Previous research suggests that native speakers quickly adapt to the properties of the language in the surrounding context. For instance, as they repeatedly read a structure that is initially nonpreferred or infrequent, they show a reduction of processing difficulty. Adaptation has been accounted for in terms of error-based learning: the error resulting from the difference between the expected and actual input leads to an adjustment of the knowledge representation, which changes future expectations. The present study tested whether experiencing an error is sufficient for adaptation. We compared native English speakers and second language (L2) learners’ processing of, and adaptation to, two types of temporarily ambiguous structures that were resolved toward the nonpreferred interpretation. Whereas both native English and L2 speakers showed increased reading times at the disambiguating word versus a nonambiguous control, our data suggest that only native English speakers adapted, and only to one of the two structures. These results suggest that experiencing an error is not sufficient for adaptation, and that factors such as ease of revision and task effects may play a role as well.

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We analyze the emergence of grammatical gender in the spontaneous longitudinal Spanish production of a set of Spanish/English bilingual twins from the FerFuLice corpus (Fernández Fuertes & Liceras 2009). We take as a point of departure theoretical accounts on gender assignment and gender concord and previous empirical work on the acquisition of gender by monolinguals and bilinguals. Our study deals with how gender incorporates in the case of L1 Spanish bilinguals; how concord within the determiner phrase (DP) operates; and how monolingual and bilingual Spanish pattern in the same way in this respect. We conclude that DP syntax and the gender concord valuation mechanism are in place from very early stages and that morphology and semantics are not determinant factors in this process.

This study contributes to the analyses of transfer in the case of typologically similar and typologically different language interactions from three different perspectives: L1, modality and time of instruction. To do so the L2 English sentential subjects produced by 26 L1 Spanish, 26 L1 Bosnian and 26 L1 Danish children are analyzed. These L2 English participants are divided into two proficiency groups depending on the time of instruction received (2 or 4 years). Written production data (story-telling) were obtained by means of a wordless picture sequence adapted from the Edmond Narrative Norms Instrument (Schneider et al. 2005) which participants had to narrate. Oral production data were obtained through a semi-guided individual interview which was audio recorded and then transcribed in CHAT (Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts) format (CHILDES, MacWhinney 2000). The subjects produced by these participants were classified following three criteria: form (overt vs. null), grammaticality (grammatical vs. ungrammatical) and adequacy (adequate vs. nonadequate). Two formal proposals on sentential subjects are tested against these L2 English data: Holmberg (2005) and Sheehan's (2006) with regards to [+null subject] languages being superset to [-null subject] languages; and Fernández Fuertes & Liceras (2018) and Liceras & Fernández Fuertes' (2019) on the so-called lexical specialization approach that accounts for both directionality and effect of cross-linguistic influence. The results show that typological similarity is a conditioning factor in what regards both core grammatical structures and syntax-pragmatics interface related issues. Time of instruction, however, does not have any effects on these children's L2 English acquisition of sentential subjects. In the case of modality, the written task is proven to be cognitively more demanding. These results offer a new window into the analysis of English L2 subjects in that they not only confirm the vulnerability of interfaces also in the case of under-studied languages, but they also show how Liceras & Fernández Fuertes' proposal applies to L2 acquisition: cross-linguistic influence from the superset language (i.e. Spanish and Bosnian) results in positive transfer. This investigation is part of the research funded by the Castile and León Regional Government and the ERD (European Regional Development Fund) under Grant Ref. vi VA009P17, and by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and ERDF under Grant Ref. PGC2018-097693-B-I00. I am also very grateful to the Department of Investigation, Innovation and Transfer and the English Department at the University of Valladolid for making this financially possible. A space was also provided to me at the University of Granada. I am very grateful to Cristobal Lozano and his ANACOR team for letting me join in. I have, at all times, been treated as any another member. A special thanks goes to Teresa Quesada and Fernando Martin Villena for taking their time to discuss both academic and personal issues and ...

The aim of this study is to determine whether Spanish-like gender agreement causes interference in speakers of Papiamentu (a Western Romance-lexified creole language) who also speak Spanish. Papiamentu and Spanish are highly cognate languages in terms of their lexicons. However, Papiamentu lacks grammatical gender assignment and agreement, leading to cognate words with major morpho-syntactic differences. A total of 41 participants with different linguistic profiles (Papiamentu-dominant, Dutch-dominant, Spanish-dominant, and Spanish heritage speaker-Papiamentu bilinguals) listened to 82 Papiamentu sentences, of which 40 contained a Spanish-like gender-agreeing element on the Determiner, Adjective, or Determiner + Adjective and with half of the experimental items marked with overtly masculine (i.e.,-o) or feminine (i.e.,-a) gender morphology. Participants performed a forced-choice acceptability task and were asked to repeat each sentence. Results showed that Spanish-dominant speakers experienced the greatest interference of Spanish gender features in Papiamentu. This suggests that in cases where speakers must suppress gender in their second language (L2), this is not easy to do. This is especially the case in highly cognate languages that differ in whether they realize gender features.