Creoles as interlanguages

Plag, Ingo

doi:10.1075/jpcl.23.2.06pla

Cited by 48 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We assume by extension that in the case of creoles specifically, features that "converge" across form and function in the languages in contact are favored to participate in the creation of the new language. In support of the literature that connects SLA to creole genesis (Lefebvre et al, 2006;Mufwene, 1990Mufwene, , 2010Plag, 2008;Siegel, 2006Siegel, , 2008a, our position is thus that convergence plays a major role in SLA and creole formation. Even if, in the case of creoles, most of the basic lexicon comes from the superstrate, we assume that the substrates and superstrate collaborate to shape the morphophonological and semantic (and possibly syntactic, see the discussion section) components of the newly emerged language.…”

Section: Framework and Research Questionssupporting

confidence: 60%

“…This work is solidly anchored in the extensive literature that closely connects the fields of SLA and creole genesis, most notably Mufwene (1990Mufwene ( , 2010, Siegel (2006Siegel ( , 2008a, Plag (2008) and Lefebvre, White and Jourdan (2006). 1 There are two chief motivations for linguists to consider SLA and creole genesis mutually relevant.…”

Section: Second Language Acquisition and Creole Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 There are two chief motivations for linguists to consider SLA and creole genesis mutually relevant. First, scholars have noted that general morpho-syntactic properties of creoles -such as lack of inflectional morphology on nouns and verbs, determinerless (bare) nouns, or lack of formal distinction between word classes -are also identifiable in interlanguages of second language learners (Plag, 2008;Véronique, 1994). 2 Second, similar processes are at work in both the acquisition of a second language and the emergence of a creole language, including relexification, restructuring, reanalysis, fossilization (Lefebvre et al, 2006), and (most importantly for the current discussion) transfer, that many creolists refer to as "substratum influence."…”

Section: Second Language Acquisition and Creole Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Testing the role of convergence in language acquisition, with implications for creole genesis

Baptista

Gelman

Beck

2014

International Journal of Bilingualism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main objective of this paper is to test experimentally the role of convergence in language acquisition (second language acquisition specifically), with implications for creole genesis. Although there is ample evidence that similar features in languages in contact are enhanced both in second language acquisition and the creation of new languages, scholars are rarely explicit about the exact nature of that similarity and have not been in a position to observe convergence in progress. Our experiment is unique on two fronts as it is the first to use an artificial language to test the convergence hypothesis by making it observable, and it is also the first experimental study to clarify the notion of similarity by varying the levels and types of similarity that are expressed. We report an experiment with 94 English-speaking adults, designed to test how language learners acquire a new language in which the form and function (meaning) of linguistic items are either similar to or distinct from those in their L1. A miniature artificial language was created that included morphological elements to express negation and pluralization. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: congruent (form and function of novel grammatical morphemes were highly similar to those in English), reversed (negative grammatical morpheme was highly similar to that of English plural, and plural grammatical morpheme was highly similar to that of English negation), and novel (form and function were highly dissimilar to those of English). For each task, scores were entered into a one-way ANOVA with condition as the between-subjects factor. Participants in the congruent condition performed best, indicating that features that converge across form and function are learned most fully. More surprisingly, results showed that participants in the reversed condition acquired the language more readily than those in the novel condition, contrary to expectation. This experiment contributes to a

show abstract

Section: Framework and Research Questionssupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Second Language Acquisition and Creole Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Second Language Acquisition and Creole Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Testing the role of convergence in language acquisition, with implications for creole genesis

Baptista

Gelman

Beck

2014

International Journal of Bilingualism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Processability Theory was used as a language processing model of second language acquisition in 1998. Simply, Processability Theory (PT) is a theory that wants to explain why second language learners follow a similar path in the development of morph syntactic structures (Plag, 2008). Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998(Pienemann, , 2005) is one of the important second language acquisition approaches studies and it is a universal framework that can predict developmental sequences for any second language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Process Ability Theory on the Speaking Abilities of Iranian EFL Learners

Khansir

Zaab

2015

JLTR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-This paper is designed to investigate the impact of processability theory on the communicative capabilities (speaking skill) of Iranian EFL learners. In discussion of processability theory, learning strategies is seen based on various stages in language acquisition. This theory was coined by Pienemann in 1988. Speaking skill was the first skill that human being used it in order to resolve communication problems in his life. In this study, Iranian EFL learners' speaking ability in producing the morpheme structures was examined through the use of two production tasks. One through the use of the picture description task which was designed based on special focus on the learners' ability to use target structures in context; another, was reconstruction task used in which learners were asked to read and listen to two audio texts to help the learners focus on forms and elicit the target structures. The result of this article showed that both tasks had effective instruments to help EFL learners to produce the target structures in the order predicted by processability theory.

show abstract

“…As mentioned earlier, generative‐theory–based research faces the same problem. Sprouse (2009), for instance, replied to a claim made by Plag (2008) concerning evidence that English learners of Japanese can produce SOV (subject‐object‐verb) order in their first utterances. Plag suggested that these learners may not be transferring their native SVO word order as predicted by a full transfer hypothesis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Linguistic Input in the First Hours of Adult Language Learning

Rast

2010

Language Learning

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the field of SLA, the dominant view of the starting point of SLA holds that the properties of the learner's first language (L1) grammar form the basis for the initial state of interlanguage development. It is assumed therefore that second-language (L2) input processing happens through the lens of the L1 and that the perception of a discrepancy between the configuration of the L1 grammar and the L2 input triggers a restructuring of the developing system. This article takes a different approach to the analysis of the earliest stages of language learning. Based on results from an empirical study of the linguistic input (Polish) addressed to adult learners (French native speakers) in the first seconds, minutes, and hours of exposure to a novel target language as well as learners' analysis of this input, it is argued that learners use a combination of knowledge stores, including but not limited to their L1 knowledge, to process the novel target language input to which they are exposed.Researchers in the field of SLA have for some time tacitly acknowledged the need for theorists to incorporate the early stages of acquisition into their theories. Pienemann's (1998) work on Processability Theory-in essence a theory of adult language learning-is exemplary of this. Pienemann took the position that a language learnability theory must specify how a learner moves from an "initial state" to the target grammar, yet he forwent entering the debate on the second-language (L2) initial state: "The acquisition process starts at an I would like to thank Clive Perdue for having initiated this project and for following through as the mastermind behind it (see Rast, in press, for more information about Perdue's reflections on L2 input and the L2 initial state). I also thank Marzena W atorek and Jean-Yves Dommergues for their indispensable contributions to data collection and analysis. Many thanks go as well to Marianne Gullberg and Peter Indefrey for inviting me to participate in the Third A. Guiora Annual Roundtable Conference and for commenting on earlier versions of this work. All errors and mishaps are mine.

show abstract

Creoles as interlanguages

Cited by 48 publications

References 36 publications

Testing the role of convergence in language acquisition, with implications for creole genesis

Testing the role of convergence in language acquisition, with implications for creole genesis

The Impact of Process Ability Theory on the Speaking Abilities of Iranian EFL Learners

The Role of Linguistic Input in the First Hours of Adult Language Learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About