ERIC Number: EJ1345069
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 35
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7522
Testing the Interface Hypothesis: Heritage Speakers' Perception and Production of Spanish Subject Position with Unergative and Unaccusative Verbs
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v25 n5 p1730-1764 2022
The Interface Hypothesis proposes that the pragmatic-discursive interface with syntax is more vulnerable to crosslinguistic influence than the syntactic-semantic interface [Tsimpli, Ianthi, and Antonella Sorace. 2006. "Differentiating Interfaces: L2 Performance in Syntax- Semantics and Syntax-Discourse Phenomena." In Proceedings of the 30th Annual Boston Conference on Language Development, edited by D. Bamman, T. Magnitskaia, and C. Zaller, 653-664. Somerville: Cascadilla Press]. The present study tests this hypothesis by analyzing the contrast between preverbal and postverbal subject position with unergative and unaccusative verbs in the Spanish of heritage language (HL) speakers. The results of a grammaticality judgment task and a short-answer task suggest that the syntactic-semantic interface is as vulnerable to the influence of English as the pragmatic-discursive interface for Spanish HL speakers. This inquiry also considers how formal instruction targeting the flexibility of word order in Spanish and its effect on the discursive context might impact the acquisition of subject position distinction with these verbs among HL learners of Spanish. Based upon the negligible effects of a pedagogical intervention conducted in an intermediate-level Spanish HL course in which the present participants were enrolled, both the syntactic-semantic interface and the pragmatic-discursive interface appeared impervious to formal instruction targeting flexible word order.
Descriptors: Verbs, Spanish, Linguistic Theory, Task Analysis, Decision Making, Semantics, Syntax, Transfer of Training, Heritage Education, Native Language, Bilingualism, Pragmatics, Hypothesis Testing, Language Variation, Second Language Learning, Grammar, Teaching Methods, Second Language Instruction, Native Language Instruction, Intervention, Comparative Analysis, English (Second Language), Language Dominance, Undergraduate Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A