Restructuring in the L1 Turkish grammar: Effects of L2 English and L2 Dutch

This paper compares results of two studies examining L2 English and L2 Dutch-induced syntactic changes that occur in L1 Turkish grammars of speakers living in North America and in the Netherlands, respectively. We examine potential restructuring in the L1 knowledge of binding properties of overt and null subject pronouns in first and second generation immigrants. The results of the L2 Dutch-speaking groups in the Netherlands are found to be similar to those of the L2 English-speaking group in North America, as reported in Gürel (2002), in the sense that all bilingual groups diverge, to some extent, from monolinguals in their judgments of pronoun binding. In line with our predictions, findings suggest that L2 English and L2 Dutch can influence L1 Turkish syntactic judgments in a similar fashion and that an L2 can induce inter- as well as intra-generational L1 change.