6. Crosslinguistic Influence in the Acquisition of Spatial Prepositions in English as a Foreign Language

Alonso, Rosa Alonso; Cadierno, Teresa; Jarvis, Scott

doi:10.21832/9781783094837-008

Cited by 44 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A particular linguistic skill that seems very challenging to acquire in a second language (L2) is the use of spatial terms, in particular spatial pre- or postpositions (e.g., Alonso, Cadierno, & Jarvis, 2016; Bryant, 2012; Coventry & Garrod, 2004; Coventry, Guijarro-Fuentes, & Valdés, 2012; Grießhaber, 1999; Ijaz, 1986; Lütke, 2008; Munnich & Landau, 2010). While the acquisition of syntax and the case system in the L2 is similar to first language (L1) acquisition, the acquisition of the genus system and prepositions differs between L1 and L2 (Kaltenbacher & Klages, 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Grounded cognition: Comparing Language × Space interactions in first language and second language

Ahlberg

Bischoff

Kaup

et al. 2017

Applied Psycholinguistics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The experiential traces account claims that language comprehension in one's first language (L1) is based on the reactivation of experiential traces that stem from experiencing the corresponding objects, states, or events. However, it remains unclear to what extent this is transferable to second language (L2) comprehension. In the present study, we compared German L1 speakers with German L2 speakers whose L1 uses similar or different spatial terms as German. In an adaptation of the Stroop paradigm, participants were instructed to respond to the font color of German spatial prepositions (e.g.,auf“on,”über“above,” andunter“under/below”) by either an upward or a downward hand movement, resulting in compatible or incompatible responses. We found significant compatibility effects for all speakers, but also clear differences between speakers of different L1s. The results thereby support the assumption that experiential traces built during L1 usage play an important role in L2 processing.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Grounded cognition: Comparing Language × Space interactions in first language and second language

Ahlberg

Bischoff

Kaup

et al. 2017

Applied Psycholinguistics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Second, studies on cognitive consequences of using more two or more languages should be seen to form a continuum with studies firmly grounded in Slobin's thinking-for-speaking hypotheses on one end of the continuum and Whorf's linguistic relativity hypothesis on the other (Han & Cadierno 2010;Ewert 2016;Jarvis 2016). Along that continuum, studies dealing with conceptual transfer (e.g., Pavlenko & Malt 2011;Otwinowska 2015;Alonso Alonso, Cadierno & Jarvis 2016) imply their own general research question and make use of data related to verbal responses, thus implying a thinking-for-speaking interpretation of conceptual transfer (von Stutterheim & Nüse 2003;von Stutterheim & Lambert 2005;Cadierno 2008;Bylund & Jarvis 2011;Vanek & Hendriks Ekiert & Han 2016), speech-accompanying gestures (Negueruela et al 2004;Brown & Gullberg 2011;Stam 2010), data related to linguistic relativity effects measured in form of nonverbal behaviour (Papafragou, Massey, & Gleitman 2002;Athanasopoulos 2006;Papafragou & Selimis 2010;Pavlenko 2011;Athanasopoulos et al 2015;Lucy 2016;Vanek 2017Vanek , 2020Vanek & Selinker 2017; for an overview of linguistic relativity in SLA see Bylund & Athanasopoulos 2014) or a combination of both verbal and non-verbal data (Pavlenko 1999;Park 2020).…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cognitive Grammar Perspective on Temporal Conceptualization in SLA

Kermer

2020

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article shows how cognitive grammar and cognitive linguistics theory offer a fruitful paradigm within which the process of second language acquisition can be examined. The aim is to describe and examine the benefit of using notions developed within the CG and CL frameworks to the study of crosslinguistic influence, especially conceptual transfer, in multilinguals. In recent years, the growth of empirical research concerning the contribution of cognitive-inspired theories to the study of second language acquisition and multilingualism has grown extensively. This article illustrates the possible contribution of CL to SLA by focusing on one particular line of inquiry: that of construal. Specifically, it examines how the notions developed within cognitive grammar theory can be useful tools for the analysis and comparison of conceptualization patterns of events, thus giving rise to transfer effects stemming from the way a person construes and conceptualizes events. The starting hypothesis is that conceptual transfer effects in the use of the target grammar, in this case the transfer effects in the TIME domain, may originate from the conceptualization patterns that the multilingual has acquired as a speaker of another L1. Previous transfer research has obtained evidence to suggest that patterns of L1 conceptualizations may be transferred into learners’ L2 through patterns that are similar to their L1. The utilization of central tools within cognitive grammar in order to unmask conceptual differences represents an important contribution to the state of the art of crosslinguistic influence research.

show abstract

“…However, Spanish speakers do not categorize meanings of prepositions like English and Danish; rather, they mark locations in a more general way. Consequently, their choices of the English prepositions tend to be incongruent with the spatial construal patterns in English (Alonso et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Current research has shown that even advanced L2 speakers never attain native-like use of this linguistic feature, especially when the speakers' L1 largely differs from the L2 in the ways the language conceptualizes spatial relationships (Alonso, Cadierno, & Jarvis, 2016). Alonso et al (2016) set out to investigate the use of prepositions by advanced EFL learners from two language backgrounds, Danish and Spanish, by focusing on how these learners construed spatial configurations that English native speakers refer to with the prepositions in, on, and at. They also explored the extent to which the learners' L1 spatial construal patterns influenced their construal of these English spatial configurations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The problem with this strategy lies in the ways that daily usage of language cannot be simply accounted for by the proposed rules, especially in contexts where more than one preposition is possible (Matula, 2007). In line with Alonso et al (2016) and Tyler (2012), there is a need to apply a usage-based approach to language and language pedagogy, and research should be conducted to investigate the effect of such approach on learners' acquisition of prepositions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Applying Cognitive Linguistics to teaching English prepositions in the EFL classroom

Wijaya

Ong

2018

Indonesian J. Appl. Linguist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study investigating the effect of cognitive linguistics-grounded instruction on learning the prepositions in, on, and at, which are known to pose tremendous difficulty to English language learners due to their language-specific features and polysemous nature. The participants (N = 44) were adolescent learners at a school in Indonesia. They were assigned into the cognitive group and the rule group. The cognitive group was presented with pictorial representations of the prepositions and cognitive tools used to motivate non-spatial uses, while the rule group was provided with rules. Participants’ performance on the three uses (i.e. spatial, temporal and abstract) was measured with pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests in a form of gap filling. The study yielded mixed results. The findings demonstrate that the cognitive group outperformed the rule group in the overall immediate and delayed post-tests. The cognitive group improved significantly in the immediate post-test; however, the positive effect did not last until the delayed post-test. On the other hand, the rule group gained a little in the immediate post-test, but the group’s performance decreased significantly in the delayed post-test. Although there was no indication of long-term effects of the cognitive instruction, the results still indicate a value of applying cognitive linguistics to teaching the prepositions, and thus lend support to the applicability of cognitive linguistic theory in second language instruction.

show abstract

6. Crosslinguistic Influence in the Acquisition of Spatial Prepositions in English as a Foreign Language

Cited by 44 publications

References 0 publications

Grounded cognition: Comparing Language × Space interactions in first language and second language

Grounded cognition: Comparing Language × Space interactions in first language and second language

A Cognitive Grammar Perspective on Temporal Conceptualization in SLA

Applying Cognitive Linguistics to teaching English prepositions in the EFL classroom

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About