Acquisition of motion events in L2 Spanish by German, French and Italian speakers

Abstract

This article explores the second language acquisition of motion events, with particular regard to cross-linguistic influence between first and second languages. Oral narratives in Spanish as a second language by native speakers of French, German and Italian are compared, together with narratives by native Spanish speakers. Previous analysis on the expression of motion events in these languages showed that Romance languages do not always follow the same pattern; for example, Italian tends to express the component of Path more frequently than French and Spanish. The results of the present study highlight evidence of intra-typological differences, even between languages that are genetically very close. These differences seem to lead speakers to produce cases of conceptual transfer into their second language, Spanish, even when their first language is another Romance language

How language type influences patterns of motion expression in bilingual speakers

“…Bilinguals, consisting of both intermediate and advanced learners, produced more manner verbs when speaking Serbian as L2 and fewer manner verbs when speaking English as L2, suggesting an effect of L1 on L2 for both groups. Similar L1 effects have been shown for the expression of path in V-languages: Hijazo-Gascón (2018) showed that intermediate Italian (L1) – Spanish (L2) bilinguals produced significantly more path segments in their L2 Spanish than Spanish native speakers, suggesting an effect of their L1 Italian, which is a language characterized by extensive use of path particles. This L1 effect was not evident in L2 productions among advanced Italian (L1) – Spanish (L2) bilinguals (Cadierno and Ruiz, 2006) however, suggesting that intra-typological L1 effects on L2 might also dissipate with increasing proficiency in L2 (but for an exception, see Filipović &Vidaković, 2010).…”

“…Research examining intra-typological variability in the expression of motion in L2, however, still remains relatively sparse; and the few existing studies present largely similar patterns of results as found in studies on inter-typological variation. Several studies with bilinguals (Cadierno and Robinson, 2009; Filipović &Vidaković, 2010; Hasko, 2009, 2010; Hijazo-Gascón, 2018; Woerfel, 2018) showed L1 effects on L2 production in typologically similar languages. For example, Filipović &Vidaković (2010) analyzed the effects of intra-typological variation among two groups of bilingual speakers of Serbian and English – both S-languages – with either English or Serbian as L2.…”

Speaking in a second language but thinking in the first language: Language-specific effects on memory for causation events in English and Spanish

“…A number of studies in L2 acquisition and late bilingualism have emphasised the possibility that learning an L2 may affect the on-line verbalisation-driven conceptualisation system, that is, the thinking-for-speaking mechanism as defined and described by Slobin (see, e.g., Cadierno, 2010; Cifuentes Feréz & Rojo, 2015; Ellis & Cadierno, 2009; Filipović, 2011; Hijazo-Gascón, 2015). For instance, Cadierno (2010) found strong L1 lexicalisation effects on L2 expressions in a study that contrasted L1 Russian, German and Spanish learners of L2 Danish.…”

The role of force dynamics and intentionality in the reconstruction of L2 verb meanings

“…Finally, it would be very interesting to compare and contrast speakers and learners of typologically and genetically similar languages. It has been shown that the closer a second language is to the native language of the learner does not necessarily mean an easier and more successful acquisition process (Hijazo-Gascón, 2015); therefore, bidirectional studies in closely-related languages are a largely unexplored area for further research.…”