On the Directionality of Cross-Linguistic Effects in Bidialectal Bilingualism

Abstract

This study explores the interpretation of null and overt object pronouns by Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and European Portuguese (EP) bidialectal bilinguals. Object pronouns are a particularly good domain to examine, given that, particularly with respect to null objects, the underlying syntax as well as the semantic and discourse constraints that regulate their distributions in the two varieties are superficially different but inherently similar. We test the extent to which native BP speakers who moved to Portugal in adulthood and have lived there for a considerable time display cross-linguistic influence in either direction. Each subject is tested twice, once in BP mode and once in EP mode, which allows us not only to test if they have acquired the EP target structure but also to test the extent to which acquisition of EP might have consequences for the same domain in BP. Our results show that the high degree of typological proximity between the L1 and the L2 may contribute to L1 attrition and hinder target-like performance (i.e., processing) of L2 properties. We relate the findings to key theoretical questions and debates within the context of the larger field of bilingual studies, particularly with respect to L1 attrition and L2 acquisition.

Changes in Native Sentence Processing Related to Bilingualism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In this regard, we have seen that bilinguals show in their L1 a bias to structures and interpretations that appear frequently in their L2 (examples in production are Ribes and Llanes, 2015 ; Chunpeng and Hee-Don, 2017 ; in comprehension, Dussias and Sagarra, 2007 ). Changes in the L1 sentence processing can appear as a lack of preference for both L1 and L2 biases too, similar to what Kaltsa et al (2015) and Castro et al (2017) observed. Specifically, in two experiments, Kaltsa et al (2015) employed a self-paced listening task with a sentence-picture matching to test pronoun resolution in Greek.…”

“…In fact, pronominal resolutions have been studied in the context of language attrition, considering that difficulties in this type of structure may arise due to the need to coordinate different interfaces (grammatical and discourse information; Sorace, 2011 ; Chamorro et al, 2015 ). Giving support to this view, we have found research in which bilinguals do not have a strong preference toward a pronominal assignment in the presence of more than one antecedent noun as monolinguals have ( Kaltsa et al, 2015 ; Castro et al, 2017 ; but see Liceras and Senn, 2009 ; Schmitz et al, 2016 ) and show preferences that place less cognitive demands on the reader (low-attachment in L1 in both English–Spanish and Spanish–English bilinguals, Dussias, 2003 , 2004 ), thereby supporting the notion of bilinguals as strategists that adapt to the requirements of their linguistic and cognitive context.…”

“…We finally included 14 studies with 14 independent group comparisons and 81 effect sizes for the meta-analysis calculations. Two studies ( Castro et al, 2017 ; Dragoy et al, 2019 ) were excluded from the meta-analysis because they did not provide the needed statistics to calculate SMD.…”

Omissão e colocação de clíticos por crianças bilingues Português-Francês

“…Contudo, mais recentemente, Raposo (2004) revê a sua análise e a sua descrição dos factos do PE e, identificando contextos em que pode haver omissão de objeto em ilhas sintáticas em PE, propõe que o objeto nulo do PE é um pronome nulo pro introduzido por um determinante nulo. Na verdade, continua a haver alguma controvérsia quanto aos contextos em que a omissão do objeto é legítima em PE e quanto ao estatuto gramatical da categoria vazia (Rinke, Flores & Barbosa, 2018;Castro, Rothman & Westergaard, 2017). Além disso, está por determinar até que ponto também em PE os traços de animacidade condicionam a omissão.…”

“…Uma vez que vários autores mostram que a animacidade do antecedente desempenha um papel importante aquando da retoma do mesmo em ambas as variedades do português (cf. Lopes & Cyrino, 2005;Duarte & Costa, 2013;Castro, Rothman & Westergaard, 2017, entre outros), manipulámos a variável animacidade nos itens de teste que induziam a produção de clíticos não reflexos.…”