1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Are non-native speakers sensitive to microvariation in anaphora resolution?
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study investigates anaphora resolution in L2 European Portuguese by Italian and Spanish native speakers to examine whether learners are sensitive to microvariation among these null subject Romance languages. Participants were 25 adult L1 EP speakers, 69 L1 Italian, and 42 L1 Spanish adult learners of EP at three levels: upper–intermediate, advanced, and near-native. They completed an untimed and a speeded multiple-choice task crossing the variables and . Results indicate that sensitivity to microvariation develops as L2 proficiency increases. However, learners’ performance remains permanently unstable in the areas where the L1 and the L2 differ, which is only visible in the speeded task. Our findings challenge the idea that the L1 plays a minor role in anaphora resolution and have implications for the Interface Hypothesis.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
2024-08-13
2024-09-19

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alonso-Ovalle, L., Fernández-Solera, S., Frazier, L., & Clifton Jr., C.
    (2002) Null vs. overt pronouns and the topic–focus articulation in Spanish. Journal of Italian Linguistics, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bader, M., & Häussler, J.
    (2010) Toward a model of grammaticality judgments. Journal of Linguistics, (), –. 10.1017/S0022226709990260
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226709990260 [Google Scholar]
  3. Belletti, A., Bennati, E., & Sorace, A.
    (2007) Theoretical and developmental issues in the syntax of subjects: Evidence from near-native Italian. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, (), –. 10.1007/s11049‑007‑9026‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-007-9026-9 [Google Scholar]
  4. Bini, M.
    (1993) La adquisicíon del italiano: Mas allá de las propiedades sintácticas del parámetro pro-drop. InJ. Liceras (Ed.), La linguistica y el analisis de los sistemas no nativos (pp.–). Doverhouse.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bley-Vroman, R.
    (1983) The comparative fallacy in interlanguage studies: the case of systematicity. Language Learning, (), –. 10.1111/j.1467‑1770.1983.tb00983.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00983.x [Google Scholar]
  6. Cappellaro, C.
    (2017) The semantic specialization of third person pronoun ‘esso’ as (-human) in standard Italian. Revue Romane, (), –. 10.1075/rro.52.2.01cap
     https://doi.org/10.1075/rro.52.2.01cap [Google Scholar]
  7. Cardinaletti, A.
    (2004) Toward a cartography of subject positions. L. Rizzi (Ed.), The Structure of CP and IP: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, vol. (pp.–). Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oso/9780195159486.003.0005
     https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195159486.003.0005 [Google Scholar]
  8. Cardinaletti, A., & Starke, M.
    (1999) The typology of structural deficiency: A case study of the three classes of pronouns. InH. van Riemsdijk (Ed.), Clitics in the languages of Europe (pp.–). Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110804010.145
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110804010.145 [Google Scholar]
  9. Carminati, M. N.
    (2002) The processing of Italian subject pronouns. PhD thesis, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Chamorro, G.
    (2018) Offline interpretation of subject pronouns by native speakers of Spanish. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, (), . 10.5334/gjgl.256
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.256 [Google Scholar]
  11. Clements, M., & Domínguez, L.
    (2016) Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language: Focus on referential and pragmatic constraints. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1075/lab.14012.cle
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14012.cle [Google Scholar]
  12. Contemori, C., & Di Domenico, E.
    (2021) Microvariation in the division of labor between null- and overt-subject pronouns: the case of Italian and Spanish. Applied Psycholinguistics, , –. 10.1017/S0142716421000199
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716421000199 [Google Scholar]
  13. Fiéis, A., Madeira, A., & Teixeira, J.
    (2022a) Microvariation in the resolution of pronominal subjects in Romance: European Portuguese vs. Italian. Isogloss. Open Journal of Romance Linguistics, (), –. 10.5565/rev/isogloss.220
     https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/isogloss.220 [Google Scholar]
  14. (2022b) A Estratégia da Posição do Antecedente em línguas românicas de sujeito nulo. Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística, , –. 10.26334/2183‑9077/rapln9ano2022a8
     https://doi.org/10.26334/2183-9077/rapln9ano2022a8 [Google Scholar]
  15. Filiaci, F.
    (2010) Null and overt subject biases in Spanish and Italian: A cross-linguistic comparison. InC. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp.–). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Filiaci, F., Sorace, A., & Carreiras, M.
    (2014) Anaphoric biases of null and overt subjects in Italian and Spanish: a cross-linguistic comparison. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, (), –. 10.1080/01690965.2013.801502
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2013.801502 [Google Scholar]
  17. Fukumura, K., & van Gompel, R. P. G.
    (2011) The effect of animacy on the choice of referring expression. Language and Cognitive Processes, (), –. 10.1080/01690965.2010.506444
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2010.506444 [Google Scholar]
  18. Giannakou, A.
    (2023) Anaphora resolution and age effects in Greek-Spanish bilingualism: Evidence from first-generation immigrants, heritage speakers, and L2 speakers. Lingua, , 103573. 10.1016/j.lingua.2023.103573
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2023.103573 [Google Scholar]
  19. Giannakou, A., & Sitaridou, I.
    (2020) Microparametric variation in the syntax of Spanish and Greek pronominal subjects. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, (), –. 10.5334/gjgl.960
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.960 [Google Scholar]
  20. Grosjean, F.
    (1989) Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. Brain and Language, , –. 10.1016/0093‑934X(89)90048‑5
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(89)90048-5 [Google Scholar]
  21. Hopp, H.
    (2007) Ultimate attainment at the interfaces in second language acquisition: Grammar and processing. PhD thesis, University of Groningen.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Lee, E., & Phillips, C.
    (2023) Why non-native speakers sometimes outperform native speakers in agreement processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, , –. 10.1017/S1366728922000414
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000414 [Google Scholar]
  23. Liceras, J., & Alba de la Fuente, A.
    (2015) Typological proximity in L2 acquisition. The Spanish non-native grammar of French speakers. InT. Judy, & S. Perpiñán (Eds.), The Acquisition of Spanish in Understudied Language Pairings (pp.–). John Benjamins. 10.1075/ihll.3.13lic
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.3.13lic [Google Scholar]
  24. Lobo, M., Madeira, A., & Silva, C.
    (2017) Interpretação de pronomes sujeito anafóricos e catafóricos por falantes de português L2: efeitos da língua materna. Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística, , –. 10.26334/2183‑9077/rapln3ano2017a9
     https://doi.org/10.26334/2183-9077/rapln3ano2017a9 [Google Scholar]
  25. Lozano, C.
    (2003) Universal Grammar and focus constraints: The acquisition of pronouns and word order in non-native Spanish. PhD thesis, University of Essex.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. (2008) ¿Déficits de representación o de procesamiento en una segunda lengua? Evidencia de un estudio de resolución de anáfora con griegos adultos aprendices de español. InR. Monroy, & A. Sánchez (Eds.), 25 años de Lingüística Aplicada en España: Hitos y retos (pp.–). Editum.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Margaza, P., & Bel, A.
    (2006) Null subjects at the syntax-pragmatics interface: Evidence from Spanish interlanguage of Greek speakers. InM. G. O’Brien, C. Shea, & J. Archibald (Eds.), Proceedings of GASLA 2006 (pp.–). Cascadilla Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Olsen, M. K., & Juffs, A.
    (2022) The effect of animacy on object pronoun distinctions in L2 Spanish. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1075/lab.19024.ols
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.19024.ols [Google Scholar]
  29. Parker, D.
    (2019) Two minds are not always better than one: Modeling evidence for a single sentence analyzer. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, (), . 10.5334/gjgl.766
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.766 [Google Scholar]
  30. Rizzi, L.
    (2018) Subjects, topics and the interpretation of pro. InR. Petrosino, P. Cerrone, & H. van der Hulst (Eds.), From Sounds to Structures: Beyond the Veil of Maya (pp.–). De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781501506734‑019
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506734-019 [Google Scholar]
  31. Rocafiguera, N., & Bel, A.
    (2022) On the Impact of Clause Order on Pronoun Resolution: Evidence from Spanish. Folia Linguistica, (), –. 10.1515/flin‑2021‑2002
     https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2021-2002 [Google Scholar]
  32. Rothman, J.
    (2009) Pragmatic deficits with syntactic consequences? L2 pronominal subjects and the syntax–pragmatics interface. Journal of Pragmatics, (), –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2008.07.007
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.07.007 [Google Scholar]
  33. Schwartz, B. D., & Sprouse, R. A.
    (1996) L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, , –. 10.1177/026765839601200103
     https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200103 [Google Scholar]
  34. Slabakova, R., & Ivanov, I.
    (2011) A more careful look at the syntax–discourse interface. Lingua, (), –. 10.1016/j.lingua.2010.05.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2010.05.003 [Google Scholar]
  35. Sorace, A.
    (2011) Pinning down the concept of ‘interface’ in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, , . 10.1075/lab.1.1.01sor
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.1.1.01sor [Google Scholar]
  36. (2012) Pinning down the concept of “interface” in bilingualism: a reply to peer commentaries. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, , –. 10.1075/lab.2.2.04sor
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.2.2.04sor [Google Scholar]
  37. (2016) Referring expressions and executive functions in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1075/lab.15055.sor
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15055.sor [Google Scholar]
  38. Sorace, A., & Filiaci, F.
    (2006) Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian. Second Language Research, (), –. 10.1191/0267658306sr271oa
     https://doi.org/10.1191/0267658306sr271oa [Google Scholar]
  39. Sorace, A., & Serratrice, L.
    (2009) Internal and external interfaces in bilingual language development: Beyond structural overlap. International Journal of Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1177/1367006909339810
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006909339810 [Google Scholar]
  40. Torregrossa, J., Andreou, M., & Bongartz, C. M.
    (2020) Variation in the use and interpretation of null subjects: A view from Greek and Italian. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, (), . 10.5334/gjgl.1011
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1011 [Google Scholar]
  41. White, L.
    (2003) Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511815065
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815065 [Google Scholar]
  42. White, L., Goad, H., Garcia, G., Guzzo, N. B., Smeets, L., & Su, J.
    (2024) Pronoun interpretation in Italian: Exploring the effects of prosody. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. Advance online publication. 10.1075/lab.22013.whi
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22013.whi [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
Loading
Are non-native speakers sensitive to microvariation in anaphora resolution?
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23041.tei
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: European Portuguese ; L1 influence ; L2 anaphora resolution ; microvariation ; interfaces

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error