for both cumulative enhancement as well as cumulative inhibition as possible processes in L3 acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent second language (L2) research it has been proposed that unlike linguistic phenomena pertaining to internal interfaces, those at external interfaces pose greater difficulty to adult L2 learners and may not be fully acquired. It has further been pointed out that such problematic acquisition at the interface level should not be attributed to the entire interface and requires a more nuanced examination, and this is what the current article aims to provide. An empirical study reported here investigates whether Russian-speaking learners are able to acquire Chinese wh-topicalization that lies at the syntax–discourse interface, an instance of the external interface. The results indicate that although very advanced Russian speakers can acquire wh-topicalization in their L2 Chinese, the ability of wh-elements to topicalize in Russian–Chinese interlanguage grammars seems to be determined by an internal structure underlying Chinese wh-elements, and this is likely to be a variable that affects the linguistic behaviour at the interface level in the L2. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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This study examines aspects of the syntax-discourse interface in near-native French. Two cleft structures- c'est clefts and avoir clefts-are examined in experimental and spontaneous conversational data from 10 adult Anglophone learners of French and ten native speakers of French. C'est clefts mark focus, and avoir clefts introduce new discourse referents. Although previous research on the syntax-discourse interface has revealed residual difficulties in near-native speakers, the near-natives in the present study evinced nativelike behavior on a range of measures, a finding that suggests complete acquisition of aspects of the syntax-discourse interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to expand the testing ground of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2006) by investigating the degree to which second language (L2) learners of Bulgarian with English as their first language (L1) had acquired the pragmatic function of clitic doubling as a topicality marker. Advanced and intermediate L2 speakers of Bulgarian, as well as a control group of Bulgarian native speakers, participated in the experiment. The experimental materials included a proficiency test and a pragmatic felicity task. The results showed that the intermediate participants did not differentiate between the felicitous and the infelicitous options in the pragmatic felicity task in a target-like manner as their responses either did not exhibit a statistically significant difference or favored the response closest to the L1. However, the advanced L2 learners had successfully acquired the pragmatic meaning of clitic doubling in Bulgarian and performed in a native-like manner. The study highlights the fact that successful learning at the syntax–discourse interface cannot be excluded, and more research – exploring as many interface conditions as possible – needs to be carried out in order to validate the Interface Hypothesis as a legitimate constraint that permanently hinders native-like performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experimental study tests the Interface Hypothesis by looking into processes at the syntax–discourse interface, teasing apart acquisition of syntactic, semantic and discourse knowledge. Adopting López’s (2009) pragmatic features [±a(naphor)] and [±c(ontrast)], which in combination account for the constructions of dislocation and fronting, we tested clitic left dislocation and fronted focus in the comprehension of English native speakers learning Spanish. Furthermore, we tested knowledge of an additional semantic property: the relationship between the discourse anaphor and the antecedent in clitic left dislocation (CLLD). This relationship is free: it can be subset, superset, part/whole. Syntactic knowledge of clitics was a condition for inclusion in the main test. Our findings indicate that all learners are sensitive to the semantic constraints. While the near-native speakers display native-like discourse knowledge, the advanced speakers demonstrated some discourse knowledge, and intermediate learners did not display any discourse knowledge. The findings support as well as challenge the Interface Hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the acquisition of pronominal resolution as a process instantiated at the syntax–discourse interface. Based on current psycholinguistic proposals concerning the gradual development from a more context-driven towards a linguistically constrained representation of discourse referents, we conducted an experimental study investigating the impact of the antecedent properties animacy and syntactic role on the resolution of personal and demonstrative pronouns. Participants were 3- and 5-year-old monolingual German- and Bulgarian-speaking children. Results suggest that the 3-year-olds establish one pronoun type as a default in their early anaphoric system. Five-year-olds resolve personal pronouns to the maximally salient antecedent which they determine by a joint consideration of the subject and animacy status of available referents. The resolution of demonstratives shows initial language-specific constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Language processing involving syntax-discourse interface operations has been claimed to be particularly resource-consuming. In production, this additional complexity is claimed to be the source of article omission in the speech of young children and certain language-impaired speakers. In comprehension, article omission in some “special registers” (e.g., newspaper headlines) has been attributed to the trade-off between spending more processing resources and increasing processing speed. We investigated the comprehension of noun phrases (NPs) with and without articles (e.g., (a) policeman arrests (a) monk) when readers were or were not aware of reading headlines by recording electrophysiological responses. The presence of an N400-effect suggests first that comprehension of article-less NPs exerts processing demands and indicates that article omission does not result in costs from morphosyntactic processing (no LAN), but from linking processes at the syntax-discourse interface supported by discourse-semantic memory. Differences between the instruction modalities suggest that awareness of the special register plays a role. The electrophysiological data thus demonstrate that register has an effect on the discourse-semantic integration of NPs and provide evidence for a certain degree of top-down processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this article, we compare results from two recent comprehensive studies on syntax–discourse interface properties. Both Valenzuela (2005, 2006) and Ivanov (2009) investigate the L2 acquisition of clitic left dislocation (CLLD) as a marker of topicality in L2 Spanish and L2 Bulgarian. However, Valenzuela argues that near-native speakers of Spanish demonstrate residual optionality at the syntax–discourse interface while Ivanov claims that advanced learners of Bulgarian are ultimately successful at the interface. Assuming a syntactic analysis of the clitic-doubling phenomenon based on , Bulgarian and Spanish CLLD look very much alike. Displaced objects that have antecedents in the previous discourse, that is, topics, have to be doubled by a clitic to avoid (potential) confusion and infelicity. Valenzuela''s near-native Spanish speakers are 100% accurate in accepting specific dislocated objects doubled by a clitic. We argue that their inferior accuracy on generic dislocates may be due to some participants’ heeding discourse cues over semantic cues in processing these sentences. Ivanov''s advanced participants as a group display native-like choices. We suggest that when subjected to a more careful scrutiny, the external (syntax–discourse) interface does not look very different from the internal interfaces, after all. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this article is twofold: (a) To evaluate the learned source for the rise of personal infinitives in the history of Spanish, and (b) to address the issue of the origin of personal infinitives from the perspective of language acquisition. It is argued, by means of novel empirical evidence derived from the Corpus del Español, that the Latin Accusativus cum Infinitivo source is responsible for the personal infinitive in complement position in Old Castilian (in line with Pountain 1998). However, this learned source is not the source of the Modern Spanish personal infinitive in adjunct position. For the latter, an acquisitional scenario is put forward whereby changes in the primary linguistic data (cf. Lightfoot 1999) made adjunct personal infinitives possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]