Discourse cohesion and Topic discontinuity in native and learner production

Abstract

In order to realize text cohesion, speakers have to select specific information units and mark their informational status within the discourse; this results in specific, language-particular perspective-taking, linked to typological differences (Slobin 1996). A previous study on native speakers’ production in French, Italian, German and Dutch (Dimroth et al., in press) has highlighted a “Romance way” and a “Germanic way” of marking text cohesion in narrative segments involving topic discontinuity. In this paper we analyze how text cohesion is realized in the same contexts by advanced learners of L2 French (Italian and German L1) and L2 Italian (French and German L1). Our aim is to verify the hypothesis of an L2 advanced stage where learners manage the target language utterance grammar whereas their discourse organization still reflects L1 preferences. The results confirm the persistent presence of L1 influence, but they also show learner-specific tendencies (favouring lexical means over morphosyntactic ones), which are independent of their source language.

Additive Linking in Second Language Discourse: Lexical, Syntactic and Discourse Organizational Choices in Intermediate and Advanced Learners of L2 German with L1 French

“…In a study of adult L2 learners of Italian with L1 German, Benazzo and Andorno (2010) show that the only target-like position preceding the added NP ( anche X) is rapidly acquired. This position is comparable to the pre-posed position that is dispreferred but possible in German ( auch X); the German post-posed position is not transferred onto Italian, which is to be expected if learners look for cross-linguistic similarities.…”

Strategies for linking information by German and Japanese native Speakers and by German learners of Japanese

“…The conclusion is that there is a "Germanic" and a "Romance" way of anaphoric linking in that respect. This question is further analysed under an acquisitional perspective by Benazzo and Andorno (2010) for L2 French and L2 Italian, and by Giuliano (2012) for L2/L1 English and L2 Italian. In the present paper, I will analyse retellings of the film by L1 German and L1/L2 Japanese from a slightly different perspective.…”

The Development of Reference Realization and Narrative in an Australian Contact Language, Wumpurrarni English

“…In addition, their use of nominals for reference maintenance was not in subject chains or repetitions, and so does not appear to be a persistent first language/dialect influence on discourse organization (cf. Benazzo and Andorno, 2010). Finally, these texts also featured hesitations, retraces and self-corrections including a correction to content, as in example 14 by (C10.7).…”

“…Studies of bilingual language development exploring the impact of patterns developed in first language acquisition on subsequent language learning and production have also been informed by “ thinking for speaking ” (Benazzo and Andorno, 2010; Dimroth et al, 2010). Pertinent also to the present study, the investigation of narrative development among bi- and multilingual speakers foregrounds socio-cultural factors in multilingual contexts, such as the “complicated sociolinguistic position of minority groups,” and the interplay of variables such as language input, proficiency and speaker's cultural orientation (Verhoeven and Strömqvist, 2001, p. 7).…”